VMware backup is missing some files

Issue

VMware backup is missing files and/or folders.

Resolution

If your VMware backup plans end with warnings, the task details may indicate that one or more files failed to back up.

Permissions to the Datastore Browser are controlled by vCenter server. In some cases, you may want to disable access to the Datastore Browser for security reasons or to prevent users from accessing core virtual machine files and folders stored on the datastores.

To enable the Datastore Browser feature:

1. Stop the VirtualCenter Server service.

2. Back up the configuration file:

   • Windows vCenter Server: C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\vpxd.cfg

   • vCenter Server Appliance: /etc/vmware-vpx/vpxd.cfg

Optionally, create a snapshot of the vSphere server VM to restore in case of any failure.

1. Open the vpxd.cfg file in a text editor.

2. Locate the <vpxd> tags and add the following entry within them:

   <enableHttpDatastoreAccess>true</enableHttpDatastoreAccess>

3. Save the changes to the vpxd.cfg file.

4. Start the VirtualCenter Server service.

5. You should now be able to back up the previously problematic files.