Challenge
A backup job, replication job, or restore task for a VMware VM fails with the following error:
Error: Backup proxy is missing C++ runtime components, download from http://vee.am/runtime
Cause
This error is displayed when the VDDK libraries on the VMware Backup Proxy fail to be loaded.
Solution
VDDK Component Package
Starting with Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) v12.1.2, the VDDK libraries are separated from the Veeam Transport package. This change ensures that the VDDK libraries are only installed on managed servers that need to interact directly with VMware ESXi.
The VDDK libraries component is deployed to a machine when it is added as a VMware Backup Proxy. If the VMware VDDK package is missing, you can force VBR to check for and deploy the package by editing the proxy entry under Backup Proxies in the Backup Infrastructure view and then proceed through the wizard steps.
This change also means that after 12.1.2, if VDDK libraries need to be manually redeployed, they must redeployed using the dedicated VDDK packages found in 'C:\Program Files\Veeam\Backup and Replication\Backup\Packages\' on the Veeam Backup Server.
vmware-vddk.msi — VDDK libraries for Windows machines.
vmware-vddk_*_amd64.deb — VDDK libraries for Debian-based distros.
vmware-vddk-*.x86_64.rpm — VDDK libraries for Red Hat-based distros.
More Information
Edge Case Example
The VM being backed up is located on an ESXi host running a vSphere version that is no longer supported by the installed version of Veeam Backup & Replication. [Veeam Backup & Replication Platform Support]
For example, if a VM is located on an ESXi host running 5.1, the Veeam Backup & Replication software will attempt to load the VDDK libraries that used to be stored in C:\Program Files (x86)\Veeam\Backup Transport\x64\vddk_5_5\ but are no longer present, as support for vSphere 5.1 was dropped in Veeam Backup & Replication 10. In this specific case example, the Veeam Backup Server had recently been updated to Veeam Backup & Replication 12 from version 9.5 U4, and the entries for the old vCenter and ESXi hosts were still present in the configuration and jobs.
