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Veeam Backup for Salesforce Backend Service Fails to Start After Upgrading to Version 3.2.1 or Later

KB ID: 4894
Product: Veeam Backup for Salesforce | 3.2.1
Published: 2026-08-04
Last Modified: 2026-08-04
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Challenge

After Veeam Backup for Salesforce is upgraded from version 2.1.1 or earlier to version 3.2.1 or later, the vbsf-backend service fails to start.

The state of the service can be confirmed with the following command:

sudo systemctl status vbsf-backend

The output shows that the service has failed to start:

[root@localhost yum.repos.d]# systemctl status vbsf-backend
● vbsf-backend.service - VBSF backend
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/vbsf-backend.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Mon 2026-08-03 08:54:21 CEST; 10s ago
  Process: 9960 ExecStart=/bin/bash -c cd /opt/vbsf/vbsf-backend && /usr/bin/java -XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions -XX:G1NewSizePercent=40 -Djdk.http.auth.tunneli>
 Main PID: 9960 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
Aug 03 08:54:21 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: vbsf-backend.service: Service RestartSec=100ms expired, scheduling restart.
Aug 03 08:54:21 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: vbsf-backend.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 5.
Aug 03 08:54:21 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: Stopped VBSF backend.
Aug 03 08:54:21 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: vbsf-backend.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
Aug 03 08:54:21 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: vbsf-backend.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Aug 03 08:54:21 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: Failed to start VBSF backend.
Terminal output showing the vbsf-backend service in a failed state.

Cause

This issue occurs because Veeam Backup for Salesforce 3.2.1 requires OpenJDK 21, while version 2.1.1 and earlier required OpenJDK 11.

The OpenJDK 21 package is installed automatically as a dependency of the vbsf-backend package. The upgrade does not, however, change which Java version is active on the server. If OpenJDK 11 was previously set as the active version through the Linux alternatives mechanism, it remains active after the upgrade.

Because the vbsf-backend service starts Java through the generic /usr/bin/java path, OpenJDK 11 continues to be used after the upgrade. OpenJDK 11 is not compatible with Veeam Backup for Salesforce 3.2.1 or later, so the service fails to start.

Only upgrades from version 2.1.1 or earlier are affected. Upgrades from version 3.0.0 or later are not affected, as those versions do not use OpenJDK 11.

Solution

Servers Shared with Other Java Applications
OpenJDK 11 is not removed during the upgrade and may remain installed for other purposes on the same server. Setting the active Java version changes which version /usr/bin/java points to system-wide. Before this change is applied in production, confirm that it does not conflict with other Java-dependent applications running on the same server.

This issue affects only servers on which OpenJDK 11 was set as the active Java version before the upgrade. The following steps are performed after the upgrade to Veeam Backup for Salesforce 3.2.1 or later has completed.

  1. Connect to the Veeam Backup for Salesforce server over SSH and check which Java version is currently active:
    • For RHEL-based distros:
sudo alternatives --display java
  • For Ubuntu
sudo update-alternatives --display java
  1. In the output, review the link currently points to line.
    • If it points to a path containing java-11-openjdk, continue with the remaining steps.
    • If it already points to a path containing java-21-openjdk, the active Java version is not the cause of the failure and the remaining steps do not apply.
  2. Start the interactive selection of the active Java version:
    • For RHEL-based distros:
sudo alternatives --config java
  • For Ubuntu
sudo update-alternatives --config java
  1. From the list of installed Java versions, enter the number that corresponds to the java-21-openjdk path shown in the output of step 1.
  2. Confirm that OpenJDK 21 is now active:
java -version
  1. Restart the vbsf-backend service:
sudo systemctl stop vbsf-backend
sudo systemctl start vbsf-backend
sudo systemctl status vbsf-backend

More Information

Related Documentation

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