SERVER 2022: Random failures with: Windows Backup failed to get an exclusive lock on the EFI system partition (ESP)

Anonymous
2024-01-24T11:40:42+00:00

Various new fresh installations on HP and Dell ( mainly entry level servers) Windows server 2022 essentials set simple workgroup no domain or PDC etc...s various backup disks , tried secureboot on off tried AV removed / off (Defender) checked user its running as , removed and reinstalled backup etc etc

Nothing helps keep getting occasional Windows Backup failed to get an exclusive lock on the EFI system partition (ESP) and backup fails as it wont run

Thanks anyone who can help !

Windows for business | Windows Server | Storage high availability | Other

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Anonymous
2024-05-29T11:58:49+00:00

No, we run VMWare on Lenovo servers. EDIT: I've now also seen this problem on a Fujitsu server (no WMWare); random, about 1-2 times/month.

We haven't solved the issue through Microsoft support yet, but a workaround from MS has been applied, and there's been no WSB fails the last week.

(Note that in addition to this workaround, I wrote a script that checks the status of the VSS writers and writes it to a file, and is scheduled to run just before the WSB task, and 10 and 20 minutes into the task. Not that I can see why this would have any impact on the WSB task...)

Applied workaround:

  1. Open “Run” and enter “taskchd.msc” to launch Task Scheduler.
  2. Navigate to Microsoft/Windows/Backup
  3. Select Microsoft-Windows-WindowsBackup, right click, select properties and navigate to the Settings tab.
  4. Check the box “Allow task to be run on demand”
  5. You can try to select the box “If this task fails”. If this makes your backup work then you can stop here, if this doesn’t work follow the next steps.

 6. Click “OK“ to apply all the changes.

  1. Open cmd and type this command:

schtasks /create /F /RU SYSTEM /RL HIGHEST /SC onevent /EC Application /MO "*[System[Provider[@Name='Microsoft-Windows-Backup'] and (EventID=517)]]" /TN "Microsoft\Windows\Backup\Retry_Backup" /TR "schtasks /run /tn "Microsoft\Windows\Backup\Microsoft-Windows-WindowsBackup""

  1. Refresh the Backup folder in task scheduler.

 Note: on the command the “EventID = 517” section makes the scheduled task search for the backup failing with that event id. If for some reason the id changes then you’ll need to search for the new eventid in the event log and change it to the new eventid.

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-05-29T15:10:40+00:00

    Good luck! Fingers crossed!

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-05-31T13:23:32+00:00

    Tried up to step 6. Failed. Just did step 7 and going to see how it works. Thanks for the tip.

    This is beyond frustrating; you would think Microsoft would make this a priority.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-05-31T13:36:34+00:00

    When the backup fails have anyone tried this?

    You can use tools like Process Explorer from Sysinternals to identify which processes might be locking the ESP.

    1. Download and Run Process Explorer:
    2. Search for ESP:
      • Use the Find function (Ctrl+F) to search for handles related to the ESP (e.g., search for EFI or ESP).
    3. Identify and Terminate Processes:
      • Identify the processes that are using the ESP and consider terminating them to free up the lock.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-05-31T15:11:35+00:00

    Manual backup 99.9% of the time run without any issue .

    The issues are when a backup is set up on a schedule and when this executes we see random failures so its difficult to see whats running and locking esp at that time as this is usually unatteneded.

    I could try this on a test rig the next server build I could try and observe for a failure on a schedule.

    I have done this before setting a backup on a new build with very little data set to backup every hour , and when it happens you can bet your life you are not there to witness the issue and inturn investigate the lock

    Br Ian

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