SBS 2011 Backup Error: Add Destination Drive Failure – Cannot Configure Backup Schedule

We went to add a destination drive to one of our newly migrated to SBS 2011 servers.

When we ran the wizard after plugging in the new backup drive we ended up with the wizard coughing up a generic failure message: Cannot Configure Backup Schedule.

We opened C:\Program Files\Windows Small Business Server\Logs\SBCW.log in NotePad to find:

[6572] 110627.121259.4347: Storage: Terminating error in Set-WBPolicy: System.Exception:
The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect ---> Microsoft.SnapIns.Backup.UI.Proxy.BlockLevelBackupException: IBlbEngine::ModifyTemplate failed due to error: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect, (0x8007007b)..

We searched on that error and came up with:

• Microsoft TechNet Forums: Dreaded "Cannot Configure Backup Schedule" on SBS 2011

That in turn led us to this Microsoft KB:

• Microsoft KB 2009365: Error message when you try to add an additional disk to a scheduled backup: "The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect"

We are presented with three options:

1. Attach the original backup destination.
• In this case we only have one drive dock so no go.
2. Remove the original backup destination altogether.
• Live disk for rotation so no go on this one.
3. Manually add the new disk using WBAdmin.
1. This was it.

The how-to from the KB:

1. Run the following command from an elevated command prompt to determine the Disk Identifier of the new disk:
        wbadmin get disks
2. Based on the output, locate the disk that will be added to the scheduled backup. Make a note of the Disk Identifier. The output will resemble the following:
   Disk name: xxxxxxxxxxx
   Disk number: x
   Disk identifier: {xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx}
   Total space: xxx.xx GB
   Used space : xxx.xx GB
3. Run the following command to add the new disk to the Scheduled backup.  Use the Disk Identifier from the previous step as the "AddTarget" parameter.
   WBADMIN ENABLE BACKUP -addtarget:{xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx}
   
4. When you receive the following prompt, type Y for Yes.

"Do you want to enable scheduled backups with the above settings?"

Now, there were a few more prompts after point 4 that we said Yes to.

Of course the new disk now had the Windows Server Backup label so we changed that using Disk Management. But, the status under the Backup tab in the SBS Console still showed the WSB label.

For now, we have that additional disk in the rotation with our first backup to it successful:

We will keep this backup rotation short and introduce another drive at the end of the week so we can bring this one back to the shop and do a test restore. We have not yet needed to restore a backup from a destination that was incorporated into a backup routine via this method as of yet.

We _always_ want to know if a backup is good for a full bare metal restore. The only way to know is to actually restore it! :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer