Troubleshooting scheduled snapshots

When scheduling snapshots using the Quick Recovery Configuration Wizard or the VSS Snapshot Scheduler Wizard, you can use the information in the following table to help avoid problems or troubleshoot situations.

Situation

Resolution

Snapshots do not occur on a scheduled date.

The date may have been excluded under "Specific Dates" on the schedule. Excluding a date takes precedence over other days scheduled.

A snapshot is not taken on the date that you create the schedule, although that date is specified as the "Schedule takes effect on date".

The date shown in the Schedule takes effect on field is used as a run day only if no other run days are specified. If you specify other run days, the schedule starts running on the earliest day specified.

If you want the current date included in a schedule, specify it as an Include date on the Specific Dates tab.

A scheduled snapshot does not occur for an imported template schedule.

If you import a template that uses the current date as the "takes effect on" date, but part of the schedule cannot be implemented for the current date, the effective date is shifted to the following day.

For example, if the schedule includes two daily snapshots, one in the morning and one at night, and you import the schedule in the afternoon, neither of the snapshots occur on the current date. Both occur the following day.

While running the Quick Recovery Wizard to modify template settings, the existing settings are not displayed.

If a scheduled snapshot operation is occurring on the selected object at the same time that you select the object in the wizard, the wizard is temporarily unable to display the existing settings.

You can try running the wizard later.

A schedule is unavailable to be edited in the Quick Recovery Wizard.

Expired schedules cannot be edited.

Instead, delete the expired schedule and add a new one.

You want to use the VSS Scheduler wizard but the Applications node is not shown in the VEA.

You may need to refresh the VEA display to see the node.

You are unable to locate a snapshot set XML file.

The VSS Snapshot Scheduler Wizard assigns a prefix of "VM_" to the name you assign.

Drive letters assignments for snapshot volumes do not occur.

If time elapses between when you use the wizard to assign drive letters and when the snapshot operation occurs, a drive letter you assigned may become unavailable. When this occurs, the snapshot operation is performed, but no drive letters are assigned.

You can assign or change drive letters or mount paths in Veritas Enterprise Administrator.

A scheduled snapshot fails after you have done a manual snapback (reattach) of one or more of the snapshot volumes in the snapshot set.

When a snapback is done manually for a volume rather than by using the VSS Snapback wizard or allowing the scheduler to handle it, the XML metadata file is not deleted. To take the next scheduled snapshot, the scheduler attempts to reattach all the volumes specified in the XML metadata file and fails because one or more are already reattached. Therefore, the snapshot also fails.

To ensure that the next scheduled snapshot works correctly, use the VSS Snapback wizard (or the vxsnap utility) to reattach using the XML file.

Two databases are on the same volume. You run the Quick Recovery wizard to schedule the first database. You then run it again to schedule a snapshot for the second database on the same disk. But the mirror preparation for the first database is not yet complete.

The following problems can occur:

  • When running the wizard, the second time, it does not update the available disk space shown for the disk where the first snapshot is scheduled.

  • Mirror preparation for the second database fails.

You can choose from the following ways to avoid these problems:

  • Include both databases in the snapshot when running the wizard the first time.

  • Select a different disk for the second snapshot mirror when running the wizard the second time.

  • Wait for the mirror preparation for the first snapshot to finish before running the wizard to schedule the second snapshot.

In addition, when troubleshooting, you may want to review the following logs.

If a schedule fails, check the scheduler service logs in the following folder:

C:\Program Files\Veritas\Veritas Volume Manager\logs\SchedService.log

If a snapshot fails, check the VxSnap.log file in the following folder:

C:\Program Files\Veritas\Veritas Volume Manager\logs

Quick Recovery Configuration wizard log files are located in the following path:

C:\ProgramData\Veritas\winsolutions\log