Troubleshoot backup of SAP HANA databases on Azure

This article provides troubleshooting information to back up SAP HANA databases on Azure virtual machines. For more information on the SAP HANA backup scenarios we currently support, see Scenario support.

Prerequisites and Permissions

See the prerequisites and What the preregistration script does sections before configuring backups.

Common user errors

UserErrorHANAInternalRoleNotPresent

Error message	Azure Backup doesn't have required role privileges to carry out Backup and Restore operations
Possible causes	All operations fail with this error when the Backup user (AZUREWLBACKUPHANAUSER) doesn't have the SAP_INTERNAL_HANA_SUPPORT role assigned or the role might be overwritten.
Recommended action	Download and run the pre-registration script on the SAP HANA instance, or manually assign the SAP_INTERNAL_HANA_SUPPORT role to the Backup user (AZUREWLBACKUPHANAUSER). Note If you're using HANA 2.0 SPS04 Rev 46 and later, this error doesn't occur as the use of the SAP_INTERNAL_HANA_SUPPORT role is deprecated in these HANA versions.

UserErrorInOpeningHanaOdbcConnection

Error message	Failed to connect to HANA system
Possible causes	Connection to HANA instance failed System database (DB) is offline Tenant DB is offline Backup user (AZUREWLBACKUPHANAUSER) doesn't have enough permissions/privileges.
Recommended action	Check if the system is running. If one or more databases is running, ensure that the required permissions are set. To do so, download and run the pre-registration script on the SAP HANA instance.

UserErrorHanaInstanceNameInvalid

Error message	The specified SAP HANA instance is either invalid or can't be found
Possible causes	The specified SAP HANA instance is either invalid or can't be found. Multiple SAP HANA instances on a single Azure Virtual Machine (VM) can't be backed up.
Recommended action	Ensure that only one HANA instance is running on the Azure VM. To resolve the issue, run the script from the Discover DB pane (you can also find the script here) with the correct SAP HANA instance.

UserErrorHANALSNValidationFailure

Error message	Backup log chain is broken
Possible causes	HANA LSN Log chain break can be triggered for various reasons, including: Azure Storage call failure to commit backup. The Tenant DB is offline. Extension upgrade is terminated an in-progress Backup job. Unable to connect to Azure Storage during backup. SAP HANA has rolled back a transaction in the backup process. A backup is complete, but catalog isn't yet updated with success in HANA system. Backup failed from Azure Backup perspective, but success from the perspective of HANA — the log backup/catalog destination might have been updated from Backint-to-file system, or the Backint executable might have been changed.
Recommended action	To resolve this issue, Azure Backup triggers an auto-heal Full backup. While this auto-heal backup is in progress, all log backups are triggered by HANA fail with OperationCancelledBecauseConflictingAutohealOperationRunningUserError. Once the auto-heal Full backup is complete, logs and all other backups start working as expected. If you don't see an auto-heal full backup triggered or any successful backup (Full/Differential/ Incremental) in 24 hours, contact Microsoft support.

UserErrorSDCtoMDCUpgradeDetected

Error message	SDC to MDC upgrade detected.
Possible causes	When an SDC system is upgraded to MDC, backups fail with this error.
Recommended action	To troubleshoot and resolve the issue, see SDC to MDC upgrade.

UserErrorInvalidBackintConfiguration

Error message	Backups will fail with this error when the Backint Configuration is incorrectly updated.
Possible causes	The Backint configuration updated during the Configure Protection flow by Azure Backup is either altered/updated by the customer.
Recommended action	Check if the following (Backint) parameters are set: [catalog_backup_using_backint:true] [enable_accumulated_catalog_backup:false] [parallel_data_backup_backint_channels:1] [log_backup_timeout_s:900)] [backint_response_timeout:7200] If backint-based parameters are present at the HOST level, remove them. However, if the parameters aren't present at the HOST level, but are manually modified at a database level, ensure that the database level values are set. Or, run stop protection with retain backup data from the Azure portal, and then select Resume backup.

UserErrorIncompatibleSrcTargetSystemsForRestore

Error message	The source and target systems for restore are incompatible.
Possible causes	The restore flow fails with this error when the source and target HANA databases, and systems are incompatible.
Recommended action	Ensure that your restore scenario isn't in the following list of possible incompatible restores: Case 1: SYSTEMDB can't be renamed during restore. Case 2: Source — SDC and target — MDC: The source database can't be restored as SYSTEMDB or tenant DB on the target. Case 3: Source — MDC and target — SDC: The source database (SYSTEMDB or tenant DB) can't be restored to the target. To learn more, see the note 1642148 in the SAP support launchpad.

