PowerProtect Data Manager: VMDirect Application‑Aware SQL Assets Display as "Unprotected" Despite Backups Completing Successfully

Summary: SQL database assets protected through VMDirect application‑aware backups incorrectly display as "Unprotected" in the PowerProtect Data Manager Iinterface, even though backups complete successfully and backup copies remain available. This issue occurs when an administrator soft‑deletes a Host/AppServer asset source, re‑discovers the associated VMs, and re‑assigns them to a protection policy. The re‑discovery and re‑assignment process does not correctly restore the Protection Lifecycle (PLC) for the SQL assets, causing the UI to report them as unprotected. ...

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Symptoms

  • SQL assets show status as DELETED during the soft-delete phase
  • After VM re-discovery, VM status is DETECTED but SQL assets remain DELETED
  • After VM re-assignment to policy, SQL assets are discovered and status changes to AVAILABLE/AVAILABLE_NEW but without PLC
  • UI shows SQL assets as Unprotected
  • Audit logs may show assets being removed from protection policies
  • Discovery Exception: "Not assigned a protection policy" during appAwareCopyDiscovery phase

Cause

When Host/AppServer is soft-deleted, SQL assets are marked as DELETED. When the VM is re-discovered, SQL assets are NOT re-discovered (VM discovery does not discover SQL assets), so SQL assets remain in DELETED status. When the VM is assigned to a policy, the DELETED SQL assets are skipped. However, the policy assignment process DOES re-discover SQL assets, changing their status to AVAILABLE/AVAILABLE_NEW. But these re-discovered SQL assets are NOT assigned to the policy because the assignment already ran at the VM level and does not re-run for individual SQL assets.

Detail sequence:

  • VM is unassigned from the policy after one successful backup → PLC is removed from the VM
  • Host/AppServer is soft-deleted → SQL assets are marked as DELETED
  • VM is re-discovered → VM status changes to DETECTED (Note: VM discovery does not discover SQL assets)
  • VM is re-assigned to the policy → PLC assignment runs (Note: SQL assets are only discovered when the VM is assigned to a policy)
  • SQL assets remain DELETED → skipped by the PLC assignment filter 
  • SQL assets are re-discovered → status changes to DETECTED, but no PLC is assigned because the assignment already ran at the VM level

Resolution

The issue has been resolved in the PowerProtect release 20.2.0.0-14. Install the latest PowerProtect Data Manager release to resolve the symptom. The newest available releases are available on the PowerProtect Data Manager Drivers & Downloads page. If required, contact Dell Support for assistance or any further questions.

Article Properties
Article Number: 000489903
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 22 Jul 2026
Version:  2
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