I was helping a friend patch Exchange 2010 recently. They were getting up to speed with Service Pack 3.
Every time we ran through setup we encountered this error.
Setup cannot continue with the upgrade because the ‘bbwinsdr’ process has open files. Close the process and restart Setup.
This error can be found in the Exchange Setup log. (Located at %SYSTEMDRIVE%\ExchangeSetupLogs\ExchangeSetup.log.)
A quick Bing search determined the process belonged to Barracuda’s backup solution.
Backups Running?
Unfortunately, we didn’t have visibility into Barracuda’s dashboard. What we did have was much better. Event Viewer.
If you are ever curious about what a backup application is doing to your Exchange databases check the Application Log on the Exchange Server.
There were two Event IDs that interested us most.
The first was 9780 from source MSExchangeIS. This event tells us that Exchange successfully backed up that database. You will see a separate event for each database.
The second was event 9648 with source MSExchangeIS. This ID tells us everything is complete.
From there, we determined the backup had completed successfully.
We also checked the status of the VSS writers. To do this open a Command Prompt on the Exchange Server and type VSSADMIN LIST WRITERS. Hit enter. It will return a number of results. The one to look for is the Microsoft Exchange Writer. Confirm that its state is “Stable” and it reports “No errors”.
All this checked out for us. Yet Barracuda still had its big mitts all over Exchange.
Maybe a locked file? We decided to reboot.
That should clear it up, right?
Nope.
The Barracuda process was still holding our files open. A second reboot didn’t help either.
In short, we did the only thing we could do.
Stop the service
To stop the service:
- Click Start, Administrative Tools, and Services.
- Locate the Barracuda Backup Agent.
- Right-click on the Barracuda Backup Agent and select Stop from the context menu.
- Verify the Status column is empty.
As soon as we stopped the service our upgrade process continued like a charm.
This is only a workaround. If anyone knows a permanent solution to this problem drop a comment below. We’d love to know what the solution is.
Note: Be sure to start this service after you complete your maintenance.
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