topic Re: Snapdrive 7.1.2.6723 - Thinks its on physical machine in Data Protection

Snapdrive 7.1.2.6723 - Thinks its on physical machine

winnj_13 — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 23:16:29 GMT

Hi,

I've run in to a bit of a problem with Snapdrive 7.1.2.6723

I have a clean virtual build of Windows Server 2008 R2 patched up to date.

I've installed Powershell 3 as it was requested by the Snapdrive install.

Snapdrive is now installed.

When i launch Snapdrive and look at the initial info page it shows that its installed on a Physical machine when in fact its a VM Guest.

Double checked VM tools is running and it is with version 9.0.15 Build 2560490.

I've run through this process with a clean VM several times now and it always fails to detect the fact that its on a VM.

The underlying Netapp is an AFF8040 running 8.3.1

I've run through SDCLI and it comes up with the error This command is only supported on a VM Guest operating system

What have i missed ? Can anybody point me in the right direction ?

Jonathan

Re: Snapdrive 7.1.2.6723 - Thinks its on physical machine

dmauro — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 12:05:15 GMT

Hi Jonathan, SnapDrive does no longer check the VMtools installation in order to find out whether or not it is installed on a VM. it now uses WMI queries. So, in your case, I am pretty sure you have an issue with WMI on your server. Please take a look at my kb below and run the query manually to confirm the problem: https://kb.netapp.com/support/index?page=content&id=3013819 hope that helps, Domenico.

Re: Snapdrive 7.1.2.6723 - Thinks its on physical machine

winnj_13 — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 12:11:00 GMT

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply.

The article is coming up as not found/restricted to employees/no longer available when i click on the link

Do you have a different link to the info ?

Jonathan

Re: Snapdrive 7.1.2.6723 - Thinks its on physical machine

aborzenkov — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 12:19:39 GMT

Yes; I have partner account and cannot access this KB either.

Re: Snapdrive 7.1.2.6723 - Thinks its on physical machine

dmauro — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 13:03:37 GMT

Apologies, I did not notice that this article is still internal only, for some reasons unknown to me.

Anyway, here is how you can run a test WMI query:

The following is an example of how to check the string manually with the wbemtest.exe tool:

Open a task execution window, type wbemtest.exe, and press Enter

Note: On some operating systems, it is required to search for the program from the list and right-click and select Run as Administrator😞

Enable the Enable All Privileges option and connect to the correct namespace.

Click Query:

Type your query:

Check the value of the SerialNumber string:

Similarly, to detect HyperV virtual machine, open root\CIMV2 namespace.
Run a query and select the Win32_ComputerSystem class and check Model and Manufacture detail.
If the Model value is 'virtual machine' and the Manufacturer is 'Microsoft Corporation,' then assume the machine is HyperV VM.

Re: Snapdrive 7.1.2.6723 - Thinks its on physical machine

bobshouseofcards — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 13:09:47 GMT

This KB article also has the basics for what is checked in WMI:

https://kb.netapp.com/support/index?page=content&id=3013404

Re: Snapdrive 7.1.2.6723 - Thinks its on physical machine

winnj_13 — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 13:46:44 GMT

Thank you.

I've resolved the problem using the information provided.

I knew it had to be simple.

We use an HP OEM Windows Server on our EXSi hosts and have the setting:

SMBIOS_REFLECT = TRUE

This is so we can install using the OEM media as it checks for a HP Serial Number. I've now changed the setting to FALSE and reinstalled Snapdrive and all is back to normal.

Thank you again for the assistance

Jonathan