The file can not be accessed by the system

  • 7920879
  • 13-Mar-2007
  • 05-May-2016

Environment

PlateSpin Migrate 9.0.2 , 9.1, 9.2
Platespin Protect 10.0, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3
Platespin Forge 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3
for Windows source workloads.

Situation

During file transfer (Source Machine Ready to Send Files step of a conversion), the job fails with the following error:

Failed
The file can not be accessed by the system

Resolution

This error will typically occur if RIS (Remote Installation Services) or Remote Storage is currently installed, or has been installed on this source machine in the past.

The Windows NTFS file system supports reparse points that can be used to extend the capabilities of the file systems. When a reparse point is added to a file or folder, an NTFS $Symbolic_Link attribute contains a unique TAG value. This unique TAG value is associated with an application or filter driver. When an application requests that a file be opened, NTFS passes the I/O request to the correct filter driver responsible for that specific TAG. If the filter driver that is responsible for opening the file is not installed or running, the error message is displayed.

The following two native Windows 2000/2003 services use reparse points: Remote Storage and Remote Installation Service (RIS). RIS uses a filter driver called Sis.sys that is required to open files on a RIS managed volume.  The PowerConvert Take Control WinPE images do not contain this or the Remote Storage driver.  As a result, volumes or folders affected by RIS or Remote Storage cannot be accessed during the conversion.

Restoring a full backup of a remote storage managed volume using NT Backup to an unmanaged system restores reparse points.

Workaround

  1. If the services affecting the conversion (RIS or Remote Storage) are currently installed on the machine, Live Transfer can be utilized to perform the conversion.  This will utilize the existing source operating system drivers required to access the affected files.  It is important to note existing limitation of Live Transfer, however (i.e. Domain Controllers are not supported, specific license required).
  2. The volume affected by RIS or Remote Storage can be excluded during the conversion.  It can then be backed up on the source and restored on the target using NT Backup.

Notes

  • An existing RIS installation can be confirmed by the following services running on the machine: SIS (Single Instance Storage), BINL, and TFTP.  Similarly, Remote Storage installs the Remote Storage service visible in the Services console.
  • You can use the following article to identify which volume the conversion has failed on: TID 7920878