Troubleshooting vCenter Server Appliance VAMI backup

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

This article may assist with troubleshooting errors with the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) through the vSphere Appliance Management Interface (VAMI).

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 6.x

VMware vCenter Server 7.x

VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

Potential causes include:

• Required VCSA services are not running
• Problems with configuration files
• Problems with the VCSA database
• Known programming problems in older versions of VCSA

Resolution

The below articles are not inclusive of all issues that may be encountered. Issues regarding backing up the vCSA via the VAMI may be found within the /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/backup.log.

Unable to get VAMI backups to run:

Symptoms	Resolutions
Error "Path not exported by remote file system" and vCenter updated to 7.0 U3	VAMI Backup with SMB reports error: "Path not exported by the remote filesystem"
Backup hangs at 95% VCDB > 300 GB	vCenter 6.7 backup fails with ERROR: Timeout! Failed to complete in 72000 seconds after stuck at 95%
Error ""Stopped services: 'topologysvc'"	"Stopped services: 'topologysvc'" error running a VAMI backup
NFS or vSAN file service is target, Error "access denied"	VAMI based backup of vCenter Server 7.0 returns access denied for NFS and vSAN File Service target
SCP protocol backup fails, Error "Backup PNID is not resolved"	vCenter Server Appliance backup over SCP stuck between 40 - 60%
SFTP protocol backup fails, version < 7.0 U2	Not able to backup vCenter From VAMI using SFTP
SMB protocol backup fails, version = 6.7 U2	vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 U2 backup via SMB fails with error: "SMB location is invalid"
VAMI backup errors	"503 Service Unavailable" error on the vSphere Web Client when logging in or accessing the vCenter Server
Old VAMI backups not deleting	VCSA VAMI backup is failing to delete old backups according to retention policy
Other VAMI backup issues	vCenter Server Appliance backup progress not available on the VAMI page after upgrading to vSphere 6.7 Update

 

 

Additional Information

Backup and Restore options in vCenter Server 6.x/7.0.x - Overview

Impact/Risks:
Before making any configuration changes to vCenter Server, please ensure a good backup of the vCenter is available. If the file-based backup system isn't working, an image-based one may need to be used until the file-based backups are working properly.