SCCM Backups not working

[CHiLL]

I've encountered an issue where our SCCM backups are not running. The 'Backup Site Server' is enabled within 'Site Maintenance', with a valid path and window of operation.

 

smsbkup.log reads:

Registered connection to SQL server SCCMSERVER and database CM_SJW.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:09	21872 (0x5570)
Registered connection to master database on SQL server SCCMSERVER.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:09	21872 (0x5570)
Initializing the status message reporting system...	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:09	21872 (0x5570)
   The path to the "Status Manager" inbox is "E:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\inboxes\statmgr.box\statmsgs".	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:09	21872 (0x5570)
   SMS_STATUS_MANAGER is not running as part of this process, the SMS_EXECUTIVE to SMS_STATUS_MANAGER in-memory status message queue will not be used.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:09	21872 (0x5570)
Registered this process as a source of "SMS Server" events.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
Registered this process as a source of "SMS Client" events.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
Registered this process as a source of "SMS Provider" events.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
Status message reporting system initialized successfully.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
Locale set to OS value (English_United States.1252).	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
SMS_SITE_BACKUP service 2012 started.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
STATMSG: ID=500 SEV=I LEV=M SOURCE="SMS Server" COMP="SMS_SITE_BACKUP" SYS=SCCMSERVER SITE=SCHOOL SITE=11111 TID=21872 GMTDATE=Tue Nov 29 12:56:10.240 2016 ISTR0="SMS_SITE_BACKUP" ISTR1="" ISTR2="" ISTR3="" ISTR4="" ISTR5="" ISTR6="" ISTR7="" ISTR8="" ISTR9="" NUMATTRS=0	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
Starting backup - Tue Nov 29 12:56:10 2016	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
SMS installation root directory = E:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
SQL installation root directory = \\SCCMSERVER\E$\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
Site server backup location = E:\SCCM_Backups.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
SQL backup location = E:\SCCM_Backups.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
Warning: Backup location and the SQL directory are on the same volume E. Sms Backup creates snapshot of the volume using VSS services and then copies the data to the backup location. It is advisable to have the backup location on a different volume than the one that has SQL database files, so that the writes to the volume is minimal when the volume snapshot is active.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
Warning: Backup location and the sms root directory are on the same volume E. Sms Backup creates snapshot of the volume using VSS services and then copies the data to the backup location. It is advisable to have the backup location on a different volume than the one that has SMS data, so that the writes to the volume is minimal when the volume snapshot is active.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
Verified that backup folder E:\SCCM_Backups exists.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
Verified backup service has permission to access the backup folder E:\SCCM_Backups	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
Sql Writer service is running.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
STATMSG: ID=5055 SEV=I LEV=M SOURCE="SMS Server" COMP="SMS_SITE_BACKUP" SYS=SCCMSERVER SITE=SCHOOL SITE=11111 TID=21872 GMTDATE=Tue Nov 29 12:56:10.251 2016 ISTR0="" ISTR1="" ISTR2="" ISTR3="" ISTR4="" ISTR5="" ISTR6="" ISTR7="" ISTR8="" ISTR9="" NUMATTRS=0	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
LogEvent(): Successfully logged Event to NT Event Log. (4 - 48 - 1,073,746,879)	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
Starting VSS initialization...	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
Starting Asynchronous GatherWriterMetadata.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:10	21872 (0x5570)
Number of writers that responded: 16.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:13	21872 (0x5570)
Error: SMS Writer service either does not exist or is not running .	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:13	21872 (0x5570)
STATMSG: ID=5045 SEV=E LEV=M SOURCE="SMS Server" COMP="SMS_SITE_BACKUP" SYS=SCCMSERVER SITE=SCHOOL SITE=11111 TID=21872 GMTDATE=Tue Nov 29 12:56:13.593 2016 ISTR0="" ISTR1="" ISTR2="" ISTR3="" ISTR4="" ISTR5="" ISTR6="" ISTR7="" ISTR8="" ISTR9="" NUMATTRS=0	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:13	21872 (0x5570)
Error: GatherWriterMetadata failed.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:13	21872 (0x5570)
STATMSG: ID=5046 SEV=E LEV=M SOURCE="SMS Server" COMP="SMS_SITE_BACKUP" SYS=SCCMSERVER SITE=SCHOOL SITE=11111 TID=21872 GMTDATE=Tue Nov 29 12:56:13.596 2016 ISTR0="" ISTR1="" ISTR2="" ISTR3="" ISTR4="" ISTR5="" ISTR6="" ISTR7="" ISTR8="" ISTR9="" NUMATTRS=0	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:13	21872 (0x5570)
SMS_SITE_BACKUP failed. Please see previous errors.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:13	21872 (0x5570)
STATMSG: ID=5060 SEV=E LEV=M SOURCE="SMS Server" COMP="SMS_SITE_BACKUP" SYS=SCCMSERVER SITE=SCHOOL SITE=11111 TID=21872 GMTDATE=Tue Nov 29 12:56:13.597 2016 ISTR0="Error: GatherWriterMetadata failed." ISTR1="" ISTR2="" ISTR3="" ISTR4="" ISTR5="" ISTR6="" ISTR7="" ISTR8="" ISTR9="" NUMATTRS=0	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:13	21872 (0x5570)
SMS_SITE_BACKUP service is stopping.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:13	21872 (0x5570)
STATMSG: ID=502 SEV=I LEV=M SOURCE="SMS Server" COMP="SMS_SITE_BACKUP" SYS=SCCMSERVER SITE=SCHOOL SITE=11111 TID=21872 GMTDATE=Tue Nov 29 12:56:13.599 2016 ISTR0="SMS_SITE_BACKUP" ISTR1="" ISTR2="" ISTR3="" ISTR4="" ISTR5="" ISTR6="" ISTR7="" ISTR8="" ISTR9="" NUMATTRS=0	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:13	21872 (0x5570)
Raised backup task failure alert.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:13	21872 (0x5570)
SMS_SITE_BACKUP service stopped.	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:13	21872 (0x5570)
STATMSG: ID=501 SEV=I LEV=M SOURCE="SMS Server" COMP="SMS_SITE_BACKUP" SYS=SCCMSERVER SITE=SCHOOL SITE=11111 TID=21872 GMTDATE=Tue Nov 29 12:56:13.606 2016 ISTR0="SMS_SITE_BACKUP" ISTR1="" ISTR2="" ISTR3="" ISTR4="" ISTR5="" ISTR6="" ISTR7="" ISTR8="" ISTR9="" NUMATTRS=0	SMS_SITE_BACKUP	29/11/2016 12:56:13	21872 (0x5570)

