NetWorker: VM Restore Fails with error "5037 Illegal Operation"

Summary: A Virtual Machine (VM) recovery performed through the NetWorker VMware Protection (NVP) vProxy appliance fails with error 5037 (illegal operation).

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Symptoms

  • A VM restore is being performed through the NetWorker VMware Protection (NVP) vProxy appliance.
  • The saved recover log is available on the NetWorker server under:
    • Linux: /nsr/logs/recover
    • Windows: C:\Program Files\EMC NetWorker\nsr\logs\recover
  • The vProxy appliance that is used for recovery contains the recovery logs under:
    • /opt/emc/vproxy/runtime/logs/vrecoverd
    • /opt/emc/vproxy/runtime/logs/recycle/vrecoverd/
  • The recovery failed with "5037 - illegal operation"
  • VM backups to the same Data Domain fail with similar error messaging.

Cause

The NetWorker server can fully resolve the Data Domain; however, the vProxy appliance that is used for restoring the VM cannot.

Resolution

Ensure that the Data Domain is resolvable from the vProxy appliance:

nslookup address
NOTE: The Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), short name, and IP address should all resolve.

If the Data Domain is not resolvable, create a /etc/hosts file entry on the vProxy containing the IP address, FQDN, and shortname of the Data Domain system.

 
NOTE: The Data Domain must also be resolvable from the ESXi host the vProxy resides on to perform file-level recovery and instant recovery.

If the Data Domain is not resolvable, create a /etc/hosts file entry on the ESXi hosts containing the IP address, FQDN, and shortname of the Data Domain system.

Confirm the vProxy can resolve the Data Domain and connect to required ports using the ProxyHC utility: NVP-vProxy: How to use health check tool ProxyHC on vProxy appliance

./ProxyHC ports

Additional Information

Affected Products

NetWorker

Products

NetWorker Family, NetWorker Series
Article Properties
Article Number: 000206163
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 22 Oct 2025
Version:  5
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