NVP vProxy: VM backup fails with "Error received from vProxy Request is missing list of virtual disks to backup."

Summary: The backup of a virtual machine (VM) fails with the following message in the backup action log "Request is missing list of virtual disks to backup." The log identifies VM disks that are configured as Independent disks in VMware. ...

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Symptoms

The NetWorker VMware Protection (NVP) integration is configured with the vProxy Appliance. The backup action fails with the following error logged:

MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS VM-NAME: Unable to start backup on vProxy 'VPROXY-NAME': Received an HTTP code: 400, libCURL message: "", vProxy message: "Error received from vProxy ="-400: Request is missing list of virtual disks to backup.". \
", url: "https://VPROXY-NAME:9090/api/v1/BackupVmSessions", body: "{"Config":{"SessionId":"","LogTag":"@(#) Build number: 127","IdleTimeout":300,"LogLevel":"INFO","AcceptedLanguage":"en","TransportModeRequested":"hotadd:nbd",\
"Parallelism":1,"UseCbt":true,"AutoEnableCbt":true,"AutoRepairCbt":true,"VimServerRef":{"HostName":"VCENTER-NAME","UserName":"USER-NAME","UserPassword":"****","TcpPort":0,"HypervisorMode":"vSphere"},"VmSpec":{"Name":"VM-NAME",\
"VmMoref":"VM-MOREF","VirtualDisks":[],"IndependentDisks":[{"Label":"Hard disk 1","Key":2000},{"Label":"Hard disk 2","Key":2001}],"CustomFieldName":"Last EMC vProxy Backup","CustomFieldValue":"Backup Server=NSR-NAME, Policy=POLICY-NAME, Workflow=WORKFLOW-NAME, Action=ACTION-...\
...
removed
...
MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS Final Summary of VMs:
MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS 0 canceled backups
MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS 1 failed backups
MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS 0 successful backups
MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS 0 waiting backups
MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS 0 running backups
MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS 0 savesets output to next action
MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS Action backup vmware-vproxy 'ACTION-NAME' with job id 185235 is exiting with status 'failed', exit code 1
MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS Action has finished with failures.
MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS Total number of static VM's selected: 1.
MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS No excluded VM's are present.
MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS Total number of merged VM's obtained from static and dynamic association: 1.

Cause

The VM contains independent disks, which do not allow VM snapshots. The vProxy backup workflow requires a VM snapshot to protect the virtual disk data.

Resolution

Switch the VM disk mode from "Independent" to "Dependent." 

WARNING: Check with the VM admin in case there is a reason the disk mode is independent and cannot be changed.
  1. Log in to the vSphere web client.
  2. Navigate to the VM with the independent disks and shutdown the VM
  3. Right-click the VM and select Edit Settings.
  4. Expand the Hard Disks and change Disk Mode from Independent to Dependent.
  5. Power on the VM.
  6. Run a new backup for the VM.

Additional Information

If the disk must remain in Independent mode, exclude it from the VM selection in the NetWorker Protection Group.
excluding VM disk from backup

To backup data on the independent disk, install the NetWorker client software on the VM. Configure a NetWorker client on the NetWorker server to perform client-based backups of the data. See the NetWorker Installation and NetWorker Administration guides for instructions. https://www.dell.com/support/product-details/product/networker/docs

Affected Products

NetWorker

Products

NetWorker Series
Article Properties
Article Number: 000189423
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 04 May 2025
Version:  5
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