Event 6287 Cannot access Placeholder: "File does not exist"

Problem

When trying to access an archived item via a placeholder, the appropriate program cannot access it.

Error Message

On the EV server the following will be seen:

Type :  Warning
Event :  6287
Source :  Enterprise Vault
Category : Web Application (WP)
Description: Unable to fetch item from "FSAServer.Test.com".
Reason: The specified Saveset does not exist.      (0xc0041aac)
Saveset Id: 332599000000000~200910201128040000~0~D75C294D773A4A7BB647F73031A00CD
Archive Name: FSA1
Archive Folder Path: \\FSAServer.Test.com\D$\Test\2009\
Reference: [GOAFS]
V-437-6287
 

Event ID: 20491
V-437-20491

From a Dtrace of the EvPlaceholderService service on the File Server;

(EvPlaceholderService) <1952> EV:M Processing a placeholder restore request for file: \\?\I:\Test\2009\Reports.xls Url: http://evservertest.com/EnterpriseVault/download.asp?VaultID=148734CC31FC45E4BB34E901F5ECC95511110000evsite01&SavesetId=451060000000000~200901201032410000~0~B4A24853DB104BF392D2AD1922CFB38 &Request=NativeItem&EVHeaders=1&HashName=SHA256, placeholder version: 1
(EvPlaceholderService) <1952> EV:L {RequestArchivedFile::DownLoadFile} (Entry)
(EvPlaceholderService) <1952> EV:L Attempting to download file: \\?\I:\Test\2009\Reports.xls at Url: http://evserver.test.com/EnterpriseVault/download.asp?VaultID=148734CC31FC45E4BB34E901F5ECC95511110000evsite01&SavesetId=451060000000000~200901201032410000~0~B4A24853DB104BF392D2AD1922CFB38
&Request=NativeItem&EVHeaders=1&HashName=SHA256
(EvPlaceholderService) <1952> EV:L Download status for file: \\?\I:\Test\2009\Reports.xls is c0045034
(EvPlaceholderService) <1952> EV:H {RequestArchivedFile::DownLoadFile} (Exit) Status: [Exception occurred.  (0x80020009)]
(EvPlaceholderService) <1952> EV~E Event ID: 20491 Error downloading file: \\?\I:\Test\2009\Reports.xls, Url: http://evserver.test.com/EnterpriseVault/download.asp?VaultID=148734CC31FC45E4BB34E901F5ECC95511110000evsite01&SavesetId=451060000000000~200901201032410000~0~B4A24853DB104BF392D2AD1922CFB38
&Request= NativeItem&EVHeaders=1&HashName=SHA256 |Error The item is no longer in the vault      (0xc0045034) |
(EvPlaceholderService) <1952> EV:L {RequestArchivedFile::RespondToFSADriver} (Entry)
(EvPlaceholderService) <1952> EV:L Attempting to respond to FSA driver with downloaded file: \\?\I:\Test\2009\Reports.xls
(EvPlaceholderService) <1952> EV:L {RequestArchivedFile::RespondToFSADriver} (Exit) Status: [Success]
(EvPlaceholderService) <1952> EV:L {RequestArchivedFile::Process} (Exit) Status: [Success]
(EvPlaceholderService) <1952> EV:L {CQueue::DeQueue} (Entry)

Cause

The archived item no longer exists within EV. This usually means that the item was deleted by Storage Expiry or by a user or administrator, but the Placeholder was not removed along with it. This is what is known as an "orphaned Placeholder."

Solution

Run the EVSVR tool in Verify Complete mode against the Archive in question to ensure that there are no missing DB references. If there are not, then the Placeholder is an orphaned Placeholder.

To verify this run the FSAUtility in Report Mode to verify the number of orphaned Placeholders. The command is:

FSAUtility.exe -o -s [SourceUNC path] -r

This will generate a report in [EV installation directory]\Reports\FSAutility that will list all the Placeholders pointing to items that no longer exist.

The -r switch is important, as this is what triggers Report Mode. It may be desirable to run it without the -r switch, which will delete all the orphaned Placeholders, after reviewing the report.

If the file represented by the Placeholder is needed, it will have to be restored from a backup (and then re-archived, if desired).