Daily Server 2012 backups to different drives

We have a Windows 2012 server that runs AD and Hyper-V with 2 VMs. Total disk space is 2TB. We have 5x 2TB USB disks that are rotated daily from Monday to Friday. Currently I have a scheduled task that fires off a batch file with the following in it:
wbadmin start backup -allcritical -systemstate -include:"c:" -backuptarget:E: -vssfull -quiet
WSB backup performance is currently set to "Normal backup performance".
The reason I went this route is because I had issues trying to get WSB to use all 5 drives in rotation through the GUI. Connecting all 5 drives at the same time when setting up the backup is just not feasible.
When I initially configured the backup it ran fine for the first 2 weeks whereby the backups would take about 16 hours to finish which was fine (starting at 6pm and finishing around 10am the next day). For some reason now the backups are taking around 26 hours
to finish which I don't understand as the size of the data hasn't changed much.
I have now changed the performance to "Faster backup performance" but I'm not sure if it will work with the drives being changed daily as the comparison of say Monday's snapshot on the server will be different to the backed up data on Tuesday's drive.
Or alternatively, if the comparison of changes is only done on the server and the differences are copied across, will it cause issues when trying to restore the backup?
Basically what I need to achieve is:
- The RPO is 1 day so that in the event of catastrophic failure we need to be able to restore the server completely to the previous day (obviously within reason of when the catastrophe occurred).
- We need 5 days worth of backups from Monday to Friday.
- Each drive is swapped out daily to be taken off site.
If I need to look at doing a full backup every weekend and leaving a single drive connected for the week for "incrementals" then I can discuss that with the managers but that would change the RPO to the previous week instead of the previous day if
the building burns down for example.

Thanks for the feedback PrashKom. What difference will leaving out -backuptarget make? From what I can see at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc742083.aspx it is required to have that switch.
Changing the backup performance doesn't seem to have made any difference in terms of the speed it takes as it is only on 68% complete 13 hours after starting.
Do you think there will be any difference in changing from wbadmin start backup using task scheduler, to using wbadmin enable backup? I see in http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc742130.aspx that they have "wbadmin enable backup –addtarget:H:"
but from my understanding is that setting the schedule will remove the drive letter and rename the drive like it does in the GUI.

Similar Messages

Manage Server 2012 Backups from Windows 8.1

Hello,
I am trying to find out if it is possible to manage server 2012 backups from a windows 8.1 workstation via GUI or is the CLI the only option?
I found a few articles online that mention to use a computer management console > storage > backup (but from what I know it only works if you're connecting from a 2012 server itself)
Thank you in advance!

Hi,
We cannot manage server 2012 backups from a windows 8.1 workstation. Ye may need to use Remote Desktop Connection to access server 2012 from windows 8.1 workstation. In additional, we could manage server 2012 essential backups using dashboard on Windows
8.1 workstation.
For more detailed information, please refer to the article below:
Get Connected in Windows Server Essentials
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj713510.aspx
Best Regards,
Mandy
We
are trying to better understand customer views on social support experience, so your participation in this
interview project would be greatly appreciated if you have time.
Thanks for helping make community forums a great place.

SQL Server 2012 - Cannot Use Network Drive as a Backup Device

Hello Community,
I am using SQL Server 2012 and I am trying to add a mapped drive as a backup device, but I am not even to see that drive from SQL Server. Has anyone else had this issue and if so can you help me resolve it?
Thanks!
Tom
Tom Molskow - Senior SharePoint Architect - Microsoft Community Contributor 2011 and 2012 Award -
Linked-In - SharePoint Gypsy

Hey David,
I checked the drive and share permissions, and the service account for SQL Server, in this case named "sqlsvc" has been granted full permission to both. I tried the script but it also failed, the code is below:
DATABASE[TestDb]TO
DISK=N'\\sqlclus02\SharePointBackup\TestDb.bak'WITHNOFORMAT,NOINIT,
NAME=N'TestDb-Full
Database Backup',SKIP,NOREWIND,NOUNLOAD,
STATS=10
Also, I haven't been able to confirm that the sqlsvc account is a domain account, but I do know the server is clustered.
Thanks!
Tom
Tom Molskow - Senior SharePoint Architect - Microsoft Community Contributor 2011 and 2012 Award -
Linked-In - SharePoint Gypsy

Is it possible to restore Windows server 2012 backup to another physical hardware or virtual machine?

