Msexchange lev 0 FAILED [Writers status is not stable]

This article is for Amanda Enterprise (AE)

Issue Symptoms

Zmanda Management Console displays following message in the Report Summary page.

FAILURE DUMP SUMMARY:
zmanda msexchange lev 0 FAILED [Writers status is not stable. Try
after restarting Volume Shadow Copy service. Please run 'vssadmin list
writers' to identify the problem vss writer.]
zmanda msexchange lev 0 FAILED [Writers status is not stable. Try
after restarting Volume Shadow Copy service. Please run 'vssadmin list
writers' to identify the problem vss writer.]

Issue Description

This error is observed if you have enabled circular logging on Exchange Server. This can result in the Microsoft Exchange Writer going into an unstable state and thus causing backup failures.

Circular logging allows Microsoft Exchange to overwrite transaction log files after the data that the log files contain has been committed to the database. Circular logging is not recommended in production environments.

Resolution

Disable Circular Logging for the Storage Groups in the Exchange server being backed up. (click on the link for instructions from Microsoft Knowledgebase)