UserErrorHANAPODoesNotExist

Error message	Database configured for backup doesn't exist.
Possible causes	If you delete a database that is configured for backup, all scheduled and on-demand backups on this database will fail.
Recommended action	Verify if the database is deleted. Re-create the database or stop protection (with or without retain data) for the database.

UserErrorInsufficientPrivilegeOfDatabaseUser

Error message	Azure Backup does not have enough privileges to carry out Backup and Restore operations.
Possible causes	Backup user (AZUREWLBACKUPHANAUSER) created by the pre-registration script doesn't have one or more of the following roles assigned: For MDC, DATABASE ADMIN and BACKUP ADMIN (for HANA 2.0 SPS05 and later) create new databases during restore. For SDC, BACKUP ADMIN creates new databases during restore. CATALOG READ to read the backup catalog. SAP_INTERNAL_HANA_SUPPORT to access a few private tables. Only required for SDC and MDC versions prior to HANA 2.0 SPS04 Rev 46. It's not required for HANA 2.0 SPS04 Rev 46 and later. This is because we're getting the required information from public tables now with the fix from HANA team.
Recommended action	To resolve the issue, add the required roles and permissions manually to the Backup user (AZUREWLBACKUPHANAUSER). Or, you can download and run the preregistration script on the SAP HANA instance.

UserErrorDatabaseUserPasswordExpired

Error message	Database/Backup user's password expired.
Possible causes	The Database/Backup user created by the pre-registration script doesn't set expiry for the password. However, if it was altered, you may see this error.
Recommended action	Download and run the pre-registration script on the SAP HANA instance to resolve the issue.

UserErrorInconsistentSSFS

Error message	SAP HANA error
Possible causes	Inconsistent Secure Storage File System (SSFS) error received from SAP HANA Engine.
Recommended action	Work with the SAP HANA team to fix this issue. To learn more, see the SAP note 0002097613.

UserErrorCannotConnectToAzureActiveDirectoryService

Error message	Unable to connect to the AAD service from the HANA system.
Possible causes	Firewall or proxy settings as Backup extension's plugin service account isn't allowing the outbound connection to Microsoft Entra ID.
Recommended action	Fix the firewall or proxy settings for the outbound connection to Microsoft Entra ID to succeed.

UserErrorMisConfiguredSslCaStore

Error message	Misconfigured CA store
Possible causes	Backup extension's plugin host process is unable to access the root CA store (in /var/lib/ca-certificates/ca-bundle.pem for SLES).
Recommended action	Fix the CA store issue by using chmod o+r to restore the original permission. Then restart the plugin host service for Backups and Restores to succeed.

UserErrorBackupFailedAsRemedialBackupInProgress

Error message	Remedial Backup in progress.
Possible causes	Azure Backup triggers a remedial full backup to handle LSN log chain break. While the remedial full is in progress, backups (Full/ Differential/Incremental) triggered through the portal/CLI fails with this error.
Recommended action	Wait for the remedial full backup to complete successfully before you trigger another backup.

OperationCancelledBecauseConflictingOperationRunningUserError

Error message	Conflicting operation in progress.
Possible causes	A Full/Differential/Incremental backup triggered through portal/CLI/native HANA clients, while another Full/Differential/Incremental backup is already in progress.
Recommended action	Wait for the active backup job to complete before you trigger a new Full/delta backup.

OperationCancelledBecauseConflictingAutohealOperationRunning UserError

Error message	Auto-heal Full backup in progress.
Possible causes	Azure Backup triggers an auto-heal Full backup to resolve UserErrorHANALSNValidationFailure. While this auto-heal backup is in progress, all the log backups triggered by HANA fail with OperationCancelledBecauseConflictingAutohealOperationRunningUserError. Once the auto-heal Full backup is complete, logs and all other backups start working as expected.
Recommended action	Wait for the auto-heal Full backup to complete before you trigger a new Full/delta backup.

