Issue with Windows Server backup

Question

I have windows server 2008 r2 installed, Only service running on it is hyper-v.

I am trying to take backup using windows server backup feature and it fails with following error in eventlog

The backup operation that started at '?2009?-?08?-?22T18:42:14.123000000Z' has failed because the Volume Shadow Copy Service operation to create a shadow copy of the volumes being backed up failed with following error code '2155348129'. Please review the event details for a solution, and then rerun the backup operation once the issue is resolved.

Above error itself is point to other event logs for more detail but i can't find anything in event logs

Then i ran following command

vssadmin list writers

It had following out of ordinary in list

Writer name: 'Microsoft Hyper-V VSS Writer' Writer Id: {66841cd4-6ded-4f4b-8f17-fd23f8ddc3de} Writer Instance Id: {d15c5f78-121c-464f-b23b-f285e919b05c} State: [8] Failed Last error: Inconsistent shadow copy

How could i resolve this?

Answer 1

Do any of the VMs you're trying to back up contain dynamic disks? (That's in disk management within the VM, dynamic disks as opposed to basic disks. Not dynamically expanding VHDs)

To quote Microsoft:

When you perform a backup of the virtual machines, you must back up all volumes that host files for the virtual machine, including the InitialStore.xml file (in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V, by default) and the volume(s) containing the VHD(s) and configuration XML files. For example, if the virtual machine configuration files are stored on the D: volume, and the virtual machine virtual hard disk (VHD) files are stored on the E: volume, and InitialStore.xml file is stored on the C: volume, you must back up the C:, D: and E: volumes. Virtual machines that do not have Integration Services installed will be put in a saved state while the VSS snapshot is created. Virtual machines that are running operating systems that do not support VSS, such as Microsoft Windows 2000 or Windows XP, will be put in a saved state while the VSS snapshot is created. Virtual machines that contain dynamic disks must be backed up offline.