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Unable to exclude files from snapshot: Shadow Copy Optimization Writer timed out

KB ID: 2073
Product: Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 3.0.2 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.1 | 6.2 | 6.3
Published: 2015-11-20
Last Modified: 2023-10-10
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Challenge

A Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows backup job  configured to operate in file-level backup mode with an entire volume selected and individual folders excluded, may fail with the error shown below.

Unable to exclude files from snapshot: Shadow Copy Optimization Writer timed out.
Warning

Cause

The issue is caused by a timeout of the MS Copy Optimization Writer due to a large number of excluded files. In such cases, the Application Event Log on the affected machine may contain entries similar to the one below:

Source:        VSS
Event ID:      8220
Level:         Information
Operation:
   OnPostSnapshot event
   PostSnapshot Event
Context:
   Execution Context: Shadow Copy Optimization Writer
   Writer Name: Shadow Copy Optimization Writer

Solution

To workaround this VSS issue, two possible approaches are suggested:

  • Option 1: Reduce the number of excluded folders until the warning no longer appears.
  • Option 2: Instead of selecting an entire volume within file-level backup and excluding folders, select only the individual folders that need to be backed up.
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