VMware_VDDK: Insufficient permissions in the host operating system

We are having the same issue. We just emailed support, if we get anything back I will post

Hello Aldous, Mike,

the issue seems to be an unknown one and therefore an investigation is needed.

Please gather debug logs and detailed information about environment and attach this info to your support requests.

Thank you.

We are having the same problem. ESXi 5.0.0 504890 trying to backup a Windows Server 2008 VM. Acronis for VMWare upgraded from VMprotect 9 a few weeks ago.

Laurence

Hi,

i'm encountering the same error here (ESXi 5.1 Build 1483097). It's just happening with one VM running Windows Server 2012 (VM is a Domain Controller). When having a deeper look into the logs it's complaining it can't find the AD VSS Writer: "Interner Fehler: Der VSS Writer mit der ID: Active Directory Domain Services (NTDS) VSS Writer wurde nicht gefunden".

It did check with "vssadmin list writers", all VSS Writers are there and without faults. The AD Writer seems to be there too:

Verfassername: "NTDS"
Verfasserkennung: {b2014c9e-8711-4c5c-a5a9-3cf384484757}
Verfasserinstanzkennung: {6937d153-7faf-4ff8-8fab-89a7640e6c7b}
Status: [1] Stabil
Letzter Fehler: Kein Fehler

Any hints would be highly appreciated!

Kind regards

janosch

Same issue here.

using latest vmProtect 9 Build 10007

Connecting to vCenter 5.5, and a host with 5.5

Attempting to backup an application aware Windows Server 2012 VM (SQL installed, and the vmProtect Agent installed) results in

VMware_VDDK: Insufficient permissions in the host operating system

This worked fine before upgrading to vcenter 5.5

I'm going to start a ticket.

Same error here since upgrading to Acronis Backup für VMware Agent (Build 9.0.10007):

VMware_VDDK: Insufficient permissions in the host operating system
Zusätzliche Info:
--------------------
Fehlercode: 208
Module: 83
Zeileninfo: c61573f663f5d76e
Felder: code : 3014
Nachricht: VMware_VDDK: Insufficient permissions in the host operating system
--------------------

We are still using vCenter/ESXi 4.1 fully patched...

Hi everyone,

We are currently investigating this problem with our development team (internal ticket ID for reference: TTASK-7942). Basically the backup completes successfully despite this error message and in fact it is fully functional and recoverable, so the problem is in some incorrect API call which triggers the error. Please contact our support team with reference to this thread, so that we can help with further troubleshooting.

Thank you.
--
Best regards,
Vasily
Acronis Backup for VMware Program Manager

Hi everyone,

Here's what we have found during our investigation:

The problem is a known VDDK issue (http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vddk/VDDK-501-ReleaseNotes.html#knownissues). Quote:

"EndAccess sometimes does not reenable relocation after PrepareForAccess.

With vCenter Server managing vMotion on ESX/ESXi hosts, the VDDK 5.0 library routine VixDiskLib_PrepareForAccess() followed by VixDiskLib_EndAccess() occasionally does not change virtual-machine state to reenable relocation after backup. This seems more likely to occur when VixDiskLib_PrepareForAccess() is called twice in a row (the second call gets a “[migration] already disabled” response). Additionally the message “Insufficient permission in the host operating system” (error 3014, VIX_E_HOST_USER_PERMISSIONS) could appear after these calls. The two problems might or might not be related. Neither is easily reproducible. Processes running as Administrator or root should be able to change migration state."

One of the changes made in 10007 build of Acronis Backup for VMware was adding an additional protection functionality which disables Storage vMotion temporarily for the backed up VM for duration of the backup process, so this explains why you may see such error in the log file after the update (due to the above issue the Storage vMotion may not be disabled).

VixDiskLib_PrepareForAccess/VixDiskLib_EndAccess blocks Storage vMotion during backup, so if you do not migrate and backup simultaneously everything will be ok.

Note however that this error does not affect the backup result and it must be shown as completed successfully in the log file (and in fact). If you see a different behavior, i.e. the backup is not created properly (is not marked as successful or is not recoverable), then it is a different problem, unrelated to the error described here and you should still contact our support team for further investigation.

The proper fix for this error involves updating the VMware VDDK modules version. We have done this task for Acronis Backup 12 product. However there is no fix planned for the 9th version of Acronis Backup for VMware (former vmProtect), since the new VDDK version is available in 64-bit only, while Acronis Backup for VMware 9 is 32-bit.

Thank you.
--
Best regards,
Vasily
Acronis Backup for VMware Program Manager

I receive this error, and yet the backup is marked as failed.

However If I attempt to restore from the backup, that recovery point is available and functions fine.

It's just annoying to have a lot of backups fail and I need to check them all manually.

I have logged a case with support, and will continue to provide information to them

Thanks for the update.

