NVP-vProxy: Backups are unable to open a target directory with "Err: 5008-not a directory"

Summary: The NetWorker Server was upgraded in the environment, and the virtual machine backups started failing.

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Symptoms

The NetWorker VMware Protection integration is configured with the vProxy Appliance. The vProxy backups are unable to open a target directory on the Data Domain. There are traditional NetWorker client policies that are properly backing up to the target Data Domain Pool. The backup log shows:
 

YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS ERROR:  [@(#) Build number: 89] 29150751-672c-4c2c-9c60-b0ee3719884e:[VMMOREF]:[VIRTUAL_MACHINE_NAME]: [ 2251] [140458165982976] [DATE_TIME]
YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS ERROR:  [@(#) Build number: 89]     ddp_open_dir() failed, Path //[NETWORKER_SERVER_NAME]/[TARGET_DEVICE_NAME]/active/7efb4100-00000006-f3ff587f-58ff587f-00105000-bcd9b756, Err: 5008-not a directory
YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS ERROR:  [@(#) Build number: 89] 29150751-672c-4c2c-9c60-b0ee3719884e:[VMMOREF]:[VIRTUAL_MACHINE_NAME]: Unable to open target directory "/[NETWORKER_SERVER_NAME]/[TARGET_DEVICE_NAME]/active/7efb4100-00000006-f3ff587f-58ff587f-00105000-bcd9b756" on DD "[DATA_DOMAIN_NAME]".
YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS ERROR:  [@(#) Build number: 89] 29150751-672c-4c2c-9c60-b0ee3719884e:[VMMOREF]:[VIRTUAL_MACHINE_NAME]: Unable to verify if target directory "/[NETWORKER_SERVER_NAME]/[TARGET_DEVICE_NAME]/active/7efb4100-00000006-f3ff587f-58ff587f-00105000-bcd9b756" on "[DATA_DOMAIN_NAME]" is empty.
YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS ERROR:  [@(#) Build number: 89] 29150751-672c-4c2c-9c60-b0ee3719884e:[VMMOREF]:[VIRTUAL_MACHINE_NAME]: Backup has FAILED.
YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS NOTICE: 29150751-672c-4c2c-9c60-b0ee3719884e:[VMMOREF]:[VIRTUAL_MACHINE_NAME]: Backup session is exiting

Cause

The target backup devices are on a remote storage node, which is running an older NetWorker major release compared to the NetWorker server. The NetWorker Server and NetWorker Storage nodes should be running the same version in the environment.

Resolution

The NetWorker Storage node should be upgraded to match the version of the NetWorker Server.
Article Properties
Article Number: 000029930
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 03 Oct 2025
Version:  5
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