Index.db is in use \ Unable to close Database file

Support for desktop and server
1

Error

The error index.db is in use or an error similar to Unable to close Database file is constantly shown at the start of the backup.
The backup always fails.

Cause

The file index.db is currently locked by the operating system. Our software uses this file to index data within the backup set.

This error typically occurs when a backup process ends unexpectedly. Common causes include:

  • A user manually cancelling the backup
  • The system shutting down without warning
  • VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) failures on Windows
  • Exceeding the allocated backup quota
  • Insufficient disk space on the system being backed up

Non-Windows systems which don’t use VSS will often keep a file locked and not release it.

Fixes (try each in turn if the previous fix doesn’t work).

  1. Log the Windows user off and on again. Retry the backup.

  2. Resolve local environmental issues such as low disk space or RAM. Retry the backup.

  3. Delete the temp folder containing the index file. The locations for Windows and macOS are shown below. Retry the backup.

Windows
c:\users\username\temp\backupset-id\destination-name\index\index.db

macOS
/Users/username/temp/backupset-id/destination-name/index/index.db