 

After some Googling, it suggests that the SMS_SITE_VSS_WRITER service is not working correctly. So when I attempt to run the SMS_SITE_VSS_WRITER service from services.msc, it starts, then automatically stops within 10 seconds.

After some more Googling of that, it suggests that there is something wrong with the SCCM backup configuration file, located in: E:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\Inboxes\Smsbkup.box\smsbkup.ctl. After checking, it appears that we have no smsbkup.box folder at all, let alone its contents. So maybe its failing because it is unable to locate that file? Our earliest VEEAM backup also does not have this file/folder.

Some people on the Internet who have had this problem said that they called Microsoft support and they simply gave them the files, however we do not have any support contract with Microsoft that would cover SCCM.

 

Anybody have any ideas?

Edited November 29, 2016 by CHiLL

[CHiLL]

Well, I think I've had a moment of clarity just after I posted this (isn't that always the way?). I checked the ISO of SCCM, and lone behold, an original copy of the file I'm missing. As soon as I copied that file over and started the SMS_SITE_VSS_WRITER service, it remained as 'Running', rather than stopping after a few seconds. I have just completed a manual backup of the SCCM database by starting the SMS_SITE_BACKUP service, which created the backup of ~9GB, containing both the SiteDBServer and SiteServer. I will also check tomorrow morning to ensure that the scheduled one runs too.