PowerProtect DM: SQL Application-Aware Restore Fails, "Another vProxy Operation 'Backup' Is Active on VM"

An administrator attempts to perform a SQL restore from an application-aware backup in PowerProtect Data Manager. An application-aware backup is running on the same virtual machine at the time of the restore attempt. The restore fails with the following error:

msagentrc: Unable to mount the backup images: (HTTP 404 Not Found)

The vProxy mount session log at /opt/emc/vproxy/runtime/logs/vproxyd/mount-[SESSION_ID].log shows the VM Direct engine cannot lock the VM because a backup operation is already active:

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.SSSZ ERROR: [Gold] Another vProxy operation 'Backup' is already active on VM [VM_MOREF]:{Operation:Backup StartTime:YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Proxy:[PPDM_FQDN] SessionId:[SESSION_ID]}
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.SSSZ ERROR: [Gold] Cannot lock VM '[VM_NAME]' ([VM_MOREF]).
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.SSSZ INFO: [Gold] Step 'Verifying connectivity' done: Failed
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.SSSZ INFO: [Gold] Unmounting after mount unsuccessful: Cannot lock VM '[VM_NAME]' ([VM_MOREF]): Another vProxy operation 'Backup' is already active on VM [VM_MOREF]:

The VM Direct engine enforces a single-operation lock per virtual machine. Only one vProxy operation (backup or restore) can be active on a given VM at any time. When an application-aware backup is running on a VM and an administrator simultaneously initiates a restore for the same VM, the VM Direct engine cannot acquire the lock for the restore operation because the backup already holds it.

This behavior is by design. The VM Direct engine does not support concurrent backup and restore operations on the same virtual machine to prevent data consistency issues.

Options:

1. Wait for the Active Backup to Complete
   • Identify whether a backup is currently running on the VM by checking the PowerProtect Data Manager UI under Jobs → Protection Jobs or by reviewing the vProxy mount session log for the other vProxy operation 'Backup' that is already active message.
   • Wait for the active backup to complete before initiating the restore.
2. Schedule Restores Outside of Backup Windows
   • To avoid this conflict, schedule restore operations outside of the backup window for the affected VM. Review the protection policy schedule for the VM and identify a time when no backups are running.
3. Retry the Restore
   • After confirming no backup operation is active on the VM, re-initiate the SQL restore from the application-aware backup.
   • Confirm the restore completes successfully without the "Unable to mount the backup images" or "Cannot lock VM" errors.
4. If the restore continues to fail after confirming no concurrent backup is running on the VM, contact Dell Support for further investigation and reference this article ID.