In certain cases where we need to restart the VMware vCenter Services, the best practices are to restart the services using the command line provided by VMware instead of doing it from the services console specifically on Windows vCenter Server. This is important as there are multiple Vmware Services which are dependant on other services and the command lines make sure they are managed in a specific order as recommended by Vmware

Below are the command lines to restart All VMware Services, Specific VMware Service or to check the status of Services on Windows hosted vCenter Server or an Appliance hosting vCenter Server

A) On Windows vCenter Server

1. Login\RDP to vCenter Server
2. Open Command Prompt as Admin
3. Go to the following location

C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\bin

Note: If your vCenter Suite is installed on any other drive other than C:\, please replace the Drive Letter

4. Run the below commands based on your requirement

service-control --start --all > To Start All Vmware Services

service-control --start servicename > To Start Specific Vmware Service

service-control --stop --all > To Stop All Vmware Services

service-control --stop <servicename> > To Stop Specific Vmware Service

service-control --status > To check Status of all VMware Services

B) On Appliance vCenter Server

1. SSH Putty to vCenter
2. Go to the Path /usr/bin/
3. Run the command

service-control --start --all > To Start All Vmware Services

service-control --start servicename > To Start Specific Vmware Service

service-control --stop --all > To Stop All Vmware Services

service-control --stop servicename > To Stop Specific Vmware Service

service-control -status > To check Status of all VMware Services

Every Windows Administrator come across Backup Issues related to File Level Backup. We often see these issues are fixed mostly by reboot [as we all know Reboot fixes most of the issues] but it is hard to get the required Application\Server downtime to fix these issues. Also requesting the Server\Application owners for a reboot every now and then causes a lot of problem when it is caused on a single server more often.

We see most of the Backups are failed as one of the VSS writer is in Error\Failed or Waiting for Completion state. Reboot does fix these VSS writers and hence fixing the Backup Failure Issue.

What are these VSS Writers?
VSS Writers are Application Specific components designed by Microsoft [which is acronym of Volume Shadow Copy Service]. These Writers are compatible with various applications which helps in taking a complete snapshot of the data even though there are Ongoing Input\Output Transactions. This makes sure that there is no incomplete data collected. In the process if there are any transactions affecting the snapshot process the VSS writers may go into Error state hence causing Backup Failures. In this case most Administrators recommend rebooting the servers to fix this issue but there is a better way to decrease the downtime and fix the issue with the VSS writers by bringing them in stable state.

I have listed down few VSS writers and their associated Windows Services which can terminate the snapshot process and bring back the Writers in Stable state. Simply restart the below service if any VSS writer is in Error \ Failed or Waiting for Completion State.

VSS Writer Name	Service Name	Service Display Name
ASR Writer	VSS	Volume Shadow Copy
BITS Writer	BITS	Background Intelligent Transfer Service
Certificate Authority	CertSvc	Active Directory Certificate Services
COM+ REGDB Writer	VSS	Volume Shadow Copy
DFS Replication service writer	DFSR	DFS Replication
DHCP Jet Writer	DHCPServer	DHCP Server
FRS Writer	NtFrs	File Replication
FSRM writer	srmsvc	File Server Resource Manager
IIS Config Writer	AppHostSvc	Application Host Helper Service
IIS Metabase Writer	IISADMIN	IIS Admin Service
Microsoft Exchange Replica Writer	MSExchangeRepl	Microsoft Exchange Replication Service
Microsoft Exchange Writer	MSExchangeIS	Microsoft Exchange Information Store
Microsoft Hyper-V VSS Writer	vmms	Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management
MSMQ Writer	MSMQ	Message Queuing
MSSearch Service Writer	WSearch	Windows Search
NPS VSS Writer	EventSystem	COM+ Event System
NTDS	NTDS	Active Directory Domain Services
Registry Writer	VSS	Volume Shadow Copy
Shadow Copy Optimization Writer	VSS	Volume Shadow Copy
SMS Writer	SMS_SITE_VSS_WRITER	SMS_SITE_VSS_WRITER
SqlServerWriter	SQLWriter	SQL Server VSS Writer
System Writer	CryptSvc	Cryptographic Services
TermServLicensing	TermServLicensing	Remote Desktop Licensing
WMI Writer	Winmgmt	Windows Management Instrumentation