Why is HDP for SaaS not backing up data after a high availability (HA) switchover?

Last modified date: 2026-01-05

Applicable Products

QuTS hero h5.3.0 and later, HDP for SaaS
Starting from version 2.4, the product previously known as Boxafe has been renamed to HDP for SaaS.

Scenario A (HDP for SaaS 2.3.0 and later)

In a High Availability (HA) environment, you have activated licenses on both active node and passive node. When an HA switchover occurs, HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) automatically reassigns the licenses to your users and services. However, if the license on the new active node is missing, inconsistent, or expired, HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) cannot reassign licenses, and the license status will become Not Available. As a result, backup tasks on the new active node will fail.

Solutions

To continue backing up user/service data in HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) on the new active node after an HA switchover over, you must verify the statuses of your licenses or purchase and activate new licenses:

Verify license status on both nodes

Log in to the new active node as an administrator.
Open License Center.
Go to HA License.
HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) licenses appear both in the Active Node License tab and Passive Node License tab.
Ensure that HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) licenses meet all of the following conditions:
- HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) licenses are activated on both the active node and the passive node.
- The license plans on both the active and passive node are the same. For example, the following licenses are the same:
  - Active node: HDP for SaaS for Microsoft 365, 10 Users, 1 Month
  - Passive node: HDP for SaaS for Microsoft 365, 10 Users, 1 Month
- The licenses are valid and not expired on both the active node and pasive nde.
If all of the above conditions are met, HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) will automatically reassign licenses to users/services after the HA switchover, and backup tasks will continue.

Optional: Purchase and activate additional HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) licenses on both nodes

In order for HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) to support High Availability environments, you need to purchase two identical HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) licenses and activate one on the active node and one on the passive node. Both active and passive nodes must have the same HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) license for an HA switch over to successfully occur.

Purchase two new HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) licenses.
Tip
Licenses can be purchased at the QNAP Software Store and activated in License Center on your NAS device. For details, see "Licenses" in the QTS User Guide or QuTS hero User Guide.
Log in to the active node as an administrator.
Open License Center.
Go to HA License.
Go to the Active Node Licenses tab.
Click on +Activate License.
The License Activation - Active and Passive Nodes window opens.
Select a HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) license.
Click Next.
The License Activation - Active and Passive Nodes window asks you to additionally activate the same license type on the passive node. Click Yes to confirm license activation on the passive node.
After the License Activation - Active and Passive Node window closes, view the status of your licenses on the Active Node Licenses and Passive Node Licenses tab. If the activation was successful, then the status of your licenses will be "valid" on both nodes.
Activate remaining HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) licenses by repeating the previous steps 5-9.
After activating all the licenses, HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) will automatically reassign licenses to any users/services.

Scenario B (HDP for SaaS 2.2.2 and earlier)

You have assigned HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) licenses to users or services on an active node in a High Availability (HA) environment and a HA switchover occurs. After the switchover, the HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) licenses on the new active node are not assigned to any users/services and they have the license status Not available. As a result, HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) cannot backup data for the users/services on the new active node.

Active node before switchover

New active node after switchover

Solution

To continue backing up user/service data in HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) on the new active node after an HA switcher over, perform the following steps:

1. Activate HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) licenses on the new active node

Important

If you previously activated HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) licenses on both active and passive nodes before the switchover occurred, you can skip this step.

Log in to the new active node as an administrator.
Open License Center.
Go to HA License.
Go to the Active Node Licenses tab.
Click on +Activate License.
The License Activation - Active and Passive Nodes window opens.
Select a HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) license.
Click Next.
The License Activation - Active and Passive Nodes window asks you to actviate licenses for the passive node. Since you do not need to activate licenses for a passive node, click Close to skip this operation.
After the License Activation - Active and Passive Node window closes, view the status of your licenses on the Active Node Licenses tab. If the activation was successful, then the status of your licenses will be "valid".
Activate remaining HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) licenses by repeating the previous steps 5-9.

2. Assign HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) licenses on the new active node

To assign HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) licenses to the required users and services on the new active node, do the following:

Open HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) on the new active node.
Go to Domains.
Locate a domain and click in the Action column to open the Domain Settings page for the domain.
Click the Users tab or a service tab such as Shared Drive.
Select one or more user or service accounts.
Click Actions > Licenses > Assign.
The Select HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) License for Users window opens.
Select valid licenses.
Tip
Licenses can be purchased at the QNAP Software Store and activated in License Center on your NAS device. For details, see "Licenses" in the QTS User Guide or QuTS hero User Guide.
Click Select.
The selected licenses are applied to the selected users/services and HDP for SaaS (Boxafe) can now backup the selected users/services on the new active node.