What to do if a SnapManager backup operation fails

If a SnapManager backup fails, check the backup report for details about what SnapManager was trying to do when the failure occurred. SnapManager reports are described in Chapter 11, Managing SnapManager Operational Reports. You can also review the following list of common backup failures:

Snapshot limit reached

If any of the volumes containing the LUNs being backed up reach the Snapshot limit of 255--whether those Snapshot copies were created by SnapManager or not--SnapManager backup fails. For more information about the Snapshot copy limit, see Maximum number of Snapshot copies per volume.

Backup Snapshot copies can be automatically deleted

To avoid reaching the per-volume Snapshot copy limit in the future, you can automatically delete the oldest backup Snapshot copies in a backup management group. Automatic backup deletion is performed only after a backup finishes successfully. For more information, see Automatic deletion of the oldest backups in a management group.

Backup Snapshot copies can be explicitly deleted

Backup Snapshot copies can also be explicitly selected for deletion. For a description of the Snapshot copy naming convention, which helps identify the Snapshot copy contents, see SnapManager Snapshot naming conventions. For more information, see Explicitly deleting backup Snapshot copies using SnapManager.

Restore Snapshot copies can be explicitly deleted

For a description of restore Snapshot copies, see How SnapManager Restore works. For a description of how to view and delete these Snapshot copies, see Deleting restored Snapshot copies. SnapManager displays restore Snapshot copies only in the Delete Backups dialog box when the Delete Snapshot of LUNs Created During Restore option is selected.

SnapInfo directory being accessed

Because a SnapManager backup might include renaming a SnapInfo subdirectory and Windows does not allow a directory name to be changed while it is being accessed, accessing the SnapInfo directory with a tool such as Windows Explorer could cause the backup to fail. Make sure that you do not hold any exclusive access to the SnapInfo directory on the SQL Server host system while a backup is progress.

SnapInfo directory out of space

Expand the LUN that contains the SnapInfo directory.

Note
When you expand a LUN, make sure that sufficient space remains in the volume for Snapshot copy creation, so that SnapManager can continue to function correctly. For more information about volume sizing, see Assessing volume size.

Data does not match

This error occurs if you made changes to your SQL Server database configuration after SnapManager was started. Any of the following actions will refresh your SnapManager view:

Press F5 on your keyboard.
From the SnapManager main window, select Action > Refresh SQL Server Configuration.
Restart SnapManager.

Snapshot copy already exists

Either of the following circumstances might cause this error to occur:

The system clock on the host running SnapManager might not be synchronized with the clock on the storage system. These two clocks must be synchronized in order for SnapDrive to function correctly. For more information, see the Data ONTAP Software Setup Guide for your version of Data ONTAP.
If a SnapMirror replication is running when you attempt to initiate a SnapManager backup, the backup can fail. You can avoid this problem by making sure that any SnapMirror replications have enough time to finish before you initiate another SnapManager backup.

SnapManager server initialization failed

Either of the following circumstances might cause this error to occur:

You have exited the SnapManager application, but one or both of the following processes are still running:
- SnapMgrSql.exe
- SmSqlSrvr.exe
To correct this problem, use Windows Task Manager to terminate any orphaned SnapManager processes.
The permissions associated with the SnapManager service account, or the service account itself, have been changed. In this case, SnapManager might not function correctly.
For information about the SnapManager service account requirements, see SnapManager service account requirements.

A database "not in valid configuration" was not backed up

If a SnapManager backup operation attempts to back up an SQL Server database for which the Auto Shrink option is enabled, the backup operation might fail with the following message in the backup report:

WARNING: Database DatabaseName of ServerName is not in valid 
configuration, and will not be included in this backup.

To avoid this problem, do not enable the Auto Shrink option for SQL Server databases that you back up using SnapManager.

[DBMSLPCN] ConnectionRead (WrapperRead())

If the SnapManager host system is running SQL Server 2005, a SnapManager backup operation might fail with the following message in the backup report:

[Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][DBMSLPCN]ConnectionRead (WrapperRead()).

To avoid this problem, install MDAC 2.8 SP1 on the Windows host. See Windows host system requirements.