Environment pre-registration script run error

UserErrorHanaPreScriptNotRun

UserErrorPreregistrationScriptNotRun

Error message	Pre-registration script not run.
Possible causes	The SAP HANA pre-registration script to set up the environment hasn't been run.
Recommended action	Download and run the pre-registration script on the SAP HANA instance.

UserErrorTargetPOExistsOverwriteNotSpecified

Error message	Target database cannot be overwritten for Restore.
Possible causes	Target database exists, but can't be overwritten. Force overwrite isn't set in the Restore flow on portal/CLI.
Recommended action	Restore database with the force overwrite option selected, or restore to a different target database.

UserErrorRecoverySysScriptFailedToTriggerRestore

Error message	RecoverySys.py could not be run successfully to restore System DB.
Possible causes	Possible causes for System DB restore to fail are: Azure Backup is unable to find Recoverysys.py on the HANA machine. It happens when the HANA environment isn't set up properly. Recoverysys.py is present, but when you trigger this script, it fails to invoke HANA to perform the restore. Recoverysys.py has successfully invoked HANA to perform the restore, but HANA fails to restore.
Recommended action	For issue 1, work with the SAP HANA team to fix the issue. For 2 and 3, run the HDSetting.sh command in sid-adm prompt and see the log trace. For example, /usr/sap/SID/HDB00/HDBSetting.sh. Share these findings with the SAP HANA team to get the issue fixed.

UserErrorDBNameNotInCorrectFormat

Error message	Restored database name not in correct format.
Possible causes	The Restored database name that you have provided isn't in the acceptable/expected format.
Recommended action	Ensure that the restored database name starts with a letter and shouldn't contain any symbol, other than digits or an underscore. It can contain a maximum of 127 characters only and must not begin with "_SYS_".

UserErrorDefaultSidAdmDirectoryChanged

Error message	Default sid-adm directory changed.
Possible causes	The default sid-adm directory was changed, and HDBSetting.sh isn't available in this default directory.
Recommended action	If HXE is the SID, ensure that environment variable HOME is set to /usr/sap/HXE/home as sid-adm user.

UserErrorHDBsettingsScriptNotFound

Error message	HDBSetting.sh file cannot be found.
Possible causes	System databases restore failed as the <sid>adm user environment couldn't find the HDBsettings.sh file to trigger restore.
Recommended action	Work with the SAP HANA team to fix this issue. If HXE is the SID, ensure that environment variable HOME is set to /usr/sap/HXE/home as sid-adm user.

UserErrorInsufficientSpaceOnSystemDriveForExtensionMetadata

Error message	Insufficient space on HANA machine to perform Configure Backup, Backup or Restore activities.
Possible causes	The disk space on your HANA machine is almost full or full causing the Configure Backup, Backup, or Restore activitie(s) to fail.
Recommended action	Check the disk space on your HANA machine to ensure that there's enough space for the Configure Backup, Backup, or Restore activitie(s) to complete successfully.

CloudDosAbsoluteLimitReached

Error message	Operation is blocked as you have reached the limit on number of operations permitted in 24 hours.
Possible causes	When you've reached the maximum permissible limit for an operation in a span of 24 hours, this error appears. For example: If you've hit the limit for the number of configure backup jobs that can be triggered per day, and you try to configure backup on a new item, you'll see this error.
Recommended action	Typically, retrying the operation after 24 hours resolves this issue. However, if the issue persists, you can contact Microsoft support for help.

CloudDosAbsoluteLimitReachedWithRetry

Error message	Operation is blocked as the vault has reached its maximum limit for such operations permitted in a span of 24 hours.
Possible causes	When you've reached the maximum permissible limit for an operation in a span of 24 hours, this error appears. This error usually appears when there are at-scale operations such as modify policy or auto-protection. Unlike the case of CloudDosAbsoluteLimitReached, there isn't much you can do to resolve this state. In fact, Azure Backup service will retry the operations internally for all the items in question. For example, if you have a large number of datasources protected with a policy and you try to modify that policy, it will trigger the configure protection jobs for each of the protected items and sometimes may hit the maximum limit permissible for such operations per day.
Recommended action	Azure Backup service will automatically retry this operation after 24 hours.

