"An error occurred while quiescing the virtual machine." (4036448)

"An error occurred while quiescing the virtual machine."

When vRanger tries to take a snapshot it fails with the following message: "Error: API Call failed with message: An error occurred while quiescing the virtual machine. See the virtual machine's event log for details." The vSphere logs state: The guest OS has reported an error during quiescing. The error code was: 5 The error message was: 'VmBackupOnFreeze' operation failed. The guest OS has reported an error during quiescing. The error code was: 2 The error message was: Custom quiesce script failed.

A possible cause is one or more VSS Writers has an error or a VSS Provider other than the Windows System provider has been installed on the VM.

On the VM with the Quiesce snapshot issue logon and open a command prompt with elevated privilages. Enter the folowing commands:

- vssadmin list providers

  - if anything other than 'Microsoft Software Shadow Copy provider' is listed this may be interfering with the VMware Tools VSS call. Remove the non Microsoft provider and reinstall VMware Tools. Then try job again.

- vssadmin list writers

  - all listed writers should show a State: [1] Stable and Last error: No Error. If any writer lists a state other than 1 or a Last error other than No error you will need to resolve the issue with that VSS Writer. This may require a reboot.

Verify from vSphere Web client that Quiesced Snapshots can be performed without the backup software.

From the inventory right-click the VM | Snapshots | Take Snapshots | uncheck "Include VM's memory" and check "Quiesce guest file system".