Avamar - NDMP Backup fails NDMP: FILESYSTEM /path/file.name is not a directory

Summary: Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) Avamar NDMP Backup fails with error message "avndmp Error <0000>: [snapup-/path/file.name] NDMP: FILESYSTEM /path/file.name is not a directory"

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Symptoms

Avamar NDMP backups fail

Avamar NDMP backups fail with the below error messages in the avdnmp logs:

avndmp Error <0000>: [snapup-/path/file.name] NDMP: FILESYSTEM /path/file.name is not a directory

avndmp Warning <0000>: [snapup-/path/file.name] NDMP Data Halted, reason : NDMP_DATA_HALT_INTERNAL_ERROR


NOTE: avdnmp logs can be retrieved from either the Avamar Administrator user interface or on the NDMP node (/usr/local/avamar/var/<name of the client>/ )

Cause

Lower-level folder and/or subfolder or individual files are selected for backup.

When On-Demand drill down method is used to browse and backup individual files, the backup fails.

Resolution

Always perform incremental backups at the volume level. Do not force incremental backups of lower-level folders and sub folders because this can cause backup errors.

Additional Information

The best practice for backing up individual files is to explicitly include them or explicitly exclude nontarget files in the backup dataset.

More information regarding this is available in the Isilon OneFS Backup and recovery guide under the Excluding files and directories from NDMP backups section.

Affected Products

Avamar

Products

Avamar
Article Properties
Article Number: 000041552
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 27 Aug 2025
Version:  4
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