This post is also available in: Italian

Seams that the new VMware vSphere 6.7 Update 1 will break all the Veeam Backup & Replication backup jobs!

As reported in the Veeam KB 2443, VMware 6.7 Update 1 is actually NOT supported by Veeam B&R and will be supported only with Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 4.

More information are available on Veeam KB 2784 and this forum thread.

This issue seems caused by some changes in the VDDK API, with an update to the vSphere API version in vCenter 6.7 U1, that will give an “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” error processing all VMs, making all backup jobs failing.

In the end, it appeared to be a small API changes which had an unexpectedly big impact on our product. Simple workaround is to force the usage of an older API version – I already received multiple confirmations that it solves the issue! See here https://t.co/Qs16G1KynW https://t.co/P9ylDuONzW

— Anton Gostev (@gostev) 17 ottobre 2018

There is a simple workaround to temporary fix this issue and require to change the Windows registry on the backup server.

Create the following registry value under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Veeam\Veeam Backup and Replication key on the backup server:

Value: VMwareOverrideApiVersion
Type: Multi-String Value (REG_MULTI_SZ)
Data: 6.7.1 = 6.7

Backup jobs will now use the old API version of vSphere 6.7. The backup server must be restarted to make the change effective (to be honest, on one server was not required, but on another was the only way to fix the error).

This is a temporary workaround against the specific error, which will allow the jobs to complete successfully. Overriding VMware API version may potentially cause issues with other Veeam functionality, because we don’t know the specific API changes that made VMware increment the API version.

At this stage Veeam suggest to don’t update or upgrade to vSphere 6.7U1.

Note: this apply ALSO for VeeamZIP and the free edition.

Andrea Mauro

Virtualization, Cloud and Storage Architect. Tech Field delegate. VMUG IT Co-Founder and board member. VMware VMTN Moderator and vExpert 2010-24. Dell TechCenter Rockstar 2014-15. Microsoft MVP 2014-16. Veeam Vanguard 2015-23. Nutanix NTC 2014-20. Several certifications including: VCDX-DCV, VCP-DCV/DT/Cloud, VCAP-DCA/DCD/CIA/CID/DTA/DTD, MCSA, MCSE, MCITP, CCA, NPP.