Re: [Networker] VSS on Windows XP

On Apr 21, 2008, at 10:10 PM, Nick Tan wrote:

Stan Horwitz wrote:
On Apr 21, 2008, at 6:34 PM, Nick Tan wrote:
Hi all,

I'm running Networker 7.4.1 on Windows 2003 Server.
I'm having trouble trying to get Networker to use VSS to backupWindows XP. From the admin guide:
In NetWorker software releases 7.1 and later, if a VSS clientlicense is present (for all Windows operating systems exceptVista, which does not require a VSS client license), NetWorkersoftware uses VSS technology to create snapshot backups of volumesand exact copies of files, including all open files.
However I cannot install the VSS client onto XP, so I install theregular networker client. Using this, I always get errors aboutbeing unable to backup open files, for example:
VSS is not supported by Microsoft on XP. You need at least Windows2003 to run VSS backups.
Hi Stan,
Hmm... the supplier who sold us Networker assured us that VSS and XPwould work so if it doesn't I'm going to have a word with them.
Does VSS work with Vista clients? I don't have any Vista clientshere to test myself unfortunately.

Hmm! I just googled for "VSS" and I found that "VSS" stands fornumerous unrelated things, so I googled for "volume shadow service"which pointed me to<http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/2b0d2457-b7d8-42c3-b6c9-59c145b7765f1033.mspx?mfr=true> which indicates that VSS is indeed supported under XP by Microsoft.

That being said, I also just checked the latest (from April 11th)"Information Software Protection Compatibility Guide" from http://powerlink.emc.com. Note that EMC now calls its VSS module "NetWorker Module forMicrosoft Applications" or "NMM" for short. On page 78 of thecompatibility guide, it says that the NMM is compatible with Windows2003 and 2008. Nothing on there says anything about Windows XP orVista compatibility. So it looks like your reseller might be in error,but perhaps there's a way to fool the NMM installer to ignore thedifferent OS. This is something you should clarify with your resellerand its also an example of the benefits of trying a demo licensebefore you buy a license for new module.

I do not have any Vista, nor do I have any XP servers that requiretreatment with the NMM. Almost all of my Windows clients are of the2003 vintage. Even though we were a beta Vista site for at least ayear prior to Vista's public release, it hasn't caught on here muchyet, although I am sure that will change as people replace theirlaptops and workstations with new hardware.

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