Symptoms

Activity fails with the following error:

Failed to lock the file because it is opened in another program,

The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process

Example of full error log: click to expand

Error code: 236
Module: 16
LineInfo: 0x7BB42EFE3C733243
Fields: {"$module":"disk_bundle_vsa64_14330"}
Message: Internal error: Attempt to access emulated disk for non-initialized object.
------------------------
Error code: 94
Module: 83
LineInfo: 0x383FFDB092990FFF
Fields: {"$module":"hv_srv_vsa64_14330"}
Message: Failed to open virtual disk file 'AcronisBackup.avhdx'.
------------------------
Error code: 44
Module: 60
LineInfo: 0x6B39F6362571C15C
Fields: {"$module":"hv_srv_vsa64_14330"}
Message: Failed to open VHDX file 'AcronisBackup.avhdx'.
------------------------
Error code: 23
Module: 4
LineInfo: 0xF35F747B3B21F916
Fields: {"path":"\\\\?\\C:\\HyperV\\AcronisBackup.avhdx","$module":"hv_srv_vsa64_14330","function":"OpenFileW"}
Message: Failed to lock the file.
------------------------
Error code: 65520
Module: 0
LineInfo: 0xBD28FDBD64EDB8F8
Fields: {"code":"2147942432","$module":"hv_srv_vsa64_14330"}
Message: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process

Cause

Acronis Agent cannot access a file which is needed for the performed operation as it is locked by another process.

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting steps depend on the file that is being locked. To detect which file causes the error, open the activity details in the console and look at the string after "path":

Error code: 23
Module: 4
LineInfo: 0xF35F747B3B21F916
Fields: {"path":"\\\\?\\C:\\HyperV\\AcronisBackup.avhdx","$module":"hv_srv_vsa64_14330","function":"OpenFileW"}
Message: Failed to lock the file.

Scenario 1

The error occurs during installation or update/upgrade; the inaccessible file belongs to UpgradeTool:

| error 0x40017: Failed to lock the file.
| line: 0xf35f747b3b21f916
| file: d:\976\core\file\windows\winnt_dir.cpp:525
| function: winnt_dir::OpenFile
| function: OpenFileW
| path: \\?\C:\ProgramData\Acronis\UpgradeTool\upgrade-2021-01-29T14.02.32.266Z-p11228\upgrade.trace
| $module: upgrade_tool_vsa64_26077

| error 0xfff0: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process
| line: 0xbd28fdbd64edb8f8
| file: d:\976\core\common\error.cpp:314
| function: Common::Error::AddWindowsError
| code: 0x80070020
| $module: upgrade_tool_vsa64_26077
| path: \?\C:\ProgramData\Acronis\UpgradeTool\upgrade-2021-01-29T14.02.32.266Z-p11228\upgrade.trace

Scenario 1 troubleshooting: click to expand

Make sure that the file is not being used for a different operation or program like antivirus. Disable antivirus and reattempt update/installation.

If the issue still persists, collect Process monitor log capturing the issue and System information file after.

Scenario 2

The inaccessible file is a snapshot of Hyper-V virtual machine that should be backed up. e.g :
"path":"\\\\?\\C:HyperV\\AcronisBackup.avhdx"

Scenario 2 troubleshooting: click to expand

Process cannot access .avhdx file because snapshot cannot be deleted in timely manner.

To troubleshoot the issue, do the following:

1) Manually create a checkpoint for the affected VM in the Hyper-V manager. Make sure to turn off the option Create standard checkpoints if the guest does not support creation of production checkpoints.

2) If production checkpoint creation fails, the most likely cause is an issue with Hyper-V Integration Services. Follow troubleshooting instructions in this article.

3) If snapshot is taken successfully, it means that Hyper-V needs more time to delete it. Reduce the number of simultaneously backed-up virtual machines by creating separate backup plans or using Scheduling in Backup Options.

Scenario 3

The affected file is a backup archive in .tib or .tibx format.

Example of log:

| error 0x40017: Failed to lock the file.
| line: 0xf35f747b3b21f9ef
| file: e:\381\core\file\windows\winnt_dir.cpp:742
| function: winnt_dir::Remove
| function: DeleteFileW
| path: \\?\UNC\192.168.1.1\backup\Acronis\Location\Acronis-2617B806-C0DA-64C6-B587-31EA53B79A3C-CE62E4AE-7F5A-4460-BC1B-26A9AAF66253A_2019_11_29_07_31_32_591D7.TIB
| $module: disk_bundle_vsa64_12960
|
| error 0xfff0: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process
| line: 0xbd28fdbd64edb8f1
| file: e:\381\core\common\error.cpp:307
| function: Common::Error::AddWindowsError
| code: 0x80070020
| $module: disk_bundle_vsa64_12960

Scenario 3 troubleshooting: click to expand

Make sure that the file is not being used for a different operation such as other user browsing the archive contents or using it for recovery / Run as VM.

Acronis Cyber Backup Cloud: By default the file should be unlocked after 5 minutes after operations with it are finished.

If the file exists and is not in use by a different process, collect system report from the affected agent machine and contact Acronis Support:

• Acronis Cyber Backup 12.5 - see Acronis Cyber Backup 12.5 and 12: how to collect system information
• Acronis Cyber Backup Cloud - see Acronis Cyber Backup Cloud: Collecting System Report

Scenario 4

The affected file is a system file during file-level backup:

|Fields: {"$module":"disk_bundle_vsa64_24476","code":2147942432,"function":"CreateFileW","path":"\\\\?\\C:\\Documents and Settings\\Robert\\NTUSER.DAT"}
|Message: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.

Scenario 4 troubleshooting: click to expand

Check whether the file mentioned in the error is a system file, e.g. in this example NTUSER.DAT is a configuration file created by Windows that contain the user's personalized settings. This file is locked by the operating system and cannot be accessed by backup agent.

For file/folder backup, exclude the file from backup using File filters: you can either exclude the individual file that causes the error, or specify to exclude all system files.

Alternatively, to avoid situations where a system file is locked by the operating system, use disk-level backup. 

 

Scenario 5

If none of the above applies, you can do the following:

1. Check what process is using the affected file from "path" with Process Explorer - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

   With this, you can search to find what process(es) have the file open, and you can use it to close the handle(s), or close the whole process. 

   To find a specific file, use the menu option Find->Find Handle or DLL... 
   Type in part of the path to the file. The list of processes will appear below.

2. If the process that is handling the file can be ended, end it manually, or give it some time to complete and retry the operation.

Collect information

If the above instructions do not help resolve the issue, collect the following information and contact Acronis support:

• Process monitor log collected while reproducing the issue
• Screenshot from Process Explorer
• System report from the Agent machine after reproducing the issue:
  • Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud: how to collect system report
  • Acronis Cyber Backup 12.5: how to collect system information