Event ID 12366 — VSS Writer Operations

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2

Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) writers are applications or services that store persistent information in files on disk and that provide the names and locations of these files to requesters by using the shadow copy interface.

Event Details

Product: Windows Operating System
ID: 12366
Source: VSS
Version: 6.1
Symbolic Name: VSS_ERROR_WRITER_EXCEPTION_DETECTED
Message: An unhandled exception was encountered while processing a VSS writer event callback method. The VSS writer infrastructure is in an unstable state. Restart the service or application that hosts the writer.

Writer name: %1
Writer id: %2
Writer instance: %3
Process command line: %4
Process ID: %5
Writer operation: %6
Writer state: %7
Exception code: %8
Exception location: %9

Resolve

Use the process command line to determine the cause of the error condition and take appropriate action

This event indicates a problem with a Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) writer.

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in Administrators, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To determine the cause of the error condition:

  1. Click Start, click Run, type eventvwr.msc, and then click OK. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, ensure that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.
  2. In Event Viewer, expand Windows Logs, and then click Application.
  3. To filter the events so that only events with a Source of VSS are shown, in the Actions pane, click Filter Current Log. On the Filter tab, in the Event sources drop-down list, select the checkbox for VSS. Select other options as appropriate, and then click OK.
  4. To sort the displayed events by date and time, in the center pane, click the Date and Time heading.
  5. Look for Event ID 12366, and use the Process command line to identify the application or service that caused the error condition.
  6. Restart the application or service.
  7. Open an elevated Command Prompt. Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.
  8. Type vssadmin list writers, and then press Enter.

If the error condition persists, contact the vendor that is responsible for the writer. If the vendor is Microsoft, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support. For more information, see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=102491. You should provide the entire event log message as it appears in the Event Viewer.

Verify

To verify that the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) writers are operating correctly, perform the following procedure, and then retry the previous VSS operation.

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in Administrators, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To verify that the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) writers are operating correctly:

  1. Open an elevated Command Prompt window. Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.
  2. Type vssadmin list writers, and then press Enter.
  3. Ensure that all writers are in the Stable state and are operating without errors.

For more information about the vssadmin command, see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=103401.

VSS Writer Operations

File Services