Hi
I have windows server 2012 which is my domain controller. It has 2 hyper visor virtual machine that they are 2012 too. I have an additional domain controller in another location too.
I want to know, how can I restore a bare metal or system state backup to another machine, to have a domain controller same as old one whit all the properties, rules and features.
Thanks

Hi Mehdi,
Yes, it is possible to restore Windows backup to a different machine with different hardware. This article, although written for Windows Server 2008 still applies in 2012:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/249694
Best regards,
Please remember to mark the replies as helpful if they help, or as answers if they answer your question. Please also unmark the answers if they provide no help.
Zach Roberts
Independent Microsoft Community Support Advisor
Disclaimer: I don't work for Microsoft. Any advice given is my own and does not represent Microsoft.
Follow me on Twitter:
@WindowsZach

Server 2012 Backups

Hi
I have recently bought a new server and purchased Server 2012 licenses. I am now trying to configure backups and I am not seeing the option to backup to the tape drive on the server.
I am unable to use the tape drive unless I buy a third party product ?
I am able to backup shared drives ?

Hi,
Yes, if you store backups on a remote shared folder, only one version of your backup will be maintained.
For more detailed information, please see:
Windows Server Backup Overview
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772523.aspx
Regards,
Mandy
We
are trying to better understand customer views on social support experience, so your participation in this
interview project would be greatly appreciated if you have time.
Thanks for helping make community forums a great place.

Easy Server 2012 backup solutions with tape support?

We have several smaller to midsized customers that have invested money in tape drives and tapes. They are using Symantec BackupExec on Server 2003 / 2008 and 2008 R2. Unfortunately, Symantec postponed Server 2012 support in their products many times
already. This fact costs us many business opportunities to upgrade infrastructures to Server 2012.
DPM 2012 is good for larger customers, but less suited for smaller companies (and the DPM "philosophy change" of the backup procedures, compared to older tape based backup solutions is an obstacle as well.)
So we are looking for EASY backup solutions that support tape drives and server 2012. The "perfect" product for us would be just a tape driver and an extension to the integrated Windows Server Backup that would allow to store backups on tapes,
the same way that Windows Backup allows backups to network shared folders.
Does anyone knows EASY backup software that provides this functionality? I'm also very interested in feedback from peoples that have successfully used such products on Server 2012 and are satisfied with them.
Thank you all in advance for any help.
Franz

Looks like we are in the same boat here with 2012.
For all its trouble, BackupExec has been instrumental for us in providing our customers with a backup application that no other software vendor has been able to match. This includes:
1) Granular backup and restore of Exchange allowing the restore of individual mailboxes and single mail items
2) The same Granular backup and restore of Hyper-V's VMs
3) The ability to backup to Tape, Removable USB HDD and NAS and Network shares
Not even Shadow Protect cuts the mustard anymore – it’s become simply “stupid”.
Although we love the simplicity and robustness of Windows Backup, there are some very serious deficiencies including;
1) The extreme difficulty of adding additional USB HDD after the backup schedule has been created. I believe that this has partially been resolved in R2 but in 2012 it was a utter mess-up. We
resorted to hooking up two 5-port USB Powered Hubs so we could make sure that all USB HDDs could be included in the schedule - what a mission! One blown hub after the other - couldn't find one that could handle the electrical current load of 5x USB HDDs!
2) No Granular restore ability of nothing... had to resort back to the "old school" ESEUTIL "after" restoring the entire Exchange database to alternate location.
3) Backup to a Network Share is pathetic - can't store more than the current backup. What use is that? Had to resort to backing up to Network Share then including that backup in another Windows backup - go figure!
Like Franz, our customers have invested HEAVILY in Tape Drive hardware (some of which cost the customer in excess of $8000) and that excludes the cost of Symantec BackupExec.
Although BackupExec 2012 now supports Server 2012, the re-purchase of the software is not a consideration to most of our customers.
Sorry Franz, I don’t have a solution for Tape Drives yet. This is one reason why we have stayed away from deploying 2012 that already have a recent investment in Tape Drive technology.
However, because there is NO other backup solution that compares to Symantec BackupExec (version <2010), we have been successfully implementing a hybrid solution (which, unfortunately, still does not include Tape Drives) including our own business.
As BackupExec 2010 does not support Windows 2012 as a “Media Server” there IS a workaround in a “virtual environment”.
We have successfully installed BackupExec 2010 on a Hyper-V Virtual Server as the “media server” and targeted the backups to shared folders on both NAS and removable USB HDD shares (off the Host Server).
Although it works GREAT, there is still the serious deficiency of not been able to use Tape Drives (unless some really bright spark out there has an idea on how to make a Tape Drive accessible to a VM).
Another REALLY good solution in which we deployed just last week was to supply the customer with a dirt-cheap PC, install it with Windows 2008 and the Tape Drive and schedule all the normal (and yummy) BackupExec 2010 granular backups to. Remember, the BackupExec
agent WILL install and run just fine on Server 2012 - no problems there.
This has become an INSTANT hit and this is OUR solution – a very small price to pay for “real granular” backups to Tape Drive.
I hope that you find that the mentioned "good solution" a viable and cost-effective workaround.
Backup Exec DOES NOT support Windows 2012. I just got of the phone with them today April 24, 2014. I have been using BE since Seagate made version 7. Every product Symantec buys eventually turns to crap! I just left Symantec Endpoint
Protection after 13 years because it is unreliable and has very poor detection compared to other products. In fact, it is so bad, that Symantec won't participate in any third-party evaluations that they don't pay for such as AV-Comparatives.org.
Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Symantec!