Hi there.

Acronis is really working on this issue? Latest info is 2 months old!
We are paying for what?

I'm seeing the same errors in some backup jobs. Not so often, not every time, but they are here.
I'm using:
- ESXi 5.1.0 U2 1483097 (fresh install)
- vCenter Essential+ vApp 5.5.0 1750787 (fresh install)
- Acronis vApp 9.0.10,007

Thank you for support.

Hi Martin,

This particular error should not cause the backup task status to be marked as failed. You should not notice it at all actually unless you dig into the logs. If you have backup task failures or see that task is marked as failed (in e-mail notifications for example) then it's a different issue and you should contact our support team for assistance.

As mentioned above this exact error appearance in the log files is pending to be fixed in future updates, but the timeline is not defined yet. The changes required to get this error fixed imply merging new VDDK version which is quite dangerous and will affect all other operations, so getting this done will likely take significant time. Again: the error itself is _not_ affecting the backup operations or backup statuses. If you see different behavior then it's a separate problem.

Thank you.
--
Best regards,
Vasily
Acronis Virtualization Program Manager

Hi, how months is this now already unsolved? The first post is from april 2014. Now we are already august. I come from ESXi 5.0 and went to ESXi 5.5 together with Acronis backup for vmware 9.
When will a fix become availlable? I need to be able to guarantee my customer that his backup solution is working fine. This error is read also by my end-client and he is worrying... a solution or workaround should be available I hope soon.
Any idea about timing please?
Thank you.

Best regards,
Toon Lauwaert (= a customer with fear that restores/backups are not working)
Belgium

###############
185 Error 8/12/14 10:30:45 PM VMware_VDDK: Insufficient permissions in the host operating system
Additional info:
--------------------
Error code: 208
Module: 83
LineInfo: c61573f663f5d778
Fields: code : 3014
Message: VMware_VDDK: Insufficient permissions in the host operating system
--------------------

Hi Toon,

As mentioned in my previous replies this event should not triger the backup task failure (if it triggers the backup task status to be marked as failed - then it's a different issue) and it of course does not affect the backups validity. There is no exact time frame on new update of Acronis Backup for VMware 9 yet (probably we'll have to wait until next version) unfortunately.

As a workaround I can suggest the following: you can use the previous 9767 build of Acronis Backup for VMware 9 (available from your account downloads section) if you are concerned about this event. However there will be no ability to back up ESXi 5.5 configuration (backup of VMs will still be possible).

Thank you.
--
Best regards,
Vasily
Acronis Virtualization Program Manager

Hello Vasily,

as I see from the first post, a year has gone by now and the new version has been published, but the errormessage is still in the product.
Eventhough the backup tasks are working fine, it's not nice to find out that this error is unresolved for over one year.

When will this be resolved?

Kind regards
Hanns

Hi Hanns,

The fix for this issue is added in newer VMware VDDK version which we plan to include in the next version of Acronis Backup for VMware, which is planned to be released this year (the Beta should be announced within the next few months). It is quite dangerous to include new VDDK into the current version of Acronis Backup for VMware (it may break a lot of other functionality) so we decided to postpone it until the next version.

Thank you.
--
Best regards,
Vasily
Acronis Virtualization Program Manager

I'm getting the same errors. I just updated to Vcenter 6 and it will not back up anymore. So I removed the connection and re-added it and enabled vcenter integration and I still get the same permission errors. Even tried using the administrator account a root account which has the permissions.

Now NONE of my backups work at all. Tried to recreate a brand new backup new files etc and this is what I receive.

Task 'Backup' failed: 'Failed to create a backup.
Additional info:
--------------------
Error code: 3
Module: 435
LineInfo: 555b5abba0950340
Fields:
Message: Failed to create a backup.
--------------------
Error code: 32786
Module: 114
LineInfo: 28314c961de7d337
Fields:
Message: Failed to prepare for backing up.
--------------------
Error code: 32853
Module: 114
LineInfo: e8aa69772494a242
Fields:
Message: Failed to check licenses for the instance with ID '3465D2C3-9D73-E497-7A53-2CF95BB196A7'.
--------------------
Error code: 14
Module: 202
LineInfo: 9f8a25ba610a0eb1
Fields:
Message: Failed to get licenses for host with ID C27D1FAB-518F-8F7C-4E62-2959D8911CFE.
--------------------
Error code: 12
Module: 202
LineInfo: 9f8a25ba610a0eac
Fields:
Message: Failed to obtain license for ESX host. Please check licenses assignment.
--------------------'.

Hi Steve,

The error message you quote is related to licensing and is unrelated to vSphere 6.0. There are insufficient licenses available to assign them to new (updated) host which could be the result of the update. You should revoke the currently assigned licenses from the hosts under Configure->Licenses (see attached screen shot) and after that re-try the backup operation - this will enforce the licenses reassignment.

