Server backup partially failing for c drive and system state

Hello**Jahangeer Choudhry**

We are looking into this issue and will keep you posted updates.

Thanks,

Suchitra.

thank you below are the errors

for system state

/subscriptions/<PII removed>/resourceGroups/CSLSERVER2025BACKUP/providers/Microsoft.RecoveryServices/vaults/BackupServerVSS/backupFabrics/ActiveDirectory/protectionContainers/Windows;cslserver2025.caveatsolicitor.local/protectedItems/FileFolder;G%5Ecol%5EbsAzureBackup%5EbsMicrosoft%20Azure%20Recovery%20Services%20Agent%5EbsScratch%5EbsScratch%5EbsSSBV%5Ebs

for c drive

"Invalid API version for GetBackupProtectedItems. Please use api version 2019-05-13 or higher."

Hello**@Jahangeer Choudhry** Thanks for sharing the exact errors, that helps a lot. Based on the messages you’re seeing, there are three separate but related issues here: System State backup, C: drive backup, and SQL backup.

1. System State backup is failing:

The error indicates that the long resource path you shared for System State indicates that Azure Backup is invoking Windows Server Backup (WSB) through the MARS agent, but the System State job is failing during that process. System State backup depends entirely on Windows Server Backup and VSS writers.

System State backups will fail if Windows Server Backup is missing or unhealthy

As a resolution please verify below checks:

1. Verify Windows Server Backup feature is installed

Run this in an elevated PowerShell:

Get-WindowsFeature Windows-Server-Backup

If Install State = Available, install it:

Install-WindowsFeature -Name Windows-Server-Backup

System State backup will not work without this feature.

2. Check VSS writers are stable:

Run:

vssadmin list writers

All writers must be in “Stable” state. Any failed writer will cause System State backup to fail.

3. Validate scratch (cache) space:

Azure Backup requires 5–10% free space in the scratch location:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent\Scratch

Low disk space or corruption here is a very common cause of partial System State failures.

4. Check CBEngine logs:

Logs are located at:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent\Temp
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent\Logs

These logs will show whether the failure is due to:

• VSS writer error
• Windows Server Backup failure
• Permission or path issue

2. C: drive backup error: Invalid API version for GetBackupProtectedItems. Please use api version 2019-05-13 or higher.

This error is not a disk issue. It means the tooling calling Azure Backup APIs is outdated.

This error occurs when Older Azure CLI, Older PowerShell modules, Older SDKs / scripts are used against Recovery Services Vaults.

Please look into below workarounds to fix this issue:

1. If you are using Azure CLI then Update CLI to latest version:

az upgrade

Older CLI versions use deprecated Backup API versions and will fail listing or protecting items.

2. If using PowerShell, Ensure latest module:

Update-Module Az.RecoveryServices

Then re-check protected items.

This error does not indicate a vault or backup corruption. It is purely a client-side compatibility issue.

3. SQL backup “not working”:

SQL backups do not work with the MARS agent.

• MARS agent supports files, folders, volumes, and System State
• SQL backup requires Azure Backup extension (for Azure VMs) or Azure Backup Server / DPM (for on‑prem SQL)

MARS cannot perform application‑aware SQL backups. If SQL was configured via MARS, it will never work by design.

So please share us below details:

1. Confirm Windows Server Backup + VSS writer status
2. Update Azure CLI / PowerShell
3. Validate SQL backup method used.

Thanks,

Suchitra.

below are the results

PS C:\Users\jahangeer\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Zoom> Get-WindowsFeature Windows-Server-Backup

Display Name Name Install State

---

[X] Windows Server Backup Windows-Server-Backup Installed

PS C:\Users\jahangeer\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Zoom> vssadmin list writers

vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool

(C) Copyright 2001-2013 Microsoft Corp.

Waiting for responses.

These may be delayed if a shadow copy is being prepared.

Writer name: 'Task Scheduler Writer'

Writer Id: {d61d61c8-d73a-4eee-8cdd-f6f9786b7124}

Writer Instance Id: {1bddd48e-5052-49db-9b07-b96f96727e6b}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'VSS Metadata Store Writer'

Writer Id: {75dfb225-e2e4-4d39-9ac9-ffaff65ddf06}

Writer Instance Id: {088e7a7d-09a8-4cc6-a609-ad90e75ddc93}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Performance Counters Writer'

Writer Id: {0bada1de-01a9-4625-8278-69e735f39dd2}

Writer Instance Id: {f0086dda-9efc-47c5-8eb6-a944c3d09381}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'System Writer'