Server 2012 R2 disable mapped drives, disables clipboard as well

Hi All,
We have a server 2012 R2 deployment set up, everything is enabled on the gateway for resource redirection, on the server manager RDS deployment it is enabled as well.
Via Group policy computer policy we disable drive redirection and specifically enable clipboard redirection however when logging in as administrator or a standard user they cannot copy and paste from the Session host server to the client.
We then allow drive redirection and copy and pasting from session host to client works again?

when you are saying the clipboard copy and paste - can you confirm if you are referring to copying and pasting text? Or are you meaning copy and paste files?
Regards,
Denis Cooper
MCITP EA - MCT
Help keep the forums tidy, if this has helped please mark it as an answer
My Blog
LinkedIn:

Server 2012 USB 3.0 Drive Not Recognized

Hello,
This is my setup:
Dell Server running ESXI 5.5 (with all updates to get the USB 3.0 card driver to start and recognize)
USB Card is Renesas based
Guest: Server 2012 Standard (NOT R2)
I am trying to get a USB 3.0 drive to work with this setup. On the guest I see the "Standard USB eXtensible Host Controller - 0096 (Microsoft)" and it is installed and appears working properly. The light on the USB drive now lights
up.
My issue is in the Storage controllers, I have: "USB Attached SCSI (UAS) Mass Storage Device" and it is yellowed out. I get an (Code 10) error This device cannot start. Is there a driver I am missing?
If someone out there could please give me some assistance on getting this working I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks,
Mike

Hi,
Please try to remove and reinstall all USB controllers to check if it could resolve the issue. You could also refer to the article below to troubleshoot the issue.
Fix: "This device cannot start" Code 10 error in Device Manager in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/943104
Best Regards,
Mandy
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact [email protected]

Server 2012-Backup failure on every other day

Hello All
We have a windows 2012 server which is a Hyper V server and we are experiencing a very strange issue with windows backups.
Backups are failing on every even day but getting successfully completed on every odd day.
Can see the following on Application Log.
Faulting application name: wbengine.exe, version: 6.2.9200.16384, time stamp: 0x50108cb6
Faulting module name: blbsrv.dll, version: 6.2.9200.16384, time stamp: 0x501091ac
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0000000000061422
Faulting process id: 0x2c0c
Faulting application start time: 0x01cee665c4978b52
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\system32\wbengine.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\system32\blbsrv.dll
Report Id: 5b55e5e0-525c-11e3-940b-e0db5508e6cc
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:
Also the following on the system log
The Block Level Backup Engine Service service terminated unexpectedly.
It has done this 1 time(s). The following corrective action will be taken in 120000 milliseconds: Restart the service.
No errors on the backup log.
Regards,
Dhanushka

