We're running ESXi 5.0 U2 (build 1254542) and we're having issues doing application-consistent quiescing on our VMs that run Windows Server 2012.
We use Acronis vmProtect, and it's throwing warnings on our 2012 VMs about the SQL VSS Writer not being available. I've contacted Acronis support and they've indicated that it's an issue with application-consistent quiescing.
When I take a snapshot of a 2012 VM (checking the option to perform an application-consistent snapshot) the snapshot completes fine with no errors or warnings. But when I investigate the vss_manifests zip file that gets created, it has only a single file (backup.xml) with a single line.
When I take a application-quiesced snapshot on our VMs that run server 2008, the vss_manifests zip file also contains files for each of the VSS writers.
I've verified that disk.EnableUUID is set to true (the VMs were created on ESXi 5.0 U2 with Virtual Machine Version 8). I've even manually specified it.
I've verified that the VMs are only using SCSI disks (there's only 1 disk) and that it's not a GPT or Dynamic disk within the guest OS. It's a thin provisioned disk, if that matters.
I've verified that VMWare Tools is installed on the guest, and I've tried reinstalling it.
Is there something else I should be looking at to get application-consistent quiescing working on Windows Server 2012?
Do I have to be running ESXi 5.1 for this to work? (Or could I just install the later version of VMWare Tools manually?)
If I have to be running ESXi 5.1, are the ESXi 5.0 licenses valid for 5.1? (We have the vCenter Server 5 Essentials license.)
If I have to be running ESXi 5.1, do I also have to upgrade our vCenter Server installation from 5 to 5.1?
Thanks