Acronis True 2014 Image needs USER and PASSWORD from \\vmware-host (Shared Folders)

[ubunonymount]

Acronis True 2014 Image needs USERNAME and PASSWORD from \\vmware-host (Shared Folders).

I try to make a Backup from a host-device to a guest-device using Acronis TI 2014.

My host-device (internal hdd) is embeded into guest System using "vmware Shared Folders".

(guest-OS is Windows 7 Enterprise and host-OS is Windows 10 Enterprise).

Now, if I click on "Back up now" it says:
"Error occurred: Access to the file or folder is denied. (0x40014) filename = "\\?\UNC\vmware-host\Shared Folders\backup-source"

When I go to backup-settings there's allways occurring a login-prompt where you have to type in your username and password for //vmware-host SMB-File-Share.

I tried to reinstall Acronis, I tried to reinstall System, I tried first to upgrade vmware-tools, after I tried to downgrade it (maybe new vm-tools have bug)... I tried quiet much stuff ... nothing changed.

And by the way: Acronis TI 2014 is not supported anymore, so I couldn't ask there support (And new Acronis TI are sucks because of there gui).

This Error just occurred after I upgraded VMware Workstation Pro from 12.5.4 to 12.5.5. (12.5.6 doesen't work as well). Before Upgrade all worked fine with Back up my data.

So, because the Error says: Access denied and it asks me for SMB-Login, it could correspond with the //vmware-host Driver or the SMB-connection-set-up of VMware.

So, either I need a USERNAME and a PASSWORD to login to my Shared Folders, or I need a new vmware-tools-driver for SMB, which works without error.

Thanks for help guys!

[RDPetruska]

The VMware-Tools shared folders feature does not use SMB, it uses a backdoor enabled with the Tools.  I would recommend just mapping to a standard SMB shared drive in your case - it will be much more robust and efficient.

[bonnie201110141]

I don't have Acronis TI serial number so I cannot try it myself. Accessing shared folder from guest does not require password. Can you check if accessing shared folder from Windows Explorer via \\vmware-host is successfully in guest? Is shared folder successfully mounted after guest boots up?

[ubunonymount]

Thank you very much!

I think Acronis can't handle this vmware-tools smb-backdoor very well.

I'll try it with normal smb connection to my host, but I need to prove how I can build a "host only" connection to my guest.

I need to prevent the guest from going to the Internet for security purpose.

My guest-machine needs to be offline, because I use it to make very very sensitve Backups. I need 100% safety that no connection to the internet could be established. I don't want any viruses, ransomware or other dangerous stuff on my Backup-Machine.

So, the VMware-build-in Shared Folders was very convenient in this situation, because you don't need internet-connection to use it. Now, while it doesn't work any more, I need to establish a smb host-only connection. I hope this should work aswell.

[ubunonymount]

Answer to bonnie201110141

Yes, accessing my shared folder via Windows Expolorer is possible and works well. Even every other program can access, open files or save files to the Shared Folder.

So, I think that's just an Acronis problem -.-

[IlDavo]

So it's been 2 years since ubunonymount attempted to solve the problem I still face, today (2019):

Acronis True Image, running in a Windows 7 VMware Workstation virtual machine, will not accept \\vmware-host\Shared Folders\TIBackupDestination as a "Back up to:" destination.  If I either attempt to browse to \\vmware-host\Shared Folders\ or explicitly enter the full UNC path to the target folder, an Acronis "Authentication Settings" dialog demands a user name and password for folder access.

I've specified the userid and password that owns the folder on the VMware host, the userid and password under which the user account can read and write to it from within the VMware guest VM (same credentials, in my case).  I've even granted "Full Control" to "Everyone" on the directory in the host machine's OS.

Mapping a network drive in the guest VM doesn't do any good (I've read in other posts that mapped drives aren't supported by other Acronis products, so I'll bet Acronis True Image doesn't support them, either).

Creating a symbolic link in the guest VM to the UNC path -- a trick I learned from an Acronis forum post at [SOLVED] Accessing .TIB from vmware-host VM share folder | Acronis Forum -- (mklink /D C:\WriteBackupHere \\vmware-host\Shared Folders\TIBackupDestination) doesn't work (Acronis True Image doesn't even "see" the symbolic directory).

