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hrNoBackupDirectory
How to read this HRESULT
hrNoBackupDirectory means the external-backup operation has no destination directory configured for its temporary or copied artifacts.
The stored value is 0xC80001F7 (negative JET error -503; -503). Current ESE documentation uses JET_errNoBackupDirectory for the corresponding published JET condition.
The first useful distinction is that this is absence of a required destination, not an access or creation failure at a supplied path. Start by recording the API, resolved path argument, current directory, instance configuration, and whether the path pair was omitted intentionally.
Objects and state involved
| Diagnostic layer | the ESE external-backup state machine and its single active session |
|---|---|
| Relevant API surface | JetBeginExternalBackup, JetGetAttachInfo, JetOpenFile/ReadFile/CloseFile, JetGetLogInfo, and JetEndExternalBackup |
| Code-specific condition | the external-backup operation has no destination directory configured for its temporary or copied artifacts |
| Narrow corrective direction | provide a canonical writable directory before beginning the backup sequence |
Database files are enumerated and copied before the backup advances to the log-file phase. The engine tracks outstanding backup file handles and rejects calls made in the wrong phase.
What to collect first
- Code-specific observation: record the API, resolved path argument, current directory, instance configuration, and whether the path pair was omitted intentionally.
Controlled remediation
- Record it,
0xC80001F7, the API name, the current phase, and all live context or file owners. - Verify the condition by recording the API, resolved path argument, current directory, instance configuration, and whether the path pair was omitted intentionally.
- Apply only the targeted fix: provide a canonical writable directory before beginning the backup sequence.
Acceptance criteria for a fix
A useful regression test should force the condition “the external-backup operation has no destination directory configured for its temporary or copied artifacts”, call one documented API transition, and assert the exact HRESULT.
Related codes
It specifically means that this is absence of a required destination, not an access or creation failure at a supplied path. Related values below can appear in the same workflow but require a different response:
hrBackupNotAllowedYet | the instance is temporarily in a state where a backup cannot begin safely |
|---|---|
hrNoBackup | a backup-only API was called when no external backup session is active |
hrBackupDirectoryNotEmpty | the selected backup destination contains artifacts that would make the new set ambiguous |
Actions that can make diagnosis worse
- Do not omit the final end/abort path.
- Do not continue using a context after a sequence failure.
Technical references
- Begin external backup — API ordering, file semantics, warning/error interpretation, or recovery behavior relevant to this HRESULT.
- Enumerating backup logs
- End external backup
- Microsoft JET_ERR enumeration
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