[V7] ISSUE: “CMD.EXE was started with the above path as the current directory. UNC paths are not supported. Defaulting to Windows directory.” when running a Windows batch file as a pre or post backup command from a network drive [Ahsay Wiki]

[V7] ISSUE: “CMD.EXE was started with the above path as the current directory. UNC paths are not supported. Defaulting to Windows directory.” when running a Windows batch file as a pre or post backup command from a network drive

Article ID: 5233
Reviewed: 2017-03-13

Product Version:
AhsayOBM/AhsayACB: 7.3.0.0 to 7.x
OS: Windows

ATTENTION 1st January, 2022: v7 officially End-of-Life [details]

Problem Description

When performing a backup job on AhsayOBM/AhsayACB the following error is shown in the backup log, if a Windows batch file is run as a pre or post backup command from a network drive or UNC path.

No.	Type	Timestamp	Log
*	...	...	...
*	info	YYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss	[Pre-Backup-1] xxxx.bat
*	warn	YYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss	'\\UNC_PATH\folder\'
*	warn	YYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss	[Pre-Backup-1] CMD.EXE was started with the above path as the current directory.
*	warn	YYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss	[Pre-Backup-1] UNC paths are not supported. Defaulting to Windows directory.
*	warn	YYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss	[Pre-Backup-1] 'xxxx.bat' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
*	warn	YYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss	[Pre-Backup-1] operable program or batch file.
*	...	...	...

Cause

The warning message is returned by Microsoft Windows and not Ahsay, it is related to Windows limitation which prevents the running of batch files on UNC paths.

References:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/156276/cmd.exe-does-not-support-unc-names-as-the-current-directory
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490978.aspx
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/scriptcenter/en-US/b3243c52-65d4-4fda-a7eb-f94733eaf408/how-to-trap-cmdexe-was-started-with-the-above-path-unc-paths-are-not-supported-message-in?forum=ITCG

Resolution

A workaround for this Windows limitation is to use a batch file located on a local drive along with the pushd and popd commands to launch the batch file on the network drive.

Example:
Batch file: \\192.168.22.41\Production\current\shutdown_database.bat

Create an batch file and save on local machine to execute the batch file on UNC path or network drive.
Call the local batch file (localbatch.bat) in the pre or post backup command in AhsayOBM/AhsayACB.

localbatch.bat
echo on
pushd \\192.168.22.41\Production\current\
\\192.168.22.41\Production\current\shutdown_database.bat
popd

Keywords

Pre-command, post-command, UNC, network drive, batch file, popd, pushd, operable program

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