Acronis backup in Plesk fails: The SnapAPI kernel module is not loaded for the kernel

Symptoms

• Unable to perform a backup via Acronis Backup extension in Plesk with the following error:

  PLESK_ERROR: Backup Failed: The SnapAPI kernel module is not loaded for the kernel 3.10.0.1062.1.2.el7.x86_64 currently running in this system. Install the module for this kernel version, and then retry the backup.

• The following error is shown when trying to access the extension page at Plesk > Acronis Backup:

  PLESK_ERROR: Error: An error has occurred. One of the services may be stopped. Go to “Scheduled Tasks” and try to run the command of the “Acronis Backup” extension manually. If this issue persists, contact the support team.

Cause

The required kernel module is missing. 

Resolution

1. Connect to the server via SSH.

2. Install the packages necessary for building kernel modules. E.g. on CentOS:

   # yum install kernel-devel gcc make

3. Reinstall Acronis backup extension

Note: Solution is not applicable for Ubuntu 20 (Kernel 5.8 and higher) and CentOS 8 (Kernel 4.18) as it not supported by Acronis yet.  

Additional information

https://www.acronis.com/en-us/support/documentation/AcronisBackup_12.5/index.html#22619.html