Dhanushka,
You can follow this steps:
1. Remove/backup the log files: C:\Windows\Logs\WindowsServerBackup
2. Uninstall the feature: "windows backup server"
3. Restart the Server
4. Install the feature: "windows backup server"
5. Open Cmd (with admin rights) run: wbadmin delete catalog C:\Windows\system32>wbadmin delete catalog wbadmin 1.0 - Backup command-line tool (C) Copyright 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Are you sure that you want to delete the backup catalog? If you delete the catalog, you will need to create a new set of backups. [Y] Yes [N] No y
The backup catalog has been successfully deleted. C:\Windows\system32>
6. Start the Backup Service
7. Recreate the backup Job and Services.
Done! Or Please check this link and it will help you.
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/6f6c7b05-892f-4cf1-bfbe-f5e4ae748414/wbadminmsc-on-windows-server-2012-fails-to-start-in-mmc-with-error-wbengineexe-0xc000005?forum=windowsbackup
Best Regards,
Dinesh Patil. MCP-Windows Server 2003
Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. If you satisfied with answer,please click on Proposed as answer key.

Installing SQL server 2005 on a different drive to C:

Does anyone know how to install SQL on a different drive using the SQL4SAP.VBS script. Does anyone know how to change the destination drive in the script? We have run out of space on C!

In the SDC under 'Installation and Upgrade Guides' you can find an installation guide for installing SQL Server 2005 manually. And then you can choose whatever drive is suitable for you.
Sven

Windows Server 2012 - Backup failing with Exchange - The application will not be available for recovery from this backup. the consistency check failed

Hi
We have a Windows 2012 server with Exchange 2013, all is working fine except now i am getting issues with the backup.
'Exchange - The application will not be available for recovery from this backup. the consistency check failed for the component Microsoft Exchange Server'
I have checked the database all is fine, i have created a new db and move all mailbox;s over and then removed the old db, i have enabled circular logging and then disabled it, it seems no matter what i do i cannot get a full backup!
i did have to restore the server once and the backups still worked for about 4 days after that and then stopped, i have also tried to remove and re add the backup role!
i am stumped, any advice would be great!

Hi
Ok, i created a test db and tried to back it up right away, it failed, i did not add any mailbox's to it either. i got quite a few events in the windows logs, as well as the same event above i got the following:
Log Name: Application
Source: MSExchangeRepl
Date: 21/01/2013 10:16:30
Event ID: 2038
Task Category: Exchange VSS Writer
Level: Warning
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: NERDS-DC01.nerds.local
Description:
Microsoft Exchange VSS Writer backup failed. No log files were truncated. Instance 75754d0d-8dfe-4909-8beb-5a4f824254a9. Database 4843b37c-7b3c-42b2-8b57-1393615c2c15.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="MSExchangeRepl" />
<EventID Qualifiers="32772">2038</EventID>
<Level>3</Level>
<Task>2</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2013-01-21T10:16:30.000000000Z" />
<EventRecordID>261645</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>NERDS-DC01.nerds.local</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>75754d0d-8dfe-4909-8beb-5a4f824254a9</Data>
<Data>4843b37c-7b3c-42b2-8b57-1393615c2c15</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>
AND
Log Name: Application
Source: MSExchangeRepl
Date: 21/01/2013 10:16:30
Event ID: 2038
Task Category: Exchange VSS Writer
Level: Warning
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: NERDS-DC01.nerds.local
Description:
Microsoft Exchange VSS Writer backup failed. No log files were truncated. Instance 75754d0d-8dfe-4909-8beb-5a4f824254a9. Database db5826f3-1029-4219-ad80-441a0e94537a.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="MSExchangeRepl" />
<EventID Qualifiers="32772">2038</EventID>
<Level>3</Level>
<Task>2</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2013-01-21T10:16:30.000000000Z" />
<EventRecordID>261646</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>NERDS-DC01.nerds.local</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>75754d0d-8dfe-4909-8beb-5a4f824254a9</Data>
<Data>db5826f3-1029-4219-ad80-441a0e94537a</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>
and
Log Name: Application
Source: MSExchangeRepl
Date: 21/01/2013 10:16:30
Event ID: 2034
Task Category: Exchange VSS Writer
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: NERDS-DC01.nerds.local
Description:
The Microsoft Exchange Replication service VSS Writer (Instance 75754d0d-8dfe-4909-8beb-5a4f824254a9) failed with error FFFFFFFC when processing the backup completion event.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="MSExchangeRepl" />
<EventID Qualifiers="49156">2034</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>2</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2013-01-21T10:16:30.000000000Z" />
<EventRecordID>261649</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>NERDS-DC01.nerds.local</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>75754d0d-8dfe-4909-8beb-5a4f824254a9</Data>
<Data>FFFFFFFC</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>
and
Log Name: Application
Source: SPP
Date: 21/01/2013 10:16:30
Event ID: 16389
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: NERDS-DC01.nerds.local
Description:
Writer Microsoft Exchange Writer experienced retryable error during shadow copy creation. Retrying... More info: .
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="SPP" />
<EventID Qualifiers="0">16389</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2013-01-21T10:16:30.000000000Z" />
<EventRecordID>261650</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>NERDS-DC01.nerds.local</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>Microsoft Exchange Writer</Data>
<Data>
</Data>
<Data>The writer experienced a transient error. If the backup process is retried, the error may not reoccur. (0x800423F3)</Data>
<Data>
</Data>
<Binary>00000000A5120000981200000000000042BEB7C511CAC619E59C92030000000000000000</Binary>
</EventData>
</Event>