I'm out of ammo.

Anybody else have a solution?

[wila]

Hi,

I'm not quite sure what you (and TS) want to achieve by running Acronis from within a VM.

Do you want to make a perfect copy of the VM?

If that's the case then you can also make a copy of the whole VM (with VM shut down, not suspended) to an external disk.

No need for anything extra if you want to have an extra copy of your VM. A VM is "just" a bunch of files.

--

Wil

[EdP2]

Wila's reply is the most robust, however if you just want to backup selected files and folders to the Shared Folder then I'd recommend using a file-copy backup such as Cobian Backup  https://www.cobiansoft.com/ (there is an earlier opensource version if you search for it).

Good luck with using Acronis, I have personally found that it generates too many race conditions with running vms as it does not seem able to identify that vms are running and hogs resources. I no longer use Acronis as a result.

[IlDavo]

HI, wila,

You make a sound argument.  I do seek a "bare metal" archive of the contents of my VM.  I do, already, regularly shut down and archive copies of my VMware .vmdk files.  Acronis represents, for me, an extra measure of security, by allowing me to create a machine-agnostic "perfect copy" of the VM's contents that will not require a functioning VMware product or .vmdk virtual disk mounting utility for access (although it will, of course, require functional Acronis or .tib archive file mounting utilities).

...so I really do want to pursue finding a way for the Acronis service to write archives to the \\vmware-host\Share Folders\my-folder-name directory that I've instructed VMware Workstation to share with its guest.

Subsequent research has led me to the conclusion that, whereas VMware Workstation offers the userid who's logged into the VM's operating system full read/write access to a shared folder on the host, it does not provide applications or services that are running under other user accounts (such as Acronis backup services) the same access.  Further, because -- per threads I've found on other forums -- VMware's "shared folders" capability is not based on network SMBs, it does not appear possible to grant an account other than the logged-in user access to a host shared folder that the logged-in user can "see."

I'd love to be told that I'm wrong on this last point!

[IlDavo]

Thanks for your comments re: Acronis, EdP​,

Whereas I've experienced countless challenges, using Acronis, I am still using it as my primary, OS-agnostic and virtualization-agnostic archive utility.

You're correct that I could use any number of file-level backup utilities (including Windows' own) to archive individual files within the VM.

Further wila​ notes that simply shutting down the vm and copying the VM's .vmdk files does accomplish a "perfect" copy of the VM's contents.  I would also consider examining wila​'s own vimalin utility (https://www.vimalin.com) as a file-level archive utility, were that my objective.

For now, I really want to explore all avenues that might make my Acronis-within-VMware-guest-vm-archive-to-Host-Shared-Folder approach work.

...though I conceded that I've not yet found a path to do so.

[wila]

Hi,

I think you are correct on both accounts.

Down here I don't have the Acronis software installed, but my suspicion was indeed that the service they use to backup the full disk runs under another user account.

Most likely that will be the SYSTEM account. One of the features of the security model in Windows is that a SYSTEM account is not able to access network shares.

You could try to change the user account under which that service runs, but then I don't think it will be able to backup everything you need.

So not sure if there's a way out with Acronis to save to the host/guest file share.

You might try attaching a USB disk directly to the guest? That could work.

Otherwise you would have to find another solution.

Making a manual backup is one way. Using another, in guest backup product, is another one.

As you are talking about windows you might want to look at System backup and see if that works.

Another possible solution is the product I offer: Vimalin. Yep, sorry about playing that (cough cough.. marketing) card, but it appears to fit a bit for what you are asking.

You can make full VM backups with Vimalin. It works for any guest OS and you do not need to install any software into the VM. It uses VMware Workstation snapshot technology so that you don't have to quit the VM, you can add and or edit notes, compress the VM, save to a network share or external disk, schedule backups etcetera...

But you will need a VMware product in order to run the VM once it is restored.

Personally I would think that is not a big problem as you can always download the free VMware Player, but I don't know all your requirements.

For Windows however it means that you don't have to re-activate your VM unless the hardware has changed too much (which in my experience is rare).

--

Wil