How to troubleshoot Avamar backup issues with avsql command line

It is possible when there is either a SQL Version upgrade or Avamar plug-in changes  backup issues are encountered.

avsql is the command line interface for Avamar and SQL Server. The command browses SQL Server plug-in data for SQL Server backup and restores . 

These are the different operation available via the avsql command line interface .

avsql --operation={browse | backup | restore} [options]

The browse operation reports on client data available for backup. This example returns client data  for SQL Server instances on the current host

avsql --operation=browse --verbose

There are plenty of other browsing options right down to  the database level, Always on availability groups, remote instances and local instances.

the avsql command line was useful in recent troubleshooting , where the Avamar backup agent had suddenly and unexpectedly stopped backing up. Nothing had changed regarding security , Avamar backup agent versions, or SQL Server versions.

Using the avsql command line interface with the operation=browse option , we were able to generate some useful information and stack trace details. From there we identified the culprit.   A higher version of SMO had  been installed - causing the access to SQL Server to be blocked. The simple fix was to uninstall the higher SMO version - and backups started working again successfully.

avsql Error <40258>: sqlconnectimpl_smo::get_installed_instance_list Microsoft.S
qlServer.Management.Smo.SmoException: SQL Server WMI provider is not available o
n My_Server_Name. ---> System.Management.ManagementException: Invalid namespace
   at System.Management.ManagementException.ThrowWithExtendedInfo(ManagementStat
us errorCode)
   at System.Management.ManagementScope.InitializeGuts(Object o)
   at System.Management.ManagementScope.Initialize()
   at Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Wmi.ManagedComputer.TryConnectUsingPath
(ManagementPath path)