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

[Guest Simone Meggiato]

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

[Guest Pegasus \(MVP\)]

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.

[Guest Simone Meggiato]

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.

>

>

>

[Guest Pegasus \(MVP\)]

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.

[Guest Simone Meggiato]

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

[Guest Pegasus \(MVP\)]

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.