Forum Discussion

malykazio's avatar
malykazio
Level 2
10 years ago

BE upgrade from v12 to newest - best approach?

Hi I'm going to upgrade my BE v.12 (rev 1364) to newest wersion. I know, I have to do that in two steps, first from v.12 to 12.5 or 2010, 2010R2 or 2010R3 and then to newest wersion 2014. Have som...
12.x and Earlier
Backup and Recovery
Backup Exec
Best Practice
Installing
Upgrade
Windows Server (2003-2008)
  • AmolB's avatar
    AmolB
    10 years ago

    First thing first contact Symantec Licensing Team for BE2014 License keys.

    For contact info refer to http://www.symantec.com/en/in/support/assistance_care.jsp

    Second thing read Backup Exec 2014 Hardware and Software compatibility list. Make sure your 

    existing applications and hardware is listed in the compatibilit list.

    For HCL and SCl refer to  https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/blogs/be2014-download-link

    I would suggest you to upgrade BE12 -> BE2010 ->BE2014.

    Once the upgrade is done run live update multiple times to install all the latest hotfixes.

    You will also require to push install updates on the remote agents.

     

  • AmolB's avatar
    AmolB
    10 years ago

    Regarding second problem - about compatibility, is it posssible that newer wersion cannot recognize tape drive  (vendor is HP) and SCSI card which are working under 12?

    Need not worry if the device is listed under BE2014 Hardware compatibility list.

  • Colin_Weaver's avatar
    Colin_Weaver
    10 years ago

    The operating system (2003) of the media server is obsolete, so you should plan to update that, which might mean updated hardware is needed. If you have to start investing in newer hardware then it is possible that a recommedation would be to start with a brand new installation and just switch the old server off, switching it back on if you need to restore something from an older backup. Staying on old hardware and operating system will have performance and supportability impacts going forwards

     

    As regards the compatibility lists (for BE 2014)

    - for hardware: if a tape device is not on our HCL then it might work with older operating systems where kernal mode drivers are still allowed but probably will not work with Windows 2012 where user mode drivers are used. Either way, if not on our HCL then only reasonable efforts support can be offered if you have a problem.

    - for software on servers being backed up: you need to check that any older versions of Operating System, SQL, Sharepoint, Exchange (or other applications) are still supported as you do not want to upgrade if you then can't backup your environment. As such you should really do a survey of applications and versions instaled on all the servers you intend to backup as part of planning your upgrade.

    - for software on the Backup Exec server: BE 2014 has a minumum requirement for operating system and patch level so make sure you check this.

     

    One final point, if you do a sequence of inplace upgrades, avoid going via BE 2012 as this will convert your jobs into one job per server and you will have to then manually convert them back in BE 2014. Do use the R3 version of 2010 as a stepping stone instead.

  • pkh's avatar
    pkh
    10 years ago
    Note that BE 2014 requires a minimum of Server 2003 R2, so if you are currently not on R2, you would need to upgrade to this for a starter. Before you upgrade, do make a copy of the Data and Catalog directories under the BE installation directory so that you can revert if need be
Colin_Weaver's avatar
Colin_Weaver
Moderator
10 years ago

The operating system (2003) of the media server is obsolete, so you should plan to update that, which might mean updated hardware is needed. If you have to start investing in newer hardware then it is possible that a recommedation would be to start with a brand new installation and just switch the old server off, switching it back on if you need to restore something from an older backup. Staying on old hardware and operating system will have performance and supportability impacts going forwards

 

As regards the compatibility lists (for BE 2014)

- for hardware: if a tape device is not on our HCL then it might work with older operating systems where kernal mode drivers are still allowed but probably will not work with Windows 2012 where user mode drivers are used. Either way, if not on our HCL then only reasonable efforts support can be offered if you have a problem.

- for software on servers being backed up: you need to check that any older versions of Operating System, SQL, Sharepoint, Exchange (or other applications) are still supported as you do not want to upgrade if you then can't backup your environment. As such you should really do a survey of applications and versions instaled on all the servers you intend to backup as part of planning your upgrade.

- for software on the Backup Exec server: BE 2014 has a minumum requirement for operating system and patch level so make sure you check this.

 

One final point, if you do a sequence of inplace upgrades, avoid going via BE 2012 as this will convert your jobs into one job per server and you will have to then manually convert them back in BE 2014. Do use the R3 version of 2010 as a stepping stone instead.