Veeam Backup and Replication Error: Failed to open VDDK Error Message

PROBLEM:

   Certain VMs are unable to being backed up due to error message Error: Failed to open VDDK disk datstore_name_VM_Name.vmdk] ( is read-only mode - [true] ) Failed to open virtual disk disk datstore_name_VM_Name.vmdk (flags: 4) Logon attempt with parameters [VC/ESX: [vcenter_server];Port: 443;Login: [account_name];VMX Spec: [moref=vm-56235];Snapshot mor: [snapshot-68079];Transports: [nbd];Read Only: [true]] failed because of the following errors: Failed to open disk for read. Failed to upload disk.

CAUSE:

This issue is related to connection between Backup Proxy and ESXi Host via Management Agent.

RESOLUTION:

Identify the VMs being affected, then see if they are all belong to the same host, then proceed to the following steps:

1. Log in to SSH or Local console as root on the host in question.

2. Run these commands:

     /etc/init.d/hostd restart
    /etc/init.d/vpxa restart

3. Run this command to verify if hostd is running:

    /etc/init.d/hostd status

4. If the ESXi Host is manage by a vCenter Server, run the following command to verify if the vpxa  is running:

    /etc/init.d/vpxa status

5. Re-Try the Backup Job.

    If the problem persist, ensure that the account you are using to run the job have full access to download files on the datastore by login in to vCenter with those credentials, then proceed to explorer the content on the datastore were the VMs affected resides, then open the VM folder and identify the file on the message. Try to download the file in question, if it fail with Access Denied or not have permissions, then the issue is related to permissions therefore, provide Administrator Role to the account on vCenter. Also, make sure you are using the right Transport Mode for your proxy or proxies, please refer to the Veeam Backup & Replication Documentation for more information pertaining Proxies and Transport Mode.


Hope this helps!

Update Manager 5.5 Stop working after Windows Server Updates

   
        A few weeks ago, I update my vCenter Server with the latest update from Microsoft. After installing the update and rebooted the server, update manager stopped working. I tried numerous things from reconnecting again the Server with the Database, rebooting the server and manually attempting to start the services but nothing seems to work.

        Well it is time to do some hardcore troubleshooting on this issue. First, I went to the event viewer under SYSTEM and nothing lead me to a particular error only an event id indicating that the service timeout after 1000 milliseconds. Then, I proceed to go on the vum-server-log4cpp.log and I found the following entry:

Failed to parse C:/Program Files (x86)/VMware/Infrastructure/Update Manager/jetty-vum-ssl.xml. Error: not well-formed (invalid token)

   Now we are making some progress, after I some research, I found an VMware KB indicating that the root cause was related to a file named jetty-vum-ssl.xml  got corrupted here is the Link for the KB Article https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2069750

So the two options you may have are:

1. Restore the File from a backup from a good state.
2. Uninstall and Re- Install Update Manager.

I recommend second option since the Restoring the file most of the time don't work. Re-Installing Update Manager it is fairly simple and quite fast. Hope this helps!