How to Secure SQL SERVER 2012 Backup without using TDE or any thirdparty backup solution

Hi Experts
Actually I was using backup set password feature for MS SQL SERVER 2008 but it is dropped in new versions (2012 & 2014). Please suggest some options to making the backups secure without using TDE or any third party tools.

Hi khalil_pak,
The WITH PASSWORD feature didn't really encrypt your backup. It just made it difficult for someone to accidentally restore the backup when they were not allowed to. And as other post, the password option is weak and could be broken easily.
The only true way to protect the data is to encrypt the data at the source by encrypting the database with
TDE. Or you can choose to use
cell-level encryption to encrypt sensitive data.
Thanks,
Lydia Zhang
Lydia Zhang
TechNet Community Support

Can you Copy backups to different drives

I have just bought a 2 TB drive but have an older drive that I used for backup. How can I move the older backup to the new 2TB drive?

You can use Disk Utility to copy, select Restore and choose your current Time Machine backup as the Source and your new hard drive as Destination.
Be sure to turn Time Machine off before you start, once your done copying remove or your old Time Machine drive and turn Time Machine back on, you may have to select it again in Time Machine preferences.
Once you've confirmed everything is OK erase your old Time Machine drive.
Message was edited by: Michael Hoover

Windows Server 2012 C Drive gets always full with exchange server 2013 installed

Hi All
My C drive gets full always with exchange server 2013 installed what would be the reason because this is causing extremely bad to my environment can somebody help me please
Thanks & Regards, Santosh Chowdary Vasireddy System Administrator Prolifcs DHFLVC Silicon Towers, 5th Floor, Survey #14, Kondapur, Hyderabad – 500 032. Work +91 40 3999 1999 Ex.1656 l Cell +91 9849277255 l [email protected] A Global
Provider of IBM, Microsoft and Testing Solutions Award Winner for Technical Excellence, BPM, SOA, Portal and Governance

Hi,
Based on your description, I understand that this issue (C drive gets always full) occurred after Exchange
Server 2013 installed.
à
But my exchange server is installed in different Drive (EX: D)
I suggest that you should check file system to see what folders or files are taking up the space recently.
This issue may be not related to Exchange server.
Please refer to the following article and enable Disk Cleanup Utility. Then monitor the result.
Enabling
Disk Cleanup Utility in Windows Server 2012
Meanwhile, please check if the winsxs directory is growing bigger.
How
to Reduce the Size of the Winsxs directory and Free Up Disk Space on Windows Server 2012 Using Features on Demand
By the way, please check if you have installed update rollup 2836988. I noticed that Windows.edb file grows
very large. For more details, please refer to the following KB.
The Windows.edb file grows very large in Windows 8 or Windows
Server 2012
If any update, please feel free to let me know.
Hope this helps.
Best regards,
Justin Gu

Alternatives to PowerShell automation of Excel (Scheduled Task) in a Windows Server 2012 R2 world

