1

It may be that I’m being impatient, but calling the Symantec tech support line didn’t get me quite as far as I had hoped (all they were able to do was create a ticket for me while I wait for a call back).

I went to run LiveUpdate this morning for Backup Exec 2012 which is running on our hotel’s server (Windows 2008 R2), and installed two updates: Hotfix 199866 and Hotfix 200433. After that completed, I ran Windows Update, then proceeded to restart the server.

When the computer came back up, I tried to open BUE and was presented with a window saying I was not connected to the Backup Exec server, and at least one service had stopped (there were multiple stopped). I’ve entered the ONLY credentials it could possibly be, but with no luck. The message that pops up after that says “Could not connect. Backup Exec does not appear to be running on [Server Name].” I’m not 100% familiar with the BUE software as it was configured/installed by the company who handles our reservation software/databases, all I did was enter the license keys once we got them.

I’d be more than happy to provide more information as requested, just not sure I want to poke around too much more than I already have until then.

4 Spice ups
2

Have 2010 R3 and “played” with 2012. First thing, when you look at the services in Computer Management, and you expand the logon account for the service, are you sure this is the one you are thinking to use? Also, you can use BEUtiltiy to change the service account. Use with caution though, if account is different that what is being used, you may have to recreate your backup jobs.

3

Also ping BE_Elias. He is active online right now.

4

Well it’s the only account we have on the server, and it’s the account we used prior to this incident, so I’m fairly confident it’s the correct account. Although, now that you mention it, I notice the “Log on as” account is “.\Administrator”, with the period before it and not the server name. The company who provides our PMS software (har har, yes, I get it) had one of their backup specialists take a look at it, but there was only so much he could do since it wasn’t an issue with their software.

I tried looking through the BEUtility application, but I didn’t feel like poking around any more than I had to. Our hotel isn’t a large operation, so recreating the jobs wouldn’t be an issue… we just don’t want to lose the backups if at all possible. I know a scenario we can attempt is uninstalling/reinstalling but I’d like to stop before going that far.

Edit: Thanks, I’ll see if I can guide him over to read this!

5

You should be able to manually start the services. You can also manually change the credentials that the services use. That might get you to the point of being able to start the software.

1 Spice up
6

Already have tried to manually restart them, get the message “Error 1068: the dependency service or group failed to start”, and that occurs when trying to start the one service that doesn’t even have a dependency.

I’ve tried changing the “Backup Exec Management Service” to log on as “Local System”, but with no luck. I’ve also made sure to double and triple check the credentials.

7

I worded that poorly. The main Backup Exec service that doesn’t depend on another Backup Exec service doesn’t run when its dependencies are running. Sorry, :stuck_out_tongue:

8

Matthew,

I realize that you are not in an upgrade situation as this tech note mentions, but the data provided may still be valid:
http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH179970

Any idea what Windows updates were applied as well?
If you check your services after a reboot, which Backup Exec service is in “starting” or “stopped” mode? Have you attempted to stop all the services for BackupExec manually and restart them one by one?

9

Right off the bat, since I have my services window open, I can tell you that “Backup Exec Error Reporting Service” and “Backup Exec Remote Agent for Windows” are the only two (of seven) services that will start up. All seven are set to Automatic, though.

I can get back to you in just a minute in regards to the Windows Updates applied.

10

There were 18 updates applied: KB2742595, 2757638, 2769369, 2779562, 890830, 2762895, 2770660, 2761465, 2758857, 2785220, 2753842, 2742599, 2736428, 2786400, 2786081, 2778930, 2726535, 2765809.

11

If you attempt to start the other Backup Exec services, what message do you get? Is this server the Backup Exec Media server? do you have BE installed on more than 1 server?

12

Matthew,

has the password for the system logon account changed recently?

If you go to manage services and restart all service are you able to do so

13

Kani just called me, so I may not be able to respond immediately, :-X

14

Matthew…

If you’re not able to restart services

Please try opening windows services and browsing to the following B.E. services

Backup Exec Agent Browser

Backup Exec Device & Media Service

Backup Exec Job Engine

Backup Exec Management Service

Backup Exec Server

Verifiy that these 5 services are running as Domain\Administrator under “Log On AS” , Further more right click and view the properties of each under the Log On tab verify the password and apply… then try to restart all services again from the B.E. console.

1 Spice up
15

Hi MatthewIT, Are you on this server now? Just wondering if any other applications are having trouble opening and if you can connect to the Internet ok . I am wondering if it may have been a conflict with the Windows Updates. Would you be able to uninstall the Windows Update, reboot and then try to open the Backup Exec Console again.

16

Elias: it’s only installed on one server. I’d check the error message but a tech is on right now.

Donald: if I click “restart all services” I get an error saying “Backup Exec Device & Media Service: Service failed to start. (15) Service logon failure.”

Tech has me on hold while she speaks with someone briefly so I got as much info as I could.

17

Also, if you cant restart your services,

Open Windows Task Manager
Click on the Processes tab
Locate LUGETUPDATES.exe
If the process is present right-click on the LUGETUPDATES.exe and choose “End Process” and click on yes for confirmation
Attempt to restart the Backup Exec Server Service (Beserver.exe) again.

18

Oh boy, I’m gonna get a good laugh from this one. It seems that I got myself a bit flustered and let that cloud my troubleshooting. Instead of changing ALL of the services to log on at “Local system”, I was only changing the one service that was initially failing to log in that way. It didn’t need to be under the domain account.

Kani did a fantastic job at slowing me down to see that I had missed that. All is fixed now… thank you!

19

Awesome!

20

Donald: I don’t think I refreshed when I posted my other post with all that info. You were absolutely right, and Thatcher was right as well, I was just getting a little too flustered and it got to me… I’ve learned a lesson from this one.