Azure Backup, Delete Old Drive

Question

Hello,

We use Azure Backup to backup our on premise server. Recently we got a new server and switched drive letters. I am unable to view or delete the old drive letter from Azure backup. The retention policies are not being honoured because the drive letter is different? I am also seeing a mismatch of Total Backups within the agent vs the online portal. I'm thinking something isn't quite right.

Agent:

Online Portal:

Online Portal:

I've searched everywhere within the online portal but am unable to find E:\

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi Justin,

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

It looks like Azure Backup might still retain entries for the old drive letter (E:) even after you switched to the new drive (F:). This can sometimes happen if the backup items aren't refreshed correctly, or if there are orphaned entries that weren't removed from the recovery services vault. Here are some steps to try and resolve this issue:

Force a Refresh of Backup Items: In the Azure portal, go to your Recovery Services Vault and try refreshing the list of backup items. This might help update the drive letter changes.

Modify Retention Policies: Since the retention policies are tied to the drive letter, you might need to edit or delete any existing backup policies associated with E:\ and set them to “stop backup and delete data” if available. This can sometimes prompt Azure to clear out old data.

Check for Orphaned Items: Azure Support or advanced portal options may allow for searching or removing orphaned items directly in the vault configuration. Sometimes, these entries can persist even if they’re not visible. You may need to submit a support request to Azure if you cannot locate E:\ or if no deletion option appears.

Verify Backup Consistency: In your case, where the agent and portal show different total backup counts, it might be worth running a consistency check on the backup agent installed on your server. Look for an option to verify or repair the backup configuration, which can help align the agent with what is shown in Azure.

Clear Backup Metadata: If none of the above steps resolve the issue, it could be necessary to clear backup metadata on the agent itself. This step will require re-registering the server with Azure Backup, which might help remove the old E:\ entries permanently.

If you still can't locate or delete the E:\ drive backups in the Azure portal, contacting Azure Support for assistance with removing legacy drive entries may be the most effective solution, especially since there’s a mismatch in backup counts. They can help remove orphaned data that isn’t accessible through the regular UI.

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