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Event ID 161 — Backup Service Availability

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008

For Windows Server Backup to be able to perform backups and recoveries, the Block Level Backup Engine service (wbengine) must be able to start and the global or local catalogs must not be corrupted. Wbengine enables Windows Server Backup to perform block-level backup and recovery operations. The global catalog is a file that Windows Server Backup uses to store the details about all of your backups (what volumes are backed up and where the backups are located). The local catalog is a file that Windows Server Backup creates to store details about the backups that are stored on a specific backup destination.

Event Details

Product: Windows Operating System
ID: 161
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Backup
Version: 6.0
Symbolic Name: SYSTEM_CATALOG_DELETED_EVENT
Message: The System Catalog has been deleted.

Resolve

Create a new backup and global catalog

If the global catalog has been deleted, you will not be able to access any backups that were created earlier to perform recoveries. This can happen if you or another administrator deleted the global catalog from the boot volume using the wbadmin delete catalog command or by using Catalog Recovery Wizard in the Windows Server Backup snap-in (Wbadmin.msc).

You can create a new global catalog by creating a new backup of the computer.

To create a one-time backup, you must have membership in Backup Operators or Administrators, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

Note: The procedure below describes how to create a backup using the wbadmin command line. You can also create a one-time backup using the Backup Once Wizard in the Windows Server Backup snap-in.

To create a new backup using the command line:

  1. Open an elevated Command Prompt window. Click Start, point to All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

  2. At the prompt, type: wbadmin start backup. Use parameters, as needed. (To view the parameters and help for this command, at a command line, type: wbadmin start backup /?).

    For example, to create a backup that will be stored on drive f, of volumes e:, d:\mountpoint, and \\?\Volume{cc566d14-4410-11d9-9d93-806e6f6e6963}, type: wbadmin start backup -backupTarget:f: -include:e:,d:\mountpoint,\\?\Volume{cc566d14-44a0-11d9-9d93-806e6f6e6963}\.

Verify

To verify that Windows Server Backup is able to perform backup and recovery operations, you should verify that the Block Level Backup Engine service (wbengine) is able to start and that the global catalog and the local catalog have not been corrupted. The global catalog is the file that contains information about all your backups, and the local catalog is the file that contains information about backups saved to a specific destination.

To perform these procedures, you must have membership in Backup Operators or Administrators, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

Verify that wbengine can start

To verify that wbengine can start:

  1. Open an elevated Command Prompt window. Click Start, point to All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.
  2. At the prompt, type: net start wbengine.
  3. View the text message to verify that the service starts or is already started.

Verify the local catalog

To verify that the local catalog stored on a backup destination exists and is not corrupted:

  1. Open an elevated Command Prompt window. Click Start, point to All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.
  2. At the prompt, type: wbadmin get versions -backuptarget:<backup destination drive letter>.
  3. Verify that command runs without errors.

Verify the global catalog

To verify that the global catalog on the boot volume exists and is not corrupted:

  1. Open an elevated Command Prompt window. Click Start, point to All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

  2. At the prompt, type (with no parameters): wbadmin get versions.

    Without parameters this command shows all the backups you have taken that are stored in all locations—that is, information stored in the global catalog.

  3. Verify that the command runs without errors.

Backup Service Availability

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