There are several approaches you can use to manage VSS effectively.

Manage VSS Writers

In some instances, one or more Microsoft Volume Shadow Service (VSS) writers on a device might cause a backup to fail. In other instances, backup jobs might interfere with other VSS-aware software running on the protected device. When these events happen, you can exclude specific VSS writers from a backup job to enable the job to complete successfully.

Caution! Excluding a VSS writer might result in inconsistent backups. This feature must be utilized with extreme caution. For more information on troubleshooting VSS writers, please reference the Backup Fails Because of VSS Problems section (page 331) of the Unified Management Console User Guide

 To exclude a VSS writer from a backup:

1. Navigate to the device backup job.

2. On the Image Backup page, click the manage VSS writers option on the left navigation menu. 

3. The Manage VSS Writers page displays. On the Manage VSS Writers page, review the State column to find which VSS writers are in a failed state.

4. In the Status column, click the Exclude link to exclude the VSS writer from the backup job.

5. Click the confirm button to save your changes.

Manage VSS Storage Locations for Windows Devices

 If you are protecting a Windows device, you can use the Manage VSS Storages page to specify a drive where VSS snapshots should be stored.

 To specify VSS storage settings:

1. On the UMC, click the devices tab. The Devices page displays.
2. On the Devices page, click the device name.
3. Click the manage VSS storages option from the left navigation menu.
4. On the manage VSS storages page, drive letters display in the left-hand column, and the VSS storage location options display in the right-hand column.

Use the Storage Volume drop-down menus to select the preferred location where VSS snapshots will be stored. If no selection is made, then the storage location will be set automatically during a backup.

5. If you change the drive to be used for storing VSS snapshots, a dialog box will display, alerting you that the existing snapshots will be deleted.

6. Click the OK button to delete existing snapshots and change the VSS storage location.

Alternatively, click the Cancel button to cancel the operation.

Allow unlimited storage for VSS snapshot creation

We recommend allowing unlimited storage for VSS snapshot creation to avoid backup failures due to insufficient VSS storage space.

Enabling this setting allows the backup process to temporarily override the VSS storage size limit set on the protected device. If this option is selected, the VSS storage size limit will return to its original value when the backup completes.

To enable unlimited storage for VSS snapshot creation:

1. Select the target device on the Devices pane on the UMC.
2. On the Backup Jobs page for the device, click the image backup option on the left navigation bar. The Image Backup page displays.
3. On the Image Backup page, check the box next to Allow Axcient to override VSS storage size limit for the duration of the backup.

4. Click the save button when you are finished.

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If you have further questions about how to manage your VSS more effectively, please review the related sections in the UMC User Guide:

• Manage VSS Writers (page 79)
• Manage VSS Storage Locations for Windows Devices (page 37)
• Control unlimited storage for VSS snapshot creation (page 62)