Checked with Get-WsbCollectorDiagnostics.ps1 output from a Server 2019
Hyper-V host (AAOG-EDM-HVR1):
- WBJob StartTime/EndTime are culture-formatted local-time strings
("10/6/2026 9:00 PM"). Parse them with the current culture: the
[datetime] cast uses the invariant (US) format and would misread
dd/MM dates, e.g. on en-CA/en-GB servers. Confirmed local, not UTC,
against the Microsoft-Windows-Backup event log
- Hyper-V backups nest VMs under a VirtualMachineList item's
SubItemList; failures, names and the items list now come from the
leaf items, falling back to a parent's SubItemFailed count
- Report size from the top-level items' BytesProcessed
- FailureLogPath is set even on success: running backups get no
message, and the log is only cited for warnings/failures
- HRESULTs are strings; conversion tolerates hex and bad values
- Mock rebuilt on the real shapes; tested under en-US and en-GB
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <[email protected]>
3.7 KiB
Windows Server Backup collector
A PowerShell script that runs on each server using Windows Server Backup (WSB) and reports its
backups to the dashboard. Each server appears as one job, named <SERVER> - Windows Server Backup
by default.
Checked against: Server 2019 Hyper-V host backing up VMs, successful backups only. Not yet seen on a real server: a failed backup, a failed VM or volume, or a backup in progress. Those paths are written to the same object model, but if one looks wrong, run
Get-WsbCollectorDiagnostics.ps1while it's in that state and send the output.
Install (on the server, as an administrator)
Requires the Windows Server Backup feature with its PowerShell module
(Install-WindowsFeature Windows-Server-Backup). Runs under Windows PowerShell 5.1
(powershell.exe), which that module targets.
- On the dashboard host, create a key for this server:
python manage.py create-key wsb-acme-dc01 - Copy this folder to the server and run:
Add
.\Install-WsbCollector.ps1 -ApiUrl https://backups.example.com -Tenant "Acme Corp"-JobName "Domain Controller"to choose the name shown on the dashboard. It prompts for the key, then:- writes
C:\ProgramData\BackupDashboard\wsb-collector.json(readable only by SYSTEM and Administrators) - copies the script to
C:\Program Files\BackupDashboard\ - registers the scheduled task Backup Dashboard - WSB collector (SYSTEM, every 60 minutes)
- writes
- Preview the payloads, then backfill 30 days so the history view is populated straight away:
powershell.exe -File 'C:\Program Files\BackupDashboard\Send-WsbBackupStatus.ps1' -DryRun powershell.exe -File 'C:\Program Files\BackupDashboard\Send-WsbBackupStatus.ps1' -LookbackHours 720
It can be installed alongside the other collectors: it uses its own config, state, log and task. Re-run the installer to change settings or update the script.
What it sends
| Dashboard | Windows Server Backup |
|---|---|
| Company | Tenant from the config |
| Job | One per server, ID wsb:<computer name>, so changing JobName renames rather than duplicates it |
| Run | One per backup job from Get-WBJob, identified by its start time (WSB jobs have no ID). Restores are ignored. details.items lists what was backed up: the VMs for a Hyper-V backup, otherwise volumes |
| Status | Error HRESULT → Failed. Success, but a detailed error or a failed item (e.g. one volume) → Warning. Cancelled or unrecognised → Warning. In progress → Running |
| Started / finished | Job start / end time. WSB gives these as local-time text to the minute, in the server's date format; the collector parses them with that format |
| Next scheduled | Get-WBSummary's NextBackupTime. Empty when there's no scheduled backup |
| Message | Error description, error codes (as 0x8XXXXXXX), failed VMs/volumes, and the failure log path |
| Size | Bytes processed across the backup's items |
Each run covers the last 48 hours (LookbackHours). Runs already delivered are recorded in
wsb-collector.state.json.
Troubleshooting
- Log:
C:\ProgramData\BackupDashboard\wsb-collector.log. Exit codes:0OK,1some runs failed to send (retried next run),2setup failed (config or WindowsServerBackup module). - Wrong status, times or messages: run
.\Get-WsbCollectorDiagnostics.ps1(read-only). It prints the real structure of what the cmdlets return, plus recentMicrosoft-Windows-Backupevents to compare times against.
Testing without Windows Server Backup
. ./tests/MockWsb.ps1 # or: . ./tests/MockWsb.ps1 -WithRunningJob
./Send-WsbBackupStatus.ps1 -ConfigPath ./my-test-config.json -DryRun