GRT backups targeted to Deduplication Folder fail with "V-79-57344-4611 - An error occurred creating or accessing the directory"

Problem

GRT (Granular Recovery Technology) backups targeted to Deduplication Folder fail with the following error:

Error Message

V-79-57344-4611 - An error occurred creating or accessing the directory \\.pdvfs\TEST\2\BEData\STHVMDK\IMG00001 specified for this operation. Ensure that the directory is accessible and can be written to.

Spad Log Shows:

12/05/2013 03:38:58 PM  120513.log  December 05 15:38:58 INFO [0000000002766160]: [_handle_find] filter [0|0||-1|-1|/BEData|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|-1|-1|-1|-1|-1|-1|-1|-1|-1|-1|*]
12/05/2013 03:38:58 PM  120513.log  December 05 15:38:58 WARNING [0000000002766160]: 25103: Invalid PO: unable to extract value from '[ViewState]' for dsid
12/05/2013 03:38:58 PM  120513.log  December 05 15:38:58 ERR [0000000002766160]: 25103: can't get PO object with [ViewState]
12/05/2013 03:38:58 PM  120513.log  December 05 15:38:58 ERR [0000000002766160]: 25103: can't set po [F:\BackupExecDeduplicationStorageFolder\databases\catalog\2/BEData\desktop.ini][[ViewState]]
12/05/2013 03:38:58 PM  120513.log  December 05 15:38:58 ERR [0000000002766160]: 25103: Could not load po F:\BackupExecDeduplicationStorageFolder\databases\catalog\2/BEData\desktop.ini
12/05/2013 03:38:58 PM  120513.log  December 05 15:38:58 ERR [0000000002766160]: 25103: can't get po F:\BackupExecDeduplicationStorageFolder\databases\catalog\2/BEData\desktop.ini

12/05/2013 03:38:58 PM  120513.log  December 05 15:38:58 ERR [0000000002766160]: 25103: can't get po F:\BackupExecDeduplicationStorageFolder\databases\catalog\2/BEData\SERVERNAME.DR

12/05/2013 03:38:58 PM  120513.log  December 05 15:38:58 ERR [0000000002766160]: -1: spad request failed:
12/05/2013 03:38:58 PM  120513.log  ***ERROR***
12/05/2013 03:38:58 PM  120513.log  9999
12/05/2013 03:38:58 PM  120513.log  severity: error
12/05/2013 03:38:58 PM  120513.log  server:
12/05/2013 03:38:58 PM  120513.log  source: spad
12/05/2013 03:38:58 PM  120513.log  description: Error: can't query catalog
 

Cause

The X:\BackupExecDeduplicationStorageFolder\databases\catalog\2/BEData\" will not contain any desktop.ini file or .DR file.

If any of these files are present this will cause the GRT jobs targetted to Deduplicaiton folder to fail with the above error.

These files were treated by spad as if they were any other PO (physical objects) when they should not have been.

Solution

Delete or move the problem files out of the catalog folder. In this example, the files were removed:

X:\BackupExecDeduplicationStorageFolder\databases\catalog\2/BEData\SERVERNAME.DR
X:\BackupExecDeduplicationStorageFolder\databases\catalog\2/BEData\desktop.ini

 Note: X represents the Drive letter where Deduplication Folder is created.