IT33535: CTGGA2403 BACKUP MESSAGE WITH JAVA.LANG.NULLPOINTEREXCEPTION ON HYPER-V

APAR status

• Closed as program error.

Error description

• In the Spectrum Protect Plus backup job log for Hyper-V guests,
  the following might be seen
  :
  ERROR,,<timestamp>,2,CTGGA2403,Backup of vm <vmname> failed
  target storage volume name java.lang.NullPointerException.
  Error: <SnapshotName>
  
  In the virgo log, a failure in the VM
  snapshot operation (Hyper-V checkpoints) will display the cause
  :
  
  [<timestamp>] INFO .. CreateSnapshot failed with exception:
  
   java.lang.Exception: Job failed.
   	 Reason: '<vmname>' failed
  to take a checkpoint.
  	 (Virtual machine ID
  XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX) Cannot take checkpoint
  for '<vmname>' because the maximum limit of 50 checkpoints has
  been reached.
  	 Delete unwanted checkpoints and try again.
  
  (Virtual machine ID XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX)
  
  This
  happens when the guest has reached the maximum of 50
  checkpoints allowed by Hyper-V.
  Investigation showed all the
  checkpoints were triggered by the Spectrum Protect Plus backup
  job.
  The corrective action is to delete these checkpoints
  manually in the Hyper-V environment.
  
  Spectrum Protect Plus
  should fail a backup operation if a checkpoint generated by a
  previous backup operation cannot be cleaned up by Spectrum
  Protect Plus for any reason to avoid building up checkpoints
  and reaching the 50 checkpoints limit.
  
  IBM Spectrum Protect
  Plus Versions Affected:
  IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.0 to
  10.1.5
  
  Initial Impact: Medium
  
  Additional Keywords: SPP,
  SPPLUS, TS003550868, checkpoint, snapshot
  

Local fix

• Using the Hyper-V management interface of with PowerShell
  command, the Hyper-V administrator can verify the number of
  checkpoints for each guest.
  If an unexpected number of
  checkpoints triggered by Spectrum Protect Plus backups is seen,
  these can be manually cleaned up.
  Then force a base backup for
  the affected guest to resume normal operations.
  

Problem summary

• ****************************************************************
  * USERS AFFECTED:                                              *
  * IBM Spectrum Protect Plus level 10.1.6                       *
  ****************************************************************
  * PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:                                         *
  * See ERROR DESCRIPTION                                        *
  ****************************************************************
  * RECOMMENDATION:                                              *
  * Apply fixing level when available. This problem is currently *
  * projected to be fixed IBM Spectrum Protect Plus level        *
  * 10.1.6. Note that this is subject to change at the           *
  * discretion of IBM.                                           *
  ****************************************************************
  

Problem conclusion

• A change was made to prevent new checkpoints from being created
  on a Hyper-V VM if it already has existing checkpoints.
  

Temporary fix

Comments

APAR Information

• APAR is sysrouted FROM one or more of the following:

• APAR is sysrouted TO one or more of the following:

Fix information

• Fixed component name

  SP PLUS

• Fixed component ID

  5737SPLUS

Applicable component levels