Veeam Error: Cannot proceed with the job: existing backup meta file on repository is not synchronized with the DB.

Running Veeam Backup & Replication 12 (build 12.3.2.3617), I suddenly started getting this error:

Error: Cannot proceed with the job: existing backup meta file ‘JOB_NAME.vstore’ on repository ‘REPOSITORY_NAME’ is not synchronized with the DB. To resolve this, run repository rescan

First thing I need was look more into this error to see if others had run into the same issue.  I came across this thread:

https://forums.veeam.com/veeam-backup-replication-f2/backup-repository-is-not-synchronized-with-the-db-error-t26771.html

I proceeded to follow the steps outlined:

  1. Open the Backup Infrastructure view.
  2. In the inventory pane, select the Backup Repositories node.
  3. In the working area, select the backup repository and click Rescan Repository on the ribbon or right-click the backup repository and select Rescan repository.

When it was complete, I retried the job.  However it failed again with the exact same error.

I did some more digging and came across this thread:

https://community.veeam.com/discussion-boards-66/repository-rescan-failing-9144

It discussed renaming a file listed in the Veeam error message solved the issue for them.  In this case I went looking for the .vstore file which I found on the backup repository itself, located inside the folder with the job name.

What I discovered is that the file was completely empty, but there was another file at this location with an identical name but extension .vstorecopy. This file was not completely empty.

First I tried renaming the .vstore file to .vstore.bak.  When I retried the job, it failed like the others.

Next I tried renaming the .vstorecopy to .vstore and retrying the job. That also failed with the same error.

What finally fixed it for me was to “reconfigure” the backup repository itself that is listed in the error. A combination of a repository rescan plus a repository reconfiguration was needed to totally resolve the issue.

Here are the steps:

  1. Open the Backup Infrastructure view.
  2. In the inventory pane, select the Backup Repositories node.
  3. In the working area, select the backup repository and click Edit Repository on the ribbon or right-click the backup repository and select Properties.
  4. Run through the configuration clicking the Next button and changing no settings. On the Repository section, be sure to click the Populate button and allow it to calculate Capacity and Free space before continuing.  At the end of the configuration, click the Apply and Finish buttons.

When you retry the job, it should complete without any errors!