Challenge
This article explains how to collect additional VSS diagnostic data with the VSSTrace tool that is a component of the Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK).
Cause
Veeam products use Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) for a variety of tasks. Sometimes it is necessary to go through the underlying VSS processes to check what method experiences issues.
VSSTrace can be used to trace VSS applications and get a detailed output that contains possible VSS error codes and events on Windows 7 and later. For details, see this Microsoft article.
Solution
Here are the steps on tow to collect diagnostic data:
- Download the VSSTrace tool.
- Save the file on the Veeam Agent machine. For example, C:\Users\Username\Downloads.
- Run Command Prompt as Administrator.
- Change directory to the folder with the VSSTrace tool. For example, cd C:\Users\Username\Downloads
- Launch the VSSTrace tool with the following command:
vsstrace +f 0xffff -l 255 -o vsstrace.log
Mind that Log Level must be 255. For details about additional log levels, see this Microsoft Enterprise Platforms Support article. - Start the backup job
- Once the backup job fails, press [Ctrl + C] to stop logs collection. The output file can be found in the folder where VSSTrace is saved (Step 2).