1455 - Error: Could not add volume ... to VSS snapshot

Modified on Mon, 21 Jul at 12:57 PM

Symptom

When a backup is initiated while a second VSS writer is already running, you may encounter the following error:

Backup failed to complete: Could not add volume '\\?\Volume{xxxxxxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxxxxxxxx}\' 
to VSS snapshot (0x8004230f; unexpected provider error)

Solution

1. Run the command vssadmin list writers. Depending on the Windows roles and products installed, the number of writers that is displayed will vary. In a healthy system, all reports should read as [1] Stable with No error.

2. If any of the writers reports anything other than [1] Stable, you need to restart the VSS service. The list below shows which service you need to restart based on which VSS writer has failed.

VSS Writer	Process (.exe)	Service
ASR Writer	VSS	Volume Shadow Copy
BITS Writer	BITS	Background Intelligent Transfer Service
COM+ REGDB Writer	VSS	Volume Shadow Copy
DFS Replication Service Writer	DFSR	DFS Replication
DHCP Jet Writer	DHCPServer	DHCP Server
FRS Writer	NtFrs	File Replication
FRSM Writer	srmsvc	File Server Resource Manager
IIS Config Writer	AppHostSvc	Application Host Helper Service
IIS Metabase Writer	IISADMIN	IIS Admin Service
Microsoft Exchange Replica Writer	MSExchangeRepl	Microsoft Exchange Replication Service
Microsoft Exchange Writer	MSExchangeIS	Microsoft Exchange Information Store
Microsoft Hyper-V VSS Writer	vmms	Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management
MSMQ Writer	MSMQ	Message Queuing
MSSearch Service Writer	WSearch	Windows Search
NTDS	NTDS	Active Directory Domain Services
O_Search VSS Writer	OSearch	Office SharePoint Server Search
O_Search 14 VSS Writer	OSearch14	SharePoint Server Search 14
Registry Writer	VSS	Volume Shadow Copy
Shadow Copy Optimization Writer	VSS	Volume Shadow Copy
SMS Writer	SMSSITEVSSWRITER	SMS_SITE_VSS_WRITER
SPSearch VSS Writer	SPSearch	Windows SharePoint Services Search
SPSearch4 VSS Writer	SPSearch4	SharePoint Foundation Search V4
SqlServerWriter	SQLWriter	SQL Server VSS Writer
System Writer	CryptSvc	Cryptographic Services
TermServLicensing	TermServLicensing	Remote Desktop Licensing
WIDWriter	WIDWriter	Windows Internal Database VSS Writer
WINS Jet Writer	WINS	Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)
WMI Writer	Winmgmt	Windows Management Instrumentation

3. After restarting the service, run the vssadmin command again to check whether the relevant writer is still in a failed state. If there is no improvement, a full reboot of the server is required.

4. In your ESE agent, go to Options > Advanced. Under VSS, set the VSS provider to Microsoft Software Shadow Copy provider 1.0.

5. If the issue persists, check the event logs against Microsoft's lists of VSS events. Also check the VSS service for errors.

6. If you need further assistance, please log a support ticket containing:

the Windows Application and System Event Logs in .evtx format
the device name
the output file of the following commands:
- vssadmin list writers >C:\writers.txt
- vssadmin list providers >C:\providers.txt
- vssadmin list shadows >C:\shadows.txt
- vssadmin list shadowstorage >C:\shadowstorage.txt
the number of disks that you have, plus the free disk space on each