Avamar: Administrator UI reports an incorrect Data Domain status due to an expired ddboost password

Summary: If the ddboost password is expired, Avamar is unable to log in to the Data Domain. This in turn causes incorrect reporting for the Data Domain status on the Avamar Administrator UI.

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Symptoms

Note: This is a reporting issue only and should not have any impact on backups.

If the Data Domain (DD) is reported as unresponsive and the backups are failing, stop following this knowledge article.
 

Avamar monitoring status for Data Domain changes to Yellow from Green on the Avamar Administrator UI.

One or more of the following errors may appear in the Avamar UI:
  • Error: Unable to get SNMP file system status
  • Error: Unable to get file system information
  • Error: Unable to get disk status
  • Error: Unable to retrieve ssh key
  • Error: Unable to get CPU statistics
 

On the Data Domain (as sysadmin, or any other account with admin privilege), the ddboost user is in a locked state:

user show list
User list from node "localhost".
Name        Uid   Role              Last Login From                   Last Login Time            Status    Disable Date
---------   ---   ---------------   -------------------------------   ------------------------   -------   ------------
sysadmin    100   admin             10.n.n.151                        Thu Apr 21 13:43:11 2022   enabled   never
BoostUser   500   admin             testavamar.company.com            Thu Apr 21 13:41:18 2022   locked    never
user11      501   admin             10.n.n.151                        Tue Mar  8 09:31:39 2022   enabled   never
user20      502   admin             10.n.n.64                         Tue Apr 12 12:34:41 2022   enabled   never
user40      503   admin             10.n.n.90                         Thu Apr 21 10:21:43 2022   enabled   never
dpauser     504   admin             never                                                        enabled   never
ddrbman     505   none              never                                                        enabled   never

In the example here, the ddboost user account is BoostUser.

 

If the ddboost user is not in a locked state, stop following this knowledge article and see Avamar: Troubleshooting Data Domain Integration Errors in the Avamar Administrator UI (Resolution Path).

 

Cause

This can occur for several reasons, including a recent upgrade (DDOS 5.6.x or greater has a default password-aging date of 90 days).

Resolution

1. Log in to the Data Domain as sysadmin (or any other user with admin privileges). 

2. Enable the ddboost user account:

user enable <ddboost_username>
 

Example:

user enable BoostUser
 

3. Verify that the ddboost user is now enabled:

user show list
User list from node "localhost".
Name        Uid   Role              Last Login From                   Last Login Time            Status    Disable Date
---------   ---   ---------------   -------------------------------   ------------------------   -------   ------------
sysadmin    100   admin             10.n.n.151                        Thu Apr 21 13:43:11 2022   enabled   never
BoostUser   500   admin             testavamar.company.com            Thu Apr 21 13:41:18 2022   enabled   never
user11      501   admin             10.n.n.151                        Tue Mar  8 09:31:39 2022   enabled   never
user20      502   admin             10.n.n.64                         Tue Apr 12 12:34:41 2022   enabled   never
user40      503   admin             10.n.n.90                         Thu Apr 21 10:21:43 2022   enabled   never
dpauser     504   admin             never                                                        enabled   never
ddrbman     505   none              never                                                        enabled   never
 

4. Modify the aging information to a higher value to prevent this from happening again in the next 90 days:

user password aging set <ddboost_username> max-days-between-change 99999"
 

Example:

user password aging set BoostUser  max-days-between-change 99999
User "BoostUser's" password aging information has been updated.
 

5. Verify that the aging information is modified for the ddboost user (command "user password aging show"):

user password aging show
User        Password       Minimum Days     Maximum Days     Warn Days       Disable Days   Status
            Last Changed   Between Change   Between Change   Before Expire   After Expire
---------   ------------   --------------   --------------   -------------   ------------   -------
BoostUser   Apr 21, 2022
 

6. Wait 30 minutes (1800s) for the next polling from MCS to Data Domain.

Additional Information

If an ssh login attempt from the Avamar to the Data Domain as the ddboost user is made, the following error can be seen:

sh BoostUser@"testdd.company.com"
Data Domain OS
You are required to change your password immediately (password aged)
Last login: Thu Apr 21 13:41:18 PDT 2026 from testavamar.company.com on ssh
WARNING: Your password has expired.
You must change your password now and login again!
Changing password for BoostUser.
(current) UNIX password:

Affected Products

Avamar Server

Products

Avamar, Avamar Server, Data Domain
Article Properties
Article Number: 000027367
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 12 May 2025
Version:  7
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