Random failure of scheduled backup of VMs with Cohesity

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• Scheduled backup intermittently fails with random errors like the below.

vm_config_filepath: "[DatastoreName] VM_Name/VM_Name.vmx"
    error {
      type: kVixError
      error_msg: "[#-#-###] [Code 13] You do not have access rights to this file"
    } 

or  

kVixError error_msg: "[#-#-###] [Code 14009] The server refused connection"
kVixError error_msg: "[#-#-###] [Code 13] You do not have access rights to this file"

• Relaunching the failed backup jobs later or the next day results in the backup completing.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server Version: 7.x
VMware ESXi Version: 7.x
Cohesity backup solution

Cause

Loss of connection as the Proxy VM could not connect to the server (No route to host).

Resolution

• Check the network stability by carrying out connectivity checks
• Work with Cohesity to identify the path failure to the backup server
• See this Cohesity KB (requires Cohesity account login)