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Title
Oracle VSS Writer failure and Windows Event ID 44 -
Description
The transfer failed: 'There was a problem with the VSS subsystem on 'DBABCDEF'.' ---> System.AggregateException: One or more errors occurred. ---> Replay.Core.Contracts.Transfer.VssGeneralErrorException: There was a problem with the VSS subsystem on 'DBABCDEF'. ---> Replay.Agent.Contracts.ShadowCopy.ShadowCopyWriterFailedException: The VSS writer 'Oracle VSS Writer - test1234' failed during the 'PrepareForBackup' phase with error WriterErrorNonRetryable. The VSS writer state is FailedAtPrepareBackup ---> Replay.Common.Contracts.ReplayException
Login to the Oracle Agent and check the windows application logs for windows event ID 44 that will show error :
Log Name: ApplicationSource: Oracle.VSSWriter.ORCLDate: 1/30/2018 5:00:00 PMEvent ID: 44Task Category: (255)Level: ErrorKeywords: ClassicUser: N/AComputer: ABC1234Description:VSS-00044: Database in NOARCHIVELOG mode must be in a consistent state for backup.Cause : The database was open read/write or mounted after a SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE or SHUTDOWN ABORT.Action : Either mount the database in a consistent state or open it read-only to back up the database files. -
Cause
This error appears only for databases operating in NOARCHIVELOG mode.A database operating in NOARCHIVELOG mode cannot be backed up when it’s in an inconsistent state.The Oracle VSS Writer detects the database state before creating a shadow copy, and won’t allow to do this if the database is in inconsistent state. -
Resolution
Workaround
1st- Click on agent in core ui select settings then select transfer. Next scroll down to the excluded VSS writers section and exclude the Oracle VSS writer.
PLEASE NOTE
Using this workaround, you can skip this Oracle VSS Writer failure and make image-level backup of your system. However, please note the following restrictions:Your database files for this particular Oracle SID will be still in inconsistent state and may be unrecoverable.If any other database doesn’t have VSS writer installed, database files for such databases may be in a crash-consistent state too.Doing this you confirm that such databases are being backed up by a different or native RMAN solution. It’s important to keep databases in a consistent state in order to be able to restore them. You can choose to refer this task to your DBA or to Oracle support if necessary.2nd- Have the Oracle DBA change the Oracle database into ARCHIVELOG MODE from NOARCHIVELOG MODE so that the Oracle VSS writer is able to take a proper Oracle VSS snapshot.