Intermittent Excel output failures with AMP enabled: “Unable to create backup”

[Zaim0608]

Hi Alteryx Community Team, I have encountered some trouble and need some suggestion if applicable. Thank you for your time and help in advance!

Here is some heads-up for my current use case.

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Environment

• Alteryx Designer: 2023.2.1
• Engine: AMP enabled (must remain enabled)
• Workflow Type: Standard workflows
• Execution Mode: Manual run in Designer
• OS: Windows 11 Enterprise
• Storage Location: Network drive

Context / Use Case

I have multiple workflows in the same workspace. All outputs are Excel (.xlsx):

• Some workflows output multiple worksheets into the same workbook (e.g., Report.xlsx with Sheet1, Sheet2, Sheet3).
• Other workflows output single-sheet Excel files.
• AMP engine must remain enabled due to performance/policy.

Symptom: The workflows that write multiple sheets into one workbook intermittently fail.
Single-sheet outputs usually succeed.

Errors Observed (intermittent / alternating)

• “Unable to create backup” (when overwriting an existing .xlsx)
• On subsequent runs (without changes), I may get:
  • “The process is being run in the background” (suggesting the file is locked/in use)

These errors occur intermittently—sometimes a re-run succeeds, sometimes it fails again.

What I’ve Already Tried

1. Block Until Done within the workflow — did not resolve (especially when multiple branches write to the same workbook or when multiple workflows overlap).
2. Closed Excel & checked locks — Verified no Excel.exe running and ensured the workbook wasn’t open elsewhere.
3. Permissions — I have the permission on the network folder; can manually create/overwrite files there.

    

Typical Pattern That Fails

• Within a single workflow:
  • Branch A → \\NetworkShare\Folder\Report.xlsx → Sheet “Sales”
  • Branch B → same file → Sheet “Summary”
  • Branch C → same file → Sheet “Detail”
• Or across multiple workflows where more than one workflow writes to the same workbook in overlapping time windows.
• With AMP enabled, branches/workflows can write in parallel, leading to collisions.

Observed effect:

• Run #1 → “Unable to create backup”
• Run #2 → “Process is being run in the background”
• Run #3 → May succeed or fail again (non-deterministic)

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Question:

Any known issues or fixes for this issue? Is there any suggestion or other best practices to prevent this error?

[AncientPandaman]

did you try control container?

https://help.alteryx.com/current/en/designer/tools/developer/control-container-tool.html