Writer Id: {e8132975-6f93-4464-a53e-1050253ae220}

Writer Instance Id: {1acd9056-c326-4c31-9d89-8200786a2043}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'SqlServerWriter'

Writer Id: {a65faa63-5ea8-4ebc-9dbd-a0c4db26912a}

Writer Instance Id: {db0b5551-f966-4824-9f97-5d8e465d8426}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Shadow Copy Optimization Writer'

Writer Id: {4dc3bdd4-ab48-4d07-adb0-3bee2926fd7f}

Writer Instance Id: {c806a570-0512-4c09-a065-0041efed6052}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'FSRM Writer'

Writer Id: {12ce4370-5bb7-4c58-a76a-e5d5097e3674}

Writer Instance Id: {00682305-eeb7-4da1-8935-e26a83ad74a8}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'ASR Writer'

Writer Id: {be000cbe-11fe-4426-9c58-531aa6355fc4}

Writer Instance Id: {5f3628bc-a7ff-43b0-9ff2-68a2b885425d}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'WIDWriter'

Writer Id: {8d5194e1-e455-434a-b2e5-51296cce67df}

Writer Instance Id: {c6fd3c16-8df0-4931-88c7-296af305efa8}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'IIS Config Writer'

Writer Id: {2a40fd15-dfca-4aa8-a654-1f8c654603f6}

Writer Instance Id: {edc31c83-e89f-4cf2-9a6e-0dc84b8d7754}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'COM+ REGDB Writer'

Writer Id: {542da469-d3e1-473c-9f4f-7847f01fc64f}

Writer Instance Id: {d6d7d00c-d8bd-4d13-a43d-1e34346c7a5e}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Registry Writer'

Writer Id: {afbab4a2-367d-4d15-a586-71dbb18f8485}

Writer Instance Id: {235a97cf-8361-488f-857b-d939144d5bd6}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'WMI Writer'

Writer Id: {a6ad56c2-b509-4e6c-bb19-49d8f43532f0}

Writer Instance Id: {0b5ab064-8a13-4ee5-9af7-9f5f45ade95a}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'MSSearch Service Writer'

Writer Id: {cd3f2362-8bef-46c7-9181-d62844cdc0b2}

Writer Instance Id: {c8ee567b-6489-4f47-94da-07a138387d9d}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'TS Gateway Writer'

Writer Id: {368753ec-572e-4fc7-b4b9-ccd9bdc624cb}

Writer Instance Id: {6bc5d072-cc31-4730-b6f0-c4aa24ab2042}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Microsoft Hyper-V VSS Writer'

Writer Id: {66841cd4-6ded-4f4b-8f17-fd23f8ddc3de}

Writer Instance Id: {188397d6-ef46-4323-a60f-c113ff30516a}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Dhcp Jet Writer'

Writer Id: {be9ac81e-3619-421f-920f-4c6fea9e93ad}

Writer Instance Id: {b65dc512-3165-4002-a0cb-a5c3f6b1a87e}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Certificate Authority'

Writer Id: {6f5b15b5-da24-4d88-b737-63063e3a1f86}

Writer Instance Id: {6735731d-a36b-4742-a057-95552f110379}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'DFS Replication service writer'

Writer Id: {2707761b-2324-473d-88eb-eb007a359533}

Writer Instance Id: {f60b8aa8-1f5c-4704-a14a-c43ae129660c}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'NPS VSS Writer'

Writer Id: {35e81631-13e1-48db-97fc-d5bc721bb18a}

Writer Instance Id: {6c0586a0-44af-48c1-8fd1-630f94189c25}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'NTDS'

Writer Id: {b2014c9e-8711-4c5c-a5a9-3cf384484757}

Writer Instance Id: {3c5d1f07-74b7-4ee1-a1de-b4e85f45a1f3}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'TermServLicensing'

Writer Id: {5382579c-98df-47a7-ac6c-98a6d7106e09}

Writer Instance Id: {56b5a239-6537-4c1f-ac7c-4171180f87e2}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

Writer name: 'IIS Metabase Writer'

Writer Id: {59b1f0cf-90ef-465f-9609-6ca8b2938366}

Writer Instance Id: {0577fd34-861c-4f9d-a339-750d26343f88}

State: [1] Stable

Last error: No error

PS C:\Users\jahangeer\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Zoom>

PS C:\Users\jahangeer\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Zoom> az upgrade

This command is in preview and under development. Reference and support levels: https://aka.ms/CLI_refstatus

You already have the latest azure-cli version: 2.84.0

Upgrade finished.

PS C:\Users\jahangeer\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Zoom>