Hyper-V Guest processing skipped (check guest OS VSS state and integration components version)

Please Note:

• A list of supported Guest OSes for each version of Hyper-V can be found here.
• On 2008 R2 hosts, Application-Aware Processing during backups is not supported for guest VMs running Server 2012 R2 or later due to integration components incompatibility.
• If the Host is 2008 R2 and the VM Guest OS is 2012:
  • View the Guest OS Application Event logs for errors with source: vmicvss and Event ID: 13.
  • If this error is present, open the Registry Editor (regedit) and navigate to:
    HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore\
    Within that key, create a new DWORD
    Name: ScopeSnapshots
    Value: 0
  • Note: If the SystemRestore key is not present, you must create it.

The solution section of this knowledge base article has been split into four different sections. Please review each step of the following areas:

1. Integration Services
2. Within the Guest
3. VM Configuration
4. Verification

Part 1: Integration Services

Click here for a list of Hyper-V Integration Services and their corresponding build numbers.

How to identify:

This section will provide directions on ensuring the Hyper-V Integration Services are up to date within the Guest OS of the VM that is failing to backup.

1. Using Event Viewer
   If Hyper-V Integration Services are outdated, you will find Event ID 4000 within the Hyper-V-Integration section of the Event Viewer on the Hyper-V host where the VM is located.
   
2. Using PowerShell (Server 2012 or newer)
   Run the following command in an Administrative PowerShell prompt on the host where the VM that failed to backup resides.

   Get-VM | select VMName,IntegrationServicesState
   

   The results will list each present VM and the state of its integration services.
   
    

How to correct:

Note: A reboot of the virtual machine will most likely be required to complete the Integration Services update.

The following information is from the Microsoft page found here.

Install or Update Integration Services

For hosts running Server 2012 R2 or older, you'll need to manually install the update from within the guest operating system. These steps cannot be automated or executed within a Windows PowerShell session.

1. Open Hyper-V Manager.
2. Right-click the virtual machine and click Connect.
   
3. From the Action menu of Virtual Machine Connection, click Insert Integration Services Setup Disk.
   
   Depending on the guest operating system, you may need to start the installation manually.
   
4. After the installation finishes, you may be prompted to restart.
   

Part 2: Within the Guest

The following steps and checks are to be performed within the Guest OS of the VM that is failing to backup.

1. Ensure that the latest OS updates are installed.
   
2. Ensure that the VSS Storage Area and Volume Match
   1. From an Administrative Command Prompt, run the command ‘VSSUIRUN.exe”
      
   2. Check the [Settings] for each Volume and ensure that the Volume and the Storage area match.
      
      
3. Ensure there are no Dynamic disk or FAT\FAT32 volumes
   1. Open Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc)
   2. Review the Type and File System columns
   3. VSS is not compatible with Dynamic disks or FAT\FAT32
      Note: The VHD(X) that the VM runs off can be dynamic; the volume within the Guest OS cannot.
      
      All volumes must be NTFS or ReFS
      
4. Check that the System Reserved partition free space.
   1. System Reserved partition must have more than 42MB of space free.
   2. If less than 42MB is free, try creating a shadow copy for the volume.
      
   3. Remember to delete the Shadow Copy if it is successful.
      
5. Start\Restart the “Hyper-V Volume Shadow Copy Requestor
   1. Open Services (services.msc)
   2. Find the Hyper-V Volume Shadow Copy Requestor service.
   3. If it is Stopped, Start it. (If the service will not start, check in the VM settings under Integration Services, and ensure the “Backup (volume Checkpoint)” option is enabled.)
   4. If it is Running, restart it.