Backups or quiesced snapshots for a Windows VM fails with "'VssSyncStart' operation failed: IDispatch error #8451 (0x80042303)"

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Quiesced Snapshots are failing for a Windows VM
• Likewise, 3rd party backups are failing as well
• when reviewing the vmware.log of the VM, the following errors can be found:

  2024-02-20T11:18:23.933Z In(05) vmx - Msg_Post: Warning
  2024-02-20T11:18:23.933Z In(05) vmx - [msg.snapshot.quiesce.vmerr] The guest OS has reported an error during quiescing.
  2024-02-20T11:18:23.933Z In(05)+ vmx - The error code was: 5
  2024-02-20T11:18:23.933Z In(05)+ vmx - The error message was: 'VssSyncStart' operation failed: IDispatch error #8451 (0x80042303)

 

• The Windows Application Event log in the guest OS holds error events ID 8193 from VSS similar to the one below:

  Log Name:      Application
  Source:        VSS
  Date:          20/02/2024 11:15:06
  Event ID:      8193
  Task Category: None
  Level:         Error
  Keywords:      Classic
  User:          N/A
  Computer:      redacted
  Description:
  Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Unexpected error calling routine CLSIDFromString({564d7761-7265-2056-5353-000000010000}).  hr = 0x80070002, The system cannot find the file specified.
  . 
  
  Operation:
     Unregistering Provider
  
  Context:
     Provider ID: {564d7761-7265-2056-5353-2050726f7669}
  Event Xml:
  <Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
    <System>
      <Provider Name="VSS" />
      <EventID Qualifiers="0">8193</EventID>
      <Level>2</Level>
      <Task>0</Task>
      <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
      <TimeCreated SystemTime="2024-02-20T11:15:06.9357670Z" />
      <EventRecordID>7090</EventRecordID>
      <Channel>Application</Channel>
      <Computer>redacted</Computer>
      <Security />
    </System>
    <EventData>
      <Data>CLSIDFromString({564d7761-7265-2056-5353-000000010000})</Data>
      <Data>0x80070002, The system cannot find the file specified.
  </Data>
      <Data>
  
  Operation:
     Unregistering Provider
  
  Context:
     Provider ID: {564d7761-7265-2056-5353-2050726f7669}</Data>
      <Binary>2D20436F64653A20434F525052564D4330303030313530322D2043616C6C3A20434F525052564D4330303030313339382D205049443A202030303030343934302D205449443A202030303030343934342D20434D443A2020433A5C57696E646F77735C73797374656D33325C76737376632E6578652020202D20557365723A204E616D653A204E5420415554484F524954595C53595354454D2C205349443A532D312D352D313820</Binary>
    </EventData>
  </Event>

Cause

This issue occurs when a stale registry key for the VMware Snapshot Provider is left in Windows registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\STSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VSS\Providers\{564d7761-7265-2056-5353-2050726f7669}

This key should only exist while a quiesced snapshot is being created or consolidated, but not before or after.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, follow the steps below:

• Connect to the Windows registry in the guest OS of the affected virtual machine using the regedit utility
• Export the registry branch HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\STSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VSS\Providers as backup
• In the branch, find the registry key {564d7761-7265-2056-5353-2050726f7669}
• Delete the key
• Exit regedit and reboot the virtual machine

Once these steps have been taken, please try taking a quiesced snapshot of the virtual machine to confirm the solution.