| Previous | Next |
| hrFullBackupNotTaken | hrUnknownExpiryTokenFormat |
hrMissingExpiryToken
Where the workflow stopped
For hrMissingExpiryToken, the useful interpretation begins with the object and phase that returned the value. The decisive boundary is the restore request lacks the expiry token created with the backup set.
The stored Value is 0xC7FF000F (facility-specific HRESULT). The HRESULT carries failure severity, so output state must be treated according to the individual API contract. The legacy this result name comes from the Windows Directory Service backup/restore message header.
The first useful distinction is that a NULL token can create only a restricted context for querying locations; it cannot authorize the full restore registration path. Start by locate the token captured from DsBackupPrepare, verify its association with this set, and record pointer and size passed to DsRestorePrepare. That separates a reproducible incident from a later generic cleanup or service error.
Similar-looking outcomes
This result specifically means that a NULL token can create only a restricted context for querying locations; it cannot authorize the full restore registration path. Related values below can appear in the same workflow but require a different response:
hrContentsExpired | the Directory Service judged the backup contents too old under the expiry information associated with the set |
|---|---|
hrUnknownExpiryTokenFormat | bytes were supplied as an expiry token but the Directory Service cannot parse their format |
hrCouldNotConnect | the backup client could not establish the required session with the selected server or running Directory Service |
Keep the original constant and hexadecimal value in telemetry. Replacing this result with “backup failed” or “database warning” removes the state information needed to select the next legal API call.
Objects and state involved
| Diagnostic layer | the opaque expiry token linking a legacy AD backup set to restore authorization and freshness |
|---|---|
| Relevant API surface | DsBackupPrepare token output and DsRestorePrepare token input |
| Code-specific boundary | the restore request lacks the expiry token created with the backup set |
| Narrow corrective direction | restore the matching token from protected backup metadata or use the restricted context only for location discovery |
The token must be stored as opaque binary data with the backup set., without a token, DsRestorePrepare returns a restricted context usable only to query restore locations.
Minimum useful trace
Preserve the first result before retries, cleanup, service restart, or file replacement changes the evidence. The diagnostic record should identify the exact API phase and the owner of every handle or artifact involved.
- Code-specific observation: locate the token captured from DsBackupPrepare, verify its association with this set, and record pointer and size passed to DsRestorePrepare.
- Token byte length and hash: record it together with this result and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Backup-set identifier: record it together with it and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Storage/copy transformations: record it together with it and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Restore preparation parameters: record it together with it and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
Use hashes, lengths, IDs, generation numbers, and redacted samples instead of copying directory contents or sensitive database values into routine logs. For this it investigation, a complete provenance chain is often more useful than a second automatic retry.
Steps to resolve it
- Record it,
0xC7FF000F, the API name, the current phase, and all live context or file owners. - Verify the decisive condition by locate the token captured from DsBackupPrepare, verify its association with this set, and record pointer and size passed to DsRestorePrepare.
- Apply only the narrow correction: restore the matching token from protected backup metadata or use the restricted context only for location discovery.
- After it, recreate any context invalidated by the failure; do not carry stale HBC, cursor, file, or restore-map state into the retry.
- repeat the smallest non-destructive test that reaches the same boundary, then verify both the return value and the resulting file, cursor, backup, or database state.
Actions that can make diagnosis worse
- do not convert the token through text encoding.
- do not borrow a token from another backup set.
- do not discard the first lower-level Win32, RPC, or JET result merely because a later cleanup call returned a more familiar error.
Acceptance criteria for a fix
A useful regression test for this HRESULT should force the condition “the restore request lacks the expiry token created with the backup set”, call one documented API transition, and assert the exact HRESULT. The corrected the case should change only the decisive precondition and should verify cleanup as well as the primary output. For the result backup or restore path, also prove that the resulting set can be enumerated and that no file handle or context remains active after finalization.
Technical references
- DsRestorePrepare token rules — API ordering, file semantics, warning/error interpretation, or recovery behavior relevant to it.
- AD backup walkthrough
- AD restore walkthrough
- Microsoft list of AD DS backup errors
Looking for a different code? Search another status or error code.