I have a handful of PowerShell scripts that ran as Scheduled Tasks on an old Windows 2008 SP2 server, which output reports as Excel workbooks with multiple worksheets, via a COM object. After migrating these scripts to a new Windows 2012 R2 server,
these scripts no longer function. The Server 2008 system was running Office 2007, and the new Server 2012 R2 server has Office 2013 installed.
What is everyone using on their Server 2012 R2 systems to automate generation of multi-sheet reports in Excel via PowerShell and Scheduled Tasks?
I know that Microsoft has said that automating Office applications server-side in non-interactive mode, but it has worked in the past, until now. (https://support.microsoft.com/kb/257757)
I've tried the OpenXML PowerTools for PowerShell (https://powertools.codeplex.com/), but Export-OpenXMLSpreadsheet will only export a single worksheet, and they don't support adding worksheets to existing files
(am I missing something?). I understand the OpenXML PowerTools can be extended in C#, but I don't C#. The PowerShell cmdlets were released in Jan 2012, but don't look to have been updated since then (updates have been the core C# code).
I've seen recommendations to add C:\Windows\(System32 or SysWOW64)\config\systemprofile\Desktop, but this hasn't worked on Server 2012.
Has anyone been able to get Excel 2013 to cooperate on Server 2012 R2, or come up with a suitable alternative? I'd rather not start running these scripts from my workstation.
EDIT:
I'm not necessarily looking for an Excel answer, since there are OpenXML ways of doing things now without the Excel application.
Here are some of the errors I'm getting when approaching this from different directions. When I use:
$excel = New-Object -comobject Excel.Application$workbook = $excel.Workbooks.Add()
Results in error:
Exception calling "Add" with "0" argument(s): "Microsoft Excel cannot open or
save any more documents because there is not enough available memory or disk
space.
• To make more memory available, close workbooks or programs you no longer
need.
• To free disk space, delete files you no longer need from the disk you are
saving to."
At C:\path\to\script.ps1:21 char:2
+ $workbook = $excel.Workbooks.Add()
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : ComMethodTargetInvocation
The server is definitely not lacking for resources.
I can copy a blank XLSX file and use .Open($xlFile) instead of .Add(), but then when I go to open a CSV file to copy/paste the content to a worksheet, I get this one:
Exception calling "Open" with "1" argument(s): "The server threw an exception.
(Exception from HRESULT: 0x80010105 (RPC_E_SERVERFAULT))"
At C:\path\to\script.ps1:65 char:2
+ $tempcsv = $excel.Workbooks.Open($CSVFile)
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : ComMethodTargetInvocation
Things that I've tried so far, with no success:
I created C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\Desktop and C:\Windows\SysWOW64\config\systemprofile\Desktop as suggested here:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/0751119d-84d5-4a77-8240-1c4802f97375/powershell-scheduled-tasks-wont-start-excel?forum=winserverpowershell
Add Local Launch and Local Activation permissions to the Microsoft Excel Application DCOM Config, Grant "Read & Execute, List folder contents, Read" permissions on the \config\systemprofile\Desktop folder. Grant "Modify, Read & Execute,
List Folder Content, Read, Write" permissions for the account on the following folders:
\config\systemprofile\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft
\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\Microsoft
as suggested here:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/aede572b-4c1f-4729-bc9d-899fed5fad02/run-powershell-script-as-scheduled-task-that-uses-excel-com-object?forum=winserverpowershell
@ jrv - I will try posting a similar question in the Excel 2013 forum, but since I'm looking for a scripting solution to produce an OpenXML spreadsheet, and not something that necessarily uses the Excel application (though such a solution would not be turned
away), I thought this the more appropriate venue.
(to reiterate from OP) I have seen and acknowledge Microsoft's statements regarding the unsupported nature of automating Office applications in non-interactive environments, but the truth of the matter is, supported or not, it worked in the past (Server
2008), it's what I inherited from my predecessor, and I know I'm not the only one who has been using Excel in this way. I'm only asking fellow scripters, some of whom must also be using Excel in this "unsupported" fashion, how they are automating
creation of their spreadsheet reports after moving to Server 2012. A different system modification to make the Excel comObject continue working as before? Direct manipulation of the OpenXML document? Other solutions that may or may not require launching the
Excel application?

#1 - Ask in Excel 2013 forum.
#2 - Microsoft has repeatedlynoted that this is NOT a supported configuration for Office products.
#3 - What errors are you getting?
#4 - What have you done to debug this:
#5 - No one can be of much help unless you post a very simple example of how this fails.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Daily Server 2012 backups to different drives

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