NtBackup: "The backed up data is corrupt or incomplete"

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Simone Meggiato

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Every night I was used to perform a scripted backup of the virtual machines
(VMware server 1.x) that are on a Windows 2003 host server.
The VMs are suspended just before to invoke ntbackup and restored at the end.

Since a couple of weeks i get errors like this in the ntbackup log:

'WARNING: Portions of "\Virtual Machines\EureSolver\EureSolver-flat.vmdk"
cannot be read. The backed up data is corrupt or incomplete.'

It is always related to the large virtual disk .vmdk files.

the invoked ntbackup command line is:

'start /wait ntbackup backup "D:\Virtual Machines" /J "%NAME%" /T
"%NAMETAPE%" /N "%NAMETAPE%" /D "%NAME%" /V:no /L:f /M normal /HC:on /SNAP:on'

It is executed under local Administrator credentials.

Any Idea?

Thank you,
Simone meggiato
 
Re: NtBackup: "The backed up data is corrupt or incomplete"


"Simone Meggiato" <SimoneMeggiato@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:DA8E3596-3908-484D-B4A4-2B62614EA1A9@microsoft.com...
> Every night I was used to perform a scripted backup of the virtual
> machines
> (VMware server 1.x) that are on a Windows 2003 host server.
> The VMs are suspended just before to invoke ntbackup and restored at the
> end.
>
> Since a couple of weeks i get errors like this in the ntbackup log:
>
> 'WARNING: Portions of "\Virtual Machines\EureSolver\EureSolver-flat.vmdk"
> cannot be read. The backed up data is corrupt or incomplete.'
>
> It is always related to the large virtual disk .vmdk files.
>
> the invoked ntbackup command line is:
>
> 'start /wait ntbackup backup "D:\Virtual Machines" /J "%NAME%" /T
> "%NAMETAPE%" /N "%NAMETAPE%" /D "%NAME%" /V:no /L:f /M normal /HC:on
> /SNAP:on'
>
> It is executed under local Administrator credentials.
>
> Any Idea?
>
> Thank you,
> Simone meggiato

It could be that your shadow copy process has failed. You could
confirm it by running a similar backup job but selecting a file on a
spare disk or on networked PC as a destination.
 
Re: NtBackup: "The backed up data is corrupt or incomplete"

I tried turning /snap:off but the problem persists. Doing the backup
"manually" using the Ntbackup GUI works fine.

I'll give a try to your suggestion but it is not clear to me why selecting a
file as a destination should override problems with shadow copy...

Thank you,
Simone Meggiato

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>
> "Simone Meggiato" <SimoneMeggiato@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
> message news:DA8E3596-3908-484D-B4A4-2B62614EA1A9@microsoft.com...
> > Every night I was used to perform a scripted backup of the virtual
> > machines
> > (VMware server 1.x) that are on a Windows 2003 host server.
> > The VMs are suspended just before to invoke ntbackup and restored at the
> > end.
> >
> > Since a couple of weeks i get errors like this in the ntbackup log:
> >
> > 'WARNING: Portions of "\Virtual Machines\EureSolver\EureSolver-flat.vmdk"
> > cannot be read. The backed up data is corrupt or incomplete.'
> >
> > It is always related to the large virtual disk .vmdk files.
> >
> > the invoked ntbackup command line is:
> >
> > 'start /wait ntbackup backup "D:\Virtual Machines" /J "%NAME%" /T
> > "%NAMETAPE%" /N "%NAMETAPE%" /D "%NAME%" /V:no /L:f /M normal /HC:on
> > /SNAP:on'
> >
> > It is executed under local Administrator credentials.
> >
> > Any Idea?
> >
> > Thank you,
> > Simone meggiato
>
> It could be that your shadow copy process has failed. You could
> confirm it by running a similar backup job but selecting a file on a
> spare disk or on networked PC as a destination.
>
>
>
 
Re: NtBackup: "The backed up data is corrupt or incomplete"


"Simone Meggiato" <SimoneMeggiato@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:DD938E3A-498C-4067-9580-5388C37FBC9A@microsoft.com...
>I tried turning /snap:off but the problem persists. Doing the backup
> "manually" using the Ntbackup GUI works fine.
>
> I'll give a try to your suggestion but it is not clear to me why selecting
> a
> file as a destination should override problems with shadow copy...
>
> Thank you,
> Simone Meggiato

When trouble-shooting a problem that appears to have an unexplainable
cause then it is often useful to try various approaches, without having
a sound reason for doing so. Quite often the underlying cause will become
apparent during these tests.
 
Re: NtBackup: "The backed up data is corrupt or incomplete"

Pegasus,

> When trouble-shooting a problem that appears to have an unexplainable
> cause then it is often useful to try various approaches, without having
> a sound reason for doing so. Quite often the underlying cause will become
> apparent during these tests.

first I'd like to apologize if my words looked somewhat critical. In fact I
wanted only to know if there was a link between the problem and the suggested
solution that I couldn't understand.
Anyway, even if I agree that doing something is usually better than doing
nothing, I prefer a more rational, less philosophical, approach to
troubleshooting.

I tried to select a file on an external disk as a destination for the backup
but the problem is still there.

Any other ideas on what I should check?

Thank you,
Simone Meggiato
 
Re: NtBackup: "The backed up data is corrupt or incomplete"


"Simone Meggiato" <SimoneMeggiato@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:00D18FE5-3171-4D48-BEA6-D60C8858914B@microsoft.com...
> Pegasus,
>
>> When trouble-shooting a problem that appears to have an unexplainable
>> cause then it is often useful to try various approaches, without having
>> a sound reason for doing so. Quite often the underlying cause will become
>> apparent during these tests.
>
> first I'd like to apologize if my words looked somewhat critical. In fact
> I
> wanted only to know if there was a link between the problem and the
> suggested
> solution that I couldn't understand.
> Anyway, even if I agree that doing something is usually better than doing
> nothing, I prefer a more rational, less philosophical, approach to
> troubleshooting.
>
> I tried to select a file on an external disk as a destination for the
> backup
> but the problem is still there.
>
> Any other ideas on what I should check?
>
> Thank you,
> Simone Meggiato

I consider that questioning my suggestions is far superior than adopting
them blindly. I don't view this as "criticism" and no apology is required.
Furthermore my proposal was not so much philosophical but rather
pragmatic: It might have uncovered some relevant clue.

Since it did not and since I haven't experienced your problem myself,
I suggest you look for help elsewhere. Google gave me about 1,000
hits for the phrase "The backed up data is corrupt or incomplete", this
being one of them: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810411. If
this does not help you then I suggest you lodge a support call with
the nearest Microsoft office. For a surprisingly low fee they will resolve
this issue for you. Furthermore, if it turns out to be caused by a
Windows bug then you will get a full refund.

For the benefit of other posters it would be great if you posted your
final solution here. Regrettably too many posters become self-centered
when their problem is solved, thus leaving other posters with similar
problems out on a limb.
 
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