Symptoms
When you use the URL option to back up your SQL Server databases or transaction logs to Azure storage, the backup operations intermittently fail. Additionally, you receive an error message that resembles the following:
Msg 3202, Level 16, State 1, Server server_name, Line LineNumber
Write on "https://storage_account_name.blob.core.windows.net/container_name/file_name" failed: Backup to URL received an exception from the remote endpoint. Exception Message: The client could not finish the operation within specified timeout.
Notes
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This problem affects only backups to Azure storage if you use Azure Page Blobs or if you specify the WITH CREDENTIAL option in your backup statements, as in the following example query: BACKUP DATABASE AdventureWorks2016 TO URL = 'https://my_storage_account_name.blob.core.windows.net/my_container_name/AdventureWorks2016.bak' WITH CREDENTIAL = 'my_credential_name' ,COMPRESSION ,STATS = 5; GO
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Backups to Azure storage that use Azure Block Blobs are not affected by this problem.
Cause
When you back up your databases to Azure Page Blobs by using BackuptoURL statements, SQL server internally calls a stand-alone application that is named BackuptoURL.exe. This problem occurs because the BackuptoURL application does not correctly handle transient failures. These failures can occur when the storage system rebalances on the back-end to handle spikes in data transfers that occur during backups.
Resolution
Cumulative Update Information
This issue is fixed in the following cumulative updates for SQL Server:
Cumulative Update 13 for SQL Server 2017
Cumulative Update 14 for SQL Server 2016 SP1
Each new cumulative update for SQL Server contains all the hotfixes and all the security fixes that were included with the previous cumulative update. Check out the latest cumulative updates for SQL Server:
Latest cumulative update for SQL Server 2017
Latest cumulative update for SQL Server 2016
Latest cumulative update for SQL Server 2014
This problem is fixed in the following on-demand hotfixes.
For SQL Server 2016 Service Pack 2 Cumulative Update 2
Download the English (en-US) on-demand hotfix now.
Download the German (de-DE) on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Spanish (es-ES) on-demand hotfix now.
Download the French (fr-FR) on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Italian (it-IT) on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Japanese (ja-JP) on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Korean (ko-KR) on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Portuguese Brazil (pt-BR) on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Russian (ru-RU) on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Simplified Chinese (zh-CN) on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Traditional Chinese (zh-TW) on-demand hotfix now.
Notes
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After you apply this hotfix, the SQL Server version is 13.0.5206.0.
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This hotfix is also included in Cumulative Update 3 for SQL Server 2016 Service Pack 2
For SQL Server 2014 Service Pack 2 Cumulative Update 13
Download the English (en-US) x64-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the English (en-US) x86-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the German (de-DE) x64-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the German (de-DE) x86-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Spanish (es-ES) x64-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Spanish (es-ES) x86-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the French (fr-FR) x64-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the French (fr-FR) x86-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Italian (it-IT) x64-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Italian (it-IT) x86-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Japanese (ja-JP) x64-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Japanese (ja-JP) x86-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Korean (ko-KR) x64-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Korean (ko-KR) x86-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Portuguese Brazil (pt-BR) x64-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Portuguese Brazil (pt-BR) x86-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Russian (ru-RU) x64-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Russian (ru-RU) x86-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Simplified Chinese (zh-CN) x64-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Simplified Chinese (zh-CN) x86-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Traditional Chinese (zh-TW) x64-based on-demand hotfix now.
Download the Traditional Chinese (zh-TW) x86-based on-demand hotfix now.
Note After you apply this hotfix, the SQL Server version is 12.0.5596.0.
SQL Server 2017
An on-demand hotfix is not yet released for SQL Server 2017. We will release an update as soon as a fix for this problem is available for SQL Server 2017.
SQL Server 2012
We recommend that you consider upgrading to the latest SQL Server version to take advantage of new features and fixes.
An on-demand hotfix will not be released for SQL Server 2012 because this product is out of mainstream support. For SQL Server 2012, you should either manually retry the failed backup operation or rely on the next iteration of the backup job to succeed. Or, you can write backups to either a local share, a network share, or a file share on another virtual machine (VM).
Download support
For information about how to download Microsoft support files, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
119591 How to obtain Microsoft support files from online services
Microsoft scanned this file for viruses, using the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to it.
Status
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
References
Learn about the standard terminology that Microsoft uses to describe software updates.
