DPM agent versions

DPM 2010

DPM 2010 3.0.7696.0 DPM 2010 role-up 1 (KB2250444) 3.0.7706.00 DPM 2010 role-up 2 (KB2465832) 3.0.7707.0

DPM 2007

DPM 2007 SP0 - 2.0.5820.0 DPM 2007 SP1 - 2.0.8793.0 DPM 2007 SP1 (with KB 968579) 2.0.8836.0 DPM 2007 SP1 (with KB970867) 2.0.8840.0 DPM 2007 SP1 (with KB970867 Revision: 1.0) 2.0.8851.0 DPM 2007 SP1 (with KB979970 ) 2.0.8864

Remove (untrusted) machines from agents tab

The uninstall agent option is not available for untrusted machines in DPM 2010. Therefore you need to remove the agents manually (Using uninstall program in control panel).

To remove the machine from the agent tab you need to use the remove-productionserver.ps1 Powershell script.

Attach untrusted machines using FQDN

DPM 2010 now supports protection of Workgroup machines and machines in untrusted domains. The agents needs to be installed manually after that you specify the DPM server with the setdpmserver command

Namespace
In configurations where the name space of the DPM server is different then the name space of the protected server. It could be necessary to use the –productionServerDnsSuffix. This allows you to attach the DPM agents in the console using Full qualified DNS name instant of NETBIOS name. The –productionServerDnsSuffix should specify the FQDN of the protected server.

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Data Protection Manager\DPM\bin>SetDpmServer.exe –dpm servername server01.domain.ad -isnondomainserver -username user01 -productionServerDnsSuffix dmz.local

Agent update failed

After installing the new Hotfix rollup package for DPM 2007 (KB979970) you have to update the agents. In my case this went fine for almost all agents.
Only the agents on the SharePoint servers had a nasty issue.

The (push) upgrade failed with the following error.

Agent Operation failed (ID 370)
The agent operation fauled because an error occurred wile running the installation program on <compter name> (ID 313). Details: The installation source for the product is not available. Verify that the source exits anf that you can access it (ox8007064c)
-----------------
The local agent installation shows a same kind of error:

DPMAgentInstaller failed with errorcode =8007064c, error says: The installation source for this product is not available.  Verify that the source exists and that you can access it.

Check log files in [WINDIR]Temp\MSDPM*.LOG
Press Enter key to close the window
-----------------
For this error messages it is not clear which installation files are missing.

The log MSDPMAgentPatchInstall.LOG (windir\temp) shows in more detail which files are required.
--------------------------
SI (s) (8C:D0) [13:27:58:789]: SOURCEMGMT: Source is invalid due to missing/inaccessible package.
MSI (s) (8C:D0) [13:27:58:789]: Note: 1: 1706 2: -2147483647 3: dpmra.msi
MSI (s) (8C:D0) [13:27:58:789]: SOURCEMGMT: Processing net source list.
MSI (s) (8C:D0) [13:27:59:810]: SOURCEMGMT: Now checking product {07CCDE6A-1D92-2C9C-D091-9E682643ABCC}
MSI (s) (8C:D0) [13:27:59:810]: SOURCEMGMT: Attempting to use LastUsedSource from source list.
MSI (s) (8C:D0) [13:27:59:810]: SOURCEMGMT: Trying source C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft Data Protection Manager\DPM\Agents\RA\2.0.8844.0\.
MSI (s) (8C:D0) [13:27:59:810]: Note: 1: 2203 2: C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft Data Protection Manager\DPM\Agents\RA\2.0.8844.0\dpmra.msi 3: -2147287037
MSI (s) (8C:D0) [13:27:59:810]: SOURCEMGMT: Source is invalid due to missing/inaccessible package.
MSI (s) (8C:D0) [13:27:59:810]: MainEngineThread is returning 1612
-----------------------------

The agent upgrade requires the file dpmra.msi from the directory C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft Data Protection Manager\DPM\Agents\RA\2.0.8844.0\.
This is actually the installation file from the current agent version (2.0.8844). The issue is that this directory does not exist on the server and the installation files are not in any other directory on the server.

Solution (workaround)
The only way I could get the required source files was installing the old agents files (2.0.8864) to (a temporary)machine. The source is available on the DPM server (\\dpmservername\c$\Program Files\Microsoft DPM\DPM\Agents\RA\2.0.8844.0).
When installing the agent a temporary directory is created on the machine (like: 4cf3806aac3ed28e02810670b5) copy during installation the files from this directory to temp directory.
Now you have a valid copy of the installation files. Copy these installations files to the server that fails to upgrade the agent (directory C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft Data Protection Manager\DPM\Agents\RA\2.0.8844.0\) and retry the agent upgrade

Not a very nice solution, but at least it worked for me…

Windows 2008 (R2) system state fails due to . . .

I have been troubleshooting a issue with a failing System State backup on 2 Windows 2008 R2 servers. These two servers both run Exchange 2010.
The DAG backup with DPM 2010 works perfect, but the system State keeps failing with this error in the application log.
--------------------------------------------
Log Name:      Application
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Backup
Date:          2-11-2009 17:36:18
Event ID:      521
Task Category: None
Level:         Error
Keywords:     
User:          SYSTEM
Computer:      <server_name>
Description:
Backup started at '2-11-2009 16:36:13' failed as Volume Shadow copy operation failed for backup volumes with following error code '2155348129'. Please rerun backup once issue is resolved.
--------------------------------------------

According to some Forum post the error code '2155348129' may be caused by the incorrect Active volume. (When a OEM Partition is the active partition instant of the system partition) 
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/winserverfiles/thread/d5daada2-b78b-4935-bd9e-80726c26c4a8/ 

But this is not the case here.

A closer look in the application log shows a second error for the Forefront Vss writter:
--------------------------------------------
Log Name:      Application
Source:        FSCVSSWriter
Date:          2-11-2009 17:36:17
Event ID:      11003
Task Category: (11)
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      <server_name>
Description:
Microsoft Forefront Protection VSS Writer failed when preparing for backup. Writer instance: FSCVSSWriter Error code: 0x00000000
Event Xml:
--------------------------------------------

Workaround:
I found a workaround With a little help of this post

-> Disable the Forefront Protection VSS Writer in the service Panel

In the same post is also an issue with the SQL VSS\Hyper-V writer mentioned as cause.

Removing the record of a formerly (death) protected server from DPM

The best way to remove a protected server from DPM is by uninstalling the agent from the server using the DPM Administrative Console. This way you make sure that the server is alsio removed from the Agents tab in the Administrative Console

In some cases it could happen that you removed a server without first uninstalling the agent from the server. The issue is then how to get the record of the dead server off of your DPM server by normal means since it does not exist anymore.

You can use the following steps:

1. Remove all protection objects of this computer.
2. On the DPM conslole, TAB Management - Agents
3. Click on unintall.
4. Give credentials required to unintall agent and DON'T close "Uninstall Agents" dialog box while uninstall is going one.
5. Uninstall will fail and message box will pop-up asking you to Remove Server record from DPM database.
6. Click yes on this dialog box and your decommissioned protected server will be removed from DPM.

Very important is that you do not close the unistall progress Window, if you do so you do not get the question to remove the server from the DPM database.

Tip: When the server still exists in DNS and running you can fool DPM by creating a faulty host ipaddress in your host file.