UserErrorInvalidBackint

Error message	Found invalid hdbbackint executable.
Possible cause	1. The operation to change Backint path from /opt/msawb/bin to /usr/sap/<sid>/SYS/global/hdb/opt/hdbbackint failed due to insufficient storage space in the new location. 2. The hdbbackint utility located on /usr/sap/<sid>/SYS/global/hdb/opt/hdbbackint doesn't have executable permissions or correct ownership.
Recommended action	1. Ensure that there's free space available on /usr/sap/<sid>/SYS/global/hdb/opt/hdbbackint or the path where you want to save backups. 2. Ensure that sapsys group has appropriate permissions on the /usr/sap/<sid>/SYS/global/hdb/opt/hdbbackint file by running the command chmod 755.

UserErrorHanaSQLQueryFailed

Error message	Operation failed while running query on HANA Server. All operations which fail with this user error is due to an issue caused at Hana side while running the query. Additional details have the clear message of the error.
Possible causes	- Disk corruption issue. - Memory allocation issues. - Too many databases in use. - Topology update issue.
Recommended action	Work with the SAP HANA team to fix this issue. However, if the issue persists, you can contact Microsoft support for further assistance.

UserErrorRestoreTargetDirectoriesAbsent

Error Message	PreRestoreDataParamsPrep: Target directory doesn't exist.
Possible Causes	Restore as files is failing due to directory that is selected for restore doesn't exist on the Target server or isn't accessible.
Recommended action	Verify the directory that you selected is available on the target server and ensure you have selected the correct target server at the time of restore.

JobCancelledOnExtensionUpgrade

Error message	The Backup job was canceled because the workload backup extension service restarted for an upgrade.
Possible cause	The backup and restore job fails due to automatic Extension upgrade when the backup/restore operation is in progress.
Recommended action	Wait for the extension upgrade to complete. HANA then re-triggers the failed log backups, if any. However, the failed Full/ Differential/ Incremental backups won't be re-triggered by Azure Backup and you need to manually retrigger this operation.

Restore checks

Single Container Database (SDC) restore

Take care of inputs while restoring a single container database (SDC) for HANA to another SDC machine. The database name should be given with lowercase and with sdc appended in brackets. The HANA instance will be displayed in capitals.

Assume an SDC HANA instance "H21" is backed up. The backup items page will show the backup item name as h21(sdc). If you attempt to restore this database to another target SDC, say H11, then following inputs need to be provided.

Note the following points:

• By default, the restored database name will be populated with the backup item name. In this case, h21(sdc).
• Select the target as H11 won't change the restored database name automatically. It should be edited to h11(sdc). Regarding SDC, the restored db name will be the target instance ID with lowercase letters and sdc appended in brackets.
• Since SDC can have only single database, you also need to select the checkbox to allow override of the existing database data with the recovery point data.
• Linux is case-sensitive. So be careful to preserve the case.

Multiple Container Database (MDC) restore

In multiple container databases for HANA, the standard configuration is SYSTEMDB + 1 or more Tenant DBs. Restore of an entire SAP HANA instance restores both SYSTEMDB and Tenant DBs. One restores SYSTEMDB first and then proceeds for Tenant DB. System DB essentially means to override the system information on the selected target. This restore also overrides the BackInt related information in the target instance. So after the system DB is restored to a target instance, run the pre-registration script again. Only then the subsequent tenant DB restores will succeed.

Back up a replicated VM

Scenario 1

The original VM was replicated using Azure Site Recovery or Azure VM backup. The new VM was built to simulate the old VM. That is, the settings are exactly the same. (It's because the original VM was deleted and the restore was done from VM backup or Azure Site Recovery).

This scenario could include two possible cases. Learn how to back up the replicated VM in both of these cases:

1. The new VM created has the same name, and is in the same resource group and subscription as the deleted VM.

   • The extension is already present on the VM, but isn't visible to any of the services
   • Run the pre-registration script
   • Re-register the extension for the same machine in the Azure portal (Backup -> View details -> Select the relevant Azure VM -> Re-register)
   • The already existing backed up databases (from the deleted VM) should then start successfully being backed up

2. The new VM created has either:

   • a different name than the deleted VM
   • the same name as the deleted VM but is in a different resource group or subscription (as compared to the deleted VM)

   If so, then follow these steps:

   • The extension is already present on the VM, but isn't visible to any of the services
   • Run the pre-registration script
   • If you discover and protect the new databases, you start seeing duplicate active databases in the portal. To avoid this, Stop protection with retain data for the old databases. Then continue with the remaining steps.
   • Discover the databases
   • Enable backups on these databases
   • The already existing backed-up databases (from the deleted VM) continue to be stored in the vault. They're stored with their backups being retained according to the policy.

