Knowledge Base

SQL Backup VDI 1030: Failed to create VirtualServiceSet component

Category: Troubleshooting & error messages
Date: 19 Oct 2009
Product: SQL Backup
SQL Backup uses the SQL Server Virtual Device Interface library to perform backups and restores. This library is contained in a file named sqlvdi.dll, and is installed and registered when you install SQL Server. In some circumstances, the following error may occur during the process of backing up or restoring a database:

VDI 1030 Error: Failed to create VirtualServiceSet Component

This error can occur for two reasons:

1. The sqlvdi.dll file is missing or become unregistered or an incorrect version for the version of SQL Server installed.
2. Permissions problem, the account given to the SQL Backup Agent Service requires that the account be a member of the SQL Server sysadmin fixed server.

If the sqlvdi.dll file is missing or become unregistered or an incorrect version for the version of SQL Server installed, check the file versions of the sqlvdi.dll file installed on your SQL server.

In the registry, look for the key {40700425-0080-11d2-851f-00c04fc21759} in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (32-bit editions of Windows) or HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID, for a 64-bit edition of Windows. The key's value "InprocServer32" contains the path to sqlvdi.dll. Ensure that the file exists and that the SQL Server startup account has access to it.

If your SQL Server is a 64-bit edition, you will have two copies of sqlvdi.dll, one for 32-bit installations and one for 64-bit installations. Since SQL Backup is a 32-bit application, 32-bit VDI will be used by SQL Backup while SQL Server will use the 64-bit version. Therefore it is important that the 32-bit sqlvdi.dll and the 64-bit sqlvdi.dll are the same version. Using the file locations indicated by the "InProcServer32" key in the previous paragraph, examine the properties on both sqlvdi.dll files to ensure that the version numbers match.

For SQL Backup to use the sqlvdi.dll file, the account given to the SQL Backup Agent Service requires that the account is a member of the SQL Server sysadmin fixed server. This is a requirement of SQL Server's Virtual Device Interface (VDI) subsystem, which SQL Backup leverages to gain access to the SQL Backup data stream.