Windows Server Essentials Experience with Server 2019
For some reason, client backup no longer recognizes a client computer’s hard drive and thinks it is newly installed. I attempted to fix the issue by going to the Dashboard for the client computer and clicking Customize backup for the computer but the button for the feature does not exist.
- ArtinNC asked 5 months ago
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If the client computer is still successfully connected up to the Essentials server, then I’m not exactly sure why those backup related items/tasks would be missing from the Dashboard??? I am aware of an issue where Essentials does not properly set the DeviceIdentity status for certain clients/servers, and thus wrongly reports them as having a disabled status, which results in their backup related tasks/items not appearing within the server Dashboard. I have absolutely no idea why it happens (other than it simply being a bug in Essentials), but I seem to have managed to correct the issue by doing the following:
1. Exit the server Dashboard application if it happens to be running.
2. Sign in to your Essentials server as an administrator.
3. From the administrator’s desktop, open File Explorer and go to the following folder:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Server\Data
NOTE: The ProgramData folder is a hidden system folder and so you will need to check the “Hidden items” checkbox located on File Explorer’s “View” tab if you cannot see the folder.
4. Locate the “DevicesInfo.xml” file in that folder and copy (not move) it to the desktop.
5. Right-click on the desktop copy of “DevicesInfo.xml” and choose Open with -> Notepad (or Open with -> Choose another app -> Notepad).
6. Once it’s open in Notepad, choose Edit -> Find and search for the following text:
<d3p1:PropertyName>IdentityStatus</d3p1:PropertyName>
7. For each found instance, look directly underneath it for the following text:
<d3p1:Status>Disabled</d3p1:Status>
If you find it, then change it to (i.e. just change the device’s Status from Disabled to Active as required):
<d3p1:Status>Active</d3p1:Status>
Repeat this for each IdentityStatus found within the file.
8. When you’re finished, save the changes you’ve just made (via File -> Save), and then copy the changed “DevicesInfo.xml” file back into the Data folder (overwriting the existing copy).
9. Open the Services applet (via Run -> Services.msc), and restart the “Windows Server Essentials Management Service” service (or reboot the server).
10. Open the server Dashboard and go to the “DEVICES” page, and you should now see the “Start a backup for the computer“, “Customize backup for the computer“, etc. tasks for each of your connected client computers.
Doing that seems to have corrected the issue for us over here, but I have no idea if it will return again at some later point or not.
- Mike answered 5 months ago
- last edited 5 months ago
- Thank you for your detailed answer. Unfortunately, moments after I copy the file with the change to “active”, it changes back to “disabled” again and I never have a chance to “Customize backup for the computer.” I’ve tried it multiple times. I fix the file on the desktop, copy it back to the data folder, open it, it says “active”, close it and open it and each entry is back to “disabled.” (The first time I did not open it after copying it to the data folder. But when the “Customize” menu item did not show up after rebooting the server, I discovered everything was back to “disabled.” Troubleshooting indicated the change back to “disabled” happened almost immediately.)
- The fourth time I tried, the “active” setting stuck and I was able to customize the device backup. Thanks.
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