Concerning the vCenter integration functionality - you can uncheck this option when registering vCenter (under Configure->ESXi hosts) as it is responsible only for GUI controls in vSphere client and doesn't affect the backup/replication functionality. There is a known issue with vCenter 6.0 that vCenter Integration (the GUI integration part) is not working on this version.

P.S. Sorry for the delayed response. For some reasons the thread wasn't updated properly and didn't show up in the common list - we're now investigating this problem with our forum admins.

Thank you.
--
Best regards,
Vasily
Acronis Virtualization Program Manager

We are having the same issue with one VM:

VMware_VDDK: Insufficient permissions in the host operating system
Zusätzliche Info:
--------------------
Fehlercode: 208
Module: 83
Zeileninfo: c61573f663f5d76f
Felder: code : 3014
Nachricht: VMware_VDDK: Insufficient permissions in the host operating system
--------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Task 'Backup einzeln' fehlgeschlagen: 'Erstellen eines Backups fehlgeschlagen.
Zusätzliche Info:
--------------------
Fehlercode: 3
Module: 435
Zeileninfo: 555b5abba0950340
Felder:
Nachricht: Erstellen eines Backups fehlgeschlagen.
--------------------
Fehlercode: 32786
Module: 114
Zeileninfo: 28314c961de7d337
Felder:
Nachricht: Vorbereitung auf das Backup fehlgeschlagen.
--------------------
Fehlercode: 353
Module: 149
Zeileninfo: a71592046cb2c5f6
Felder:
Nachricht: Backup der Gruppe fehlgeschlagen.
--------------------
Fehlercode: 2
Module: 218
Zeileninfo: 338a407ad20e0987
Felder:
Nachricht: Fehler während Ausführung der Backup- und Recovery-Engine aufgetreten.
--------------------
Fehlercode: 1080
Module: 1
Zeileninfo: d1ab7fa1e56ec8bf
Felder:
Nachricht:
--------------------
Fehlercode: 13
Module: 149
Zeileninfo: d1ab7fa1e56eca4e
Felder:
Nachricht: Ausführen der angeforderten Aktion fehlgeschlagen.
--------------------
Fehlercode: 103
Module: 83
Zeileninfo: a859dd78cc91df40
Felder:
Nachricht: Öffnen der virtuellen Maschine fehlgeschlagen ([NA1] DAVID/DAVID.vmx).
--------------------
Fehlercode: 253
Module: 83
Zeileninfo: c7610e0a857bedf4
Felder:
Nachricht: VMware-Fehler: 'Remote-Methodenaufruf ist fehlgeschlagen.'.
--------------------
Fehlercode: 32
Module: 0
Zeileninfo: c7610e0a857bedf4
Felder:
Nachricht: Erwarteter Task 'CreateSnapshot' fehlgeschlagen. Ursache: An error occurred while saving the snapshot: Failed to quiesce the virtual machine..
--------------------'.

Hi Jonas,

The issue described in this thread ("Insufficient permissions in the host operating system") is actually unrelated to the actual problem you have. See the last message from the error you quoted:

Nachricht: Erwarteter Task 'CreateSnapshot' fehlgeschlagen. Ursache: An error occurred while saving the snapshot: Failed to quiesce the virtual machine..

The "Failed to quiesce the virtual machine." text is passed from the vSphere itself after the VMware snapshot creation attempt has failed. You should see the same error in vSphere client when trying to create a snapshot of the VM manually (with quiesced=on, memory=off options). Please see https://kb.acronis.com/content/4559 for troubleshooting instructions.

Thank you.
--
Best regards,
Vasily
Acronis Virtualization Program Manager

Good day,

I've noticed that all the preceding posts mention getting the "Insufficient permissions in the host operating system" when doing backups.

I'm getting that message when doing a replica of a VM. The system is configured to make replicas every day. One of the VMs seems to get that error more often than the others, but they all had it at one time or the other.

I can get rid of the problem by deleting the offending replica. Then a new replica directory will be created and the replication will proceed as planned for a few days before the error pops up again.

Could it be caused by the same VDDK problem as the backups? Note that my backups never give me any trouble. Just the replications.

Thank you in advance for any help,

François B.

Hi François,

The message itself is harmless and can be ignored. In case of replication the Storage vMotion is disabled (this disabling method is the one triggering the error) for both source and replica VMs which may result in that you see the error only while doing replication (triggered by replica VM). This is my guess for now, but to be 100% confident, I'd still recommended contacting our support team for assistance. Please enable debug logs before reproducing the problem and capture them as described in https://kb.acronis.com/content/30926 . Remember to turn off debug logging after troubleshooting.

Thank you.

--

Best regards,
Vasily

Acronis Virtualization Program Manager