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Veeam Backup & Replication or Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows jobs with Application-Aware Processing fail to process a Windows guest with Oracle database installed. The following symptoms are observed. The job fails with this or a similar error: Creating VSS snapshot Error: Failed to create snapshot: Backup job failed. Cannot create a shadow copy of the volumes containing writer's data. A VSS critical writer has failed. Writer name: [Oracle VSS Writer - ORCL]. Class ID: [{26d02976-b909-43ad-af7e-62a4f625e372}]. Instance ID: [{f58dfa7d-06fa-485c-87fb-29649223a590}]. Writer's state: [VSS_WS_FAILED_AT_PREPARE_BACKUP]. Error code: [0x800423f4]. At the same time, you observe a critical event with EventID 44 in the "Application" Windows event log on the machine: Log Name: Application Source: Oracle.VSSWriter.ORCL Date: 5/30/2018 5:04:03 AM Event ID: 44 Task Category: (255) Level: Error Keywords: Classic User: N/A Computer: DB.VEEAM.LOCAL Description: VSS-00044: Database in NOARCHIVELOG mode must be in a consistent state for backup. Cause : The database was open read/write or mounted after a SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE or SHUTDOWN ABORT. Action : Either mount the database in a consistent state or open it read-only to back up the database files. Creating VSS snapshot Error: Failed to create snapshot: Backup job failed. Cannot create a shadow copy of the volumes containing writer's data. A VSS critical writer has failed. Writer name: [Oracle VSS Writer - ORCL]. Class ID: [{26d02976-b909-43ad-af7e-62a4f625e372}]. Instance ID: [{f58dfa7d-06fa-485c-87fb-29649223a590}]. Writer's state: [VSS_WS_FAILED_AT_PREPARE_BACKUP]. Error
This error appears only for databases operating in NOARCHIVELOG mode. A database operating in NOARCHIVELOG mode cannot be backed up when it’s in an inconsistent state. The Oracle VSS Writer detects the state of the database prior to creating a shadow copy and refuses the shadow copy if the database is in an inconsistent state.
This VSS failure is triggered by the Oracle VSS Writer component. If the database needs to be kept in NOARCHIVELOG mode, there is no proper fix from the Veeam configuration side, as Oracle provides this component and does its own checks before database processing. To properly resolve this issue, a database administrator would need to return the database to a consistent state. Alternatively, the database could be switched to enable ARCHIVELOG mode.
Workaround There is a workaround to skip this Oracle VSS Writer failure. However Please note that doing so you accept all liability and affirm that you are using a different method to backup and protect the databases.
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