VSSAdmin - Working with Volume Shadow Service

VSSAdmin.exe is the Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool. VSSAdmin command may be run by anyone, but most of its functions require admin access to I recommend starting with a command prompt that has been run as Administrator.

A third party application could be running as a provider of VSS, but most systems will simply have MS Software Shadow Copy provider". To see a list of providers, type:

vssadmin list providers

sample result

Provider name: 'MS Software Shadow Copy provider 1.0'
Provider type: System
Provider Id: {b5946137-7b9f-4925-af80-51abd60b20d5}
Version: 1.0.0.7

So what kind of space are you loosing to this feature? Details may be displayed with the following command:

vssadmin list shadowstoreage

sample result:

Shadow Copy Storage association
For volume: (C:)\\?\Volume{81910eb0-6fad-11d9-a783-806d6172696f}\
Shadow Copy Storage volume: (C:)\\?\Volume{81910eb0-6fad-11d9-a783-806d6172696f}\
Used Shadow Copy Storage space: 810.516 MB
Allocated Shadow Copy Storage space: 1.057 GB
Maximum Shadow Copy Storage space: 1.446 GB

To see the shadows currently occupying this space, use the following command:

vssadmin list shadows

What volumes are covered? It must be at least a 1 GB volume to support VSS, but you can list them with the following command:

vssadmin list volumes

sample result:

Volume path: C:\
Volume name: \\?\Volume{81910eb0-6fad-11d9-a783-806d6172696f}\

You may also list what "writers" you have on your system taking advantage of this feature with the following command:

vssadmin list writers

sample result:

Writer name: 'System Writer'
Writer Id: {e8132975-6f93-4464-a53e-1050253ae220}
Writer Instance Id: {e976ff95-e9ba-476b-900d-8358259b0b1d}
State: [1] Stable
Last error: No error

Writer name: 'MSSearch Service Writer'
Writer Id: {cd3f2362-8bef-46c7-9181-d62844cdc0b2}
Writer Instance Id: {4a82ea54-05f4-4487-a695-e03807fffd36}
State: [1] Stable
Last error: No error

Writer name: 'BITS Writer'
Writer Id: {4969d978-be47-48b0-b100-f328f07ac1e0}
Writer Instance Id: {c98d649d-40e5-4eff-b2e6-9c50cd65f85b}
State: [1] Stable
Last error: No error

…and the list will go on.

Finally, if you wish to adjust the size of the space dedicated to VSS for with the command

vssadmin resize shadowstorage

For more detail on resizing shadow storage, see: Resizing Volume Shadow Service Storage.