Unable to backup Portal for ArcGIS using the webgisdr utility due to inaccessible items in the content directory

Description

When running the webgisdr utility to backup Portal for ArcGIS, the process fails, returning the following error:

Error:   
{
"error":{
"code":500,
"details": null,
"message": "Failed to export site. Export of the Portal repository failed. \\\\PortalDirectory\\arcgisportal\\content\\items\\"
}
}

Cause

Portal for ArcGIS cannot find the location of the relevant item data to backup, as the item no longer exists in the Portal content directory.

In a federated environment, when a service with feature access capabilities is published as a hosted service, the following occurs:

• The data is copied to the relational ArcGIS Data Store.
• A hosted feature service is created on the portal's hosting server.
• A hosted feature layer item is created in the portal.

If the hosting server is removed, or is not correctly configured after an upgrade is performed, an item may display in the content directory, but it cannot be accessed. Attempting to delete this item results in an error, and deleting the item folder from the content directory does not remove it. Reindexing does not resolve the issue.

Solution or Workaround

Follow the workaround below to resolve.

1. Navigate to the Portal for ArcGIS admin URL. The URL is:

https://<machine_name>.<domain>.com/<webadaptorhost>/portaladmin

2. Navigate to Federation > Servers > server_name >Update. Select Hosting Server from the Server role drop-down list, and click Update Server.
3. Launch Windows Services, and search for the Portal for ArcGIS service. Right-click the service, and select Stop.
4. If the content folder was deleted, restore the deleted folder from the Windows Recycle Bin.

Note:
For items without content folders to restore, create a new folder with the same content item ID name, and copy-paste any sub-folders from another item.

5. Launch Windows Services, and search for the Portal for ArcGIS service. Right-click the service, and select Start.
6. Navigate to the Portal for ArcGIS Content page, and delete the relevant items. The deletion process succeeds as the item is now accessible to Portal.
7. Re-run the webgisdr utility to complete the backup of Portal for ArcGIS.