Scenario 2

The original VM was replicated using Azure Site Recovery or Azure VM backup. The new VM was built out of the content — to be used as a template. The VM is new with a new SID.

Follow these steps to enable backups on the new VM:

• The extension is already present on the VM, but not visible to any of the services
• Run the pre-registration script. Based on the SID of the new VM, two scenarios can arise:
  • The original VM and the new VM have the same SID. The pre-registration script runs successfully.
  • The original VM and the new VM have different SIDs. The pre-registration script fails. Contact Azure support to get help in this scenario.
• Discover the databases that you want to back up
• Enable backups on these databases

SDC version upgrade or MDC version upgrade on the same VM

Upgrades to the OS, SDC version change, or MDC version change that don't cause a SID change can be handled as follows:

• Ensure that the new OS version, SDC, or MDC version are currently supported by Azure Backup
• Stop protection with retain data for the database
• Perform the upgrade or update
• Rerun the pre-registration script. Often, the upgrade process might remove the necessary roles. Run the pre-registration script to verify all the required roles.
• Resume protection for the database again

SDC to MDC upgrade with no change in SID

Upgrades from SDC to MDC that don't cause a SID change can be handled as follows:

• Ensure that the new MDC version is currently supported by Azure Backup
• Stop protection with retain data for the old SDC database
• Perform the upgrade. After completion, the HANA system is now MDC with a system DB and tenant DBs
• Rerun the pre-registration script
• Re-register the extension for the same machine in the Azure portal (Backup -> View details -> Select the relevant Azure VM -> Re-register)
• Select Rediscover DBs for the same VM. This action should show the new DBs in step 3 as SYSTEMDB and Tenant DB, not SDC
• The older SDC database continues to exist in the vault and has the old backed-up data retained according to the policy.
• Configure backup for these databases

SDC to MDC upgrade with a change in SID

Upgrades from SDC to MDC that cause a SID change can be handled as follows:

• Ensure that the new MDC version is currently supported by Azure Backup
• Stop protection with retain data for the old SDC database
• Move the config.json file located at /opt/msawb/etc/config/SAPHana/.
• Perform the upgrade. After completion, the HANA system is now MDC with a system DB and tenant DBs.
• Rerun the pre-registration script with correct details (new SID and MDC). Due to a change in SID, you might face issues with successful execution of the script. Contact Azure Backup support if you face issues.
• Re-register the extension for the same machine in the Azure portal (Backup -> View details -> Select the relevant Azure VM -> Re-register).
• Select Rediscover DBs for the same VM. This action should show the new DBs in step 3 as SYSTEMDB and Tenant DB, not SDC.
• The older SDC database continues to exist in the vault and has old backed-up data retained according to the policy.
• Configure backup for these databases.

Re-registration failures

Check for one or more of the following symptoms before you trigger the re-register operation:

• All operations (such as backup, restore, and configure backup) are failing on the VM with one of the following error codes: WorkloadExtensionNotReachable, UserErrorWorkloadExtensionNotInstalled, WorkloadExtensionNotPresent, WorkloadExtensionDidntDequeueMsg.

• If the Backup Status area for the backup item is showing Not reachable, rule out all the other causes that might result in the same status:

  • Lack of permission to perform backup-related operations on the VM
  • The VM is shut down, so backups can't take place
  • Network issues

These symptoms might arise for one or more of the following reasons:

• An extension was deleted or uninstalled from the portal.
• The VM was restored back in time through in-place disk restore.
• The VM was shut down for an extended period, so the extension configuration on it expired.
• The VM was deleted. Also, the other VM was created with the same name and in the same resource group as the deleted VM.

In the preceding scenarios, we recommend that you trigger a re-register operation on the VM.

Back up SAP HANA database logs

Log backup isn't triggered despite the full backup's success.

Possible cause: The values for SAP HANA database are incorrect to trigger log backup.

Recommended action: Ensure that the following values for SAP HANA configuration are set correctly:

• enable_auto_log_backup： Yes
• log_backup_using_backint： True
• catalog_backup_using_backint： True
• log_mode： normal
• log_backup_timeout_s： Same as Azure portal's log backup policy (frequency is in seconds).

Next step

• Review the frequently asked questions about the backup of SAP HANA databases on Azure VMs.