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hrDeleteBackupFileFail
Why this result matters
For hrDeleteBackupFileFail, treat the value as part of a state machine: it says what remained valid and what did not. The decisive boundary is backup cleanup could not delete an artifact it was responsible for removing.
The stored Value is 0xC800020C (negative JET error -524; -524). The HRESULT carries failure severity, so output state must be treated according to the individual API contract. Current ESE documentation uses JET_errDeleteBackupFileFail for the corresponding published JET condition.
The first useful distinction is that cleanup failure does not prove the backup data itself is invalid, but it can contaminate the next destination. Start by record the exact path, file attributes, sharing handles, security descriptor, Win32 error, and whether the file belongs to the current set. That separates a reproducible incident from a later generic cleanup or service error.
Do not confuse it with
This result specifically means that cleanup failure does not prove the backup data itself is invalid, but it can contaminate the next destination. Related values below can appear in the same workflow but require a different response:
hrMakeBackupDirectoryFail | ESE could not create the temporary directory required by the backup workflow |
|---|---|
hrLogFileNotFound | an incremental Directory Service backup cannot assemble the required transaction-log set |
hrBFInUse | the caller attempted to abandon or repurpose a buffer page that still has an active owner or dependency |
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.
Forensic checklist
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: record the exact path, file attributes, sharing handles, security descriptor, Win32 error, and whether the file belongs to the current set.
- ACL and Win32 error: record it together with this result and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Backup end/abort result: record it together with it and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- Exact path and owner job: record it together with it and the timestamp of the first occurrence.
- File attributes and open handles: 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.
Objects and state involved
| Diagnostic layer | temporary backup directories, copied artifacts, cleanup ownership, and final status |
|---|---|
| Relevant API surface | external backup setup/teardown and filesystem operations around copied files |
| Code-specific boundary | backup cleanup could not delete an artifact it was responsible for removing |
| Narrow corrective direction | quarantine or remove the artifact after verifying ownership and keep the failed cleanup visible in backup status |
Cleanup errors can leave a destination that is unsafe for the next backup attempt., a cleanup path must distinguish artifacts owned by the current job from prior verified backups.
Actions that can make diagnosis worse
- do not recursively delete a destination whose provenance is unknown.
- do not hide cleanup failure behind the original successful copy status.
- do not discard the first lower-level Win32, RPC, or JET result merely because a later cleanup call returned a more familiar error.
Validation after correction
- Record it,
0xC800020C, the API name, the current phase, and all live context or file owners. - Verify the decisive condition by record the exact path, file attributes, sharing handles, security descriptor, Win32 error, and whether the file belongs to the current set.
- Apply only the narrow correction: quarantine or remove the artifact after verifying ownership and keep the failed cleanup visible in backup status.
- 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.
Acceptance criteria for a fix
A useful regression test for this HRESULT should force the condition “backup cleanup could not delete an artifact it was responsible for removing”, 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
- ESE backup error codes — API ordering, file semantics, warning/error interpretation, or recovery behavior relevant to it.
- Begin external backup
- End external backup
- Microsoft JET_ERR enumeration
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