I've come across an issue several times when I try to backup a VEagent backup host itself (aka proxy host).  After some back and forth troubleshooting with HP Software Support, we finally determined that this is a known VMware limitation.  If the proxy host itself is a virtual machine, and the transport method to back it up is HotAdd (only option in Data Protector), then a backup job will result in an extra virtual disk being left over on the proxy host.  This will eventually, if not immediately, leave the host corrupted.  And once the proxy host is corrupted, any future VM backups that rely on it will not run.  Not good!

The only work-around is to NOT backup the proxy host itself using Data Protector, or to make the proxy host a physical machine.  More details on this issue can be found on the VMware support site.

In the event that this scenario has already played out in your environment, you currently have a VEagent client in Data Protector that is inaccessible and unusable, and all other VE backup jobs dont run as a result.  To fix, we do the following.

  1. Create a new VM to serve as a new VEagent backup host.  And add it as a VEagent client in DP GUI.
  2. Normally, you can right click a client in DP to delete it, but if the old VEagent host is unreachable, this will not work.  To remove this old client, delete the related line in the cell_info file on the DP cell manager.  This is found in: "C:\ProgramData\OmniBack\Config\Server\cell" (server 2008).  This will remove the old host from the DP GUI going forward.
  3. Lastly, you're existing VE backup jobs are still going to be referencing the old proxy host.  The old proxy hostname is hardcoded in the various VE barlist files for each of your VE backup jobs.  Open each of these files and swap out the old hostname with your new hostname.  These VE barlist files can be found on the cell manger in: "C:\ProgramData\OmniBack\Config\Server\BarLists\VEAgent" (server 2008).

You're now setup to move forward using a new VEagent backup host.

UPDATE:
There is now a better fix to this issue.  Please see this post: