Acronis/IONOS SnapAPI Fix Guide for Debian 12

Overview

Issue

Backup fails with "snapAPI kernel module is not loaded" after a kernel update.

Cause

Acronis cannot automatically rebuild its driver because kernel headers are missing or DKMS links are broken.

Step 1: Install Build Dependencies

Download the headers for your current kernel so Acronis can compile against them.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r) build-essential dkms gcc make

Step 2: Locate and Load the Source Code

Find the correct driver version on your disk and register it with DKMS.

Find the version number:

ls /usr/lib/Acronis/kernel_modules/

Look for a file like snapapi26-0.8.58-all.tar.gz. Replace 0.8.58 in the commands below with the version you see.

Load the tarball into DKMS:

sudo dkms ldtarball /usr/lib/Acronis/kernel_modules/snapapi26-0.8.58-all.tar.gz

Step 3: Build and Install the Module

Force DKMS to build the module specifically for your currently running kernel.

# Build
sudo dkms build -m snapapi26 -v 0.8.58 -k $(uname -r)

# Install
sudo dkms install -m snapapi26 -v 0.8.58 -k $(uname -r)

Step 4: Load the Driver and Restart Service

Activate the module and restart the Acronis agent to apply the fix.

# Load module into kernel
sudo modprobe snapapi26

# Restart Acronis Service
sudo systemctl restart acronis_mms

Step 5: Verify Success

Check that the module is loaded (you should see a line starting with snapapi26).

lsmod | grep snapapi

Notes

• Replace 0.8.58 with your actual driver version found in Step 2
• Run all commands with sudo (root privileges required)
• If verification fails, review the DKMS build output for compilation errors