Challenge
While using Virtual Appliance Mode, a VMDK is not removed from the Veeam Proxy.
Cause
The VMware API call to remove the VMDK was not received or did not complete properly.
Another possible cause for VMDKs to not being removed successfully is a backup or replication job creating a snapshot against the backup proxy while in use. See solutions for this event in next section.
Solution
Through vSphere, you should be able to right-click the Veeam Proxy VM and select edit settings. Look for the Hard disks attached to the VM. Normally the stuck disks will be listed at the bottom. See below:
You should also be able to identify the disks by the name and the datastore they are in under the disk file box (top right).
To remove them, select the disk by clicking on it and select remove at the top right. The below will be shown:
Under removal options choose “remove from virtual machine” DO NOT choose the option that deletes it from disk (the second option).
We add the disk as Independent Nonpersistent, so we do not need to worry about making changes in Windows or removing it from disk management.
After successfully removing the disk, you will need to remove the snapshot the VM being backed up is running on.
To do this, right-click the VM in vSphere and select snapshot then snapshot manager. The below box will appear.
Select the snapshot (named TEMP in this example) and select “delete” and confirm the removal. This will consolidate all the changes back into the base VMDK of the VM.
If your backup and/or replication jobs from the previous section are found to be the root cause please remove the backup proxy from the job(s) and/or add exclusions to prevent them from being proceed.