VSS Checklist

Categories: XenServer, Hyper-V, Physical Systems, Alike v3, Alike v4


Introduction

Alike’s Q-Hybrid jobs require that VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) is configured properly on your VMs/targets. Below is a small checklist for ensuring your VSS is in working order.


Required Windows Services

Check to ensure the following services are in an “Enabled” state. Your services can be managed by navigating to Start–>Administrative Tools–>Services.

  • “Volume Shadow Copy” (Manual)
  • “MS Software Shadow Copy Provider” (Manual)
  • “COM+ Event System”
Check Your Available VSS Storage Space

You must be sure that you have sufficient ShadowStorage available for your VSS snapshots to function. On most Windows platforms, you can use the following command to resize your ShadowStorage as needed – please substitute your drives and sizes accordingly:

  • vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=[drive]: /On=[drive]: /MaxSize=[XX]GB
Check Your Writers

Running the following command will display all registered VSS Writers for your system. Note: Your writers should all return a “Stable” state.

vssadmin list writers


Final Notes

If you are still receiving these error codes after troubleshooting, please open a support ticket. See the KB article, “How to Use Quadric Support,” for instructions on how to open a ticket.

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