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CraigV
Moderator
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I am busy going through the process of upgrading our Backup Exec 12.5 servers (with 2 CASOs) to Backup Exec 2010, in order to take advantage of the new features introduced in the new software.

However, I have come across a number of issues and problems, and the article below will tell you what to look out for, and what to do prior to upgrading your environment.

1. Backups of your data

Having run through a number of upgrades from Backup Exec 12.5 to Backup Exec 2010,  was caught out initially on the first failure...I hadn't made a backup of my Data and Catalogs olders. This was stupidly based on the first 3 successful upgrades I had done. When the upgrade failed, it had also erased all my data.

Before running through the actualy upgrade process, stop all your Backup Exec services, and copy your Data and Catalogs folders to a separate location. This is going to ensure that if you have any issues during the upgrade, you will be able to revert back to your original information.

2. Stop all antivirus activity

I suspected that McAfee Antivirus was causing issues on some of my failed upgrades. I hadn’t factored this into the equAtion, as it hadn’t caused issues before with the upgrades from Backup Exec 11D to Backup Exec 12.5. The only change between the 2 upgrade cycles, was that we had moved from EPO 3.5 to EPO 4.0.

My suggestion is to stop your antivirus services, and then set them to disabled during the upgrade process. Once this process has completed, you are then able to set your services to their original settings, and start up the services. Doing this will make sure that the AV is not blocking any sort of activity deemed virus-like (such as installing new *.dlls, accessing folders etc.).

3. Make sure your installation media works

There seems to be a couple of issues doing the rounds now with Backup Exec 2010 downloadable installation files. There are 2: a single 3GB ISO, and multiple 780MB ISOs which are combined using a batch file. Before proceeding with your installation, try a test installation on another server/VM, and make sure you are able to run right through the installation. This is going to save time (for those of you not having access to slow Internet links) if you have a corrupt file for some reason.

4. Make sure the applications you want to back up are on the SCL

There are a number of software products that are no longer on the Backup Exec 2010 SCL. Exchange 2000 comes to mind. Download the Backup Exec 2010 SCL, and make sure that your applications are supported. If not, it is going to mean either staying with your current version of Backup Exec, or upgrading your softwae.

You can get the Backup Exec 2010 SCL here...

http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/329254.htm

 5. Schedule proper downtime

There is nothing worse than starting an upgrade, and on completing it, finding out you cannot restart the server due to workload by users. Schedule proper downtime for the upgrade for Backup Exec 2010, as you will need to restart your media server.

As for upgrading the RAWS agents, I have yet to restart a remote server. However, considering this is from RAWS 12.5 to RAWS 2010, anything earlier will most likely need a restart, so factor that in too.

6. Get all the patches

With the new software out, you would want to have all the update patches currently available. This will allow you to patch what needs to be patched, and have a baseline from which to work going forward.

7. Remove your server from a CASO prior to the upgrade

I have seen some issues with the CASO in use. In my situation, I created a new VM with Backup Exec 2010 CASO installed, and then upgraded a client. However, moving from the old CASO (running 12.5) to this caused issues, and ended up with me hacking the old CASO’s entries out of the newly upgraded server, and then adding the server to the new CASO. Lots of wasted time!
My suggestion is to remove the server from the old CASO first before the upgrade. This will make sure all entries are removed from the registry, returning the server to a stand-alone solution again. Adding it to the new CASO server is easy enough.


The above is by no means an exhaustive list of what you should be doing, and looking at. You can use the same process when upgrading between Backup Exec versions, excluding the multi-step upgrade from Backup Exec 10d to Backup Exec 12.5 for example.

If you have any other ideas, post them at the bottom of this...it all helps!

Comments
DanielBickford
Level 6
Employee Certified

Great suggestions!

You should also review the following document:

Best practices for Backup Exec 2010 installation
http://entsupport.symantec.com/docs/340867

And one more item that will be added to this document soon is if possible, have the install media local to the machine being installed to.  This is not a requirement, but it avoids time outs and other difficulties due to network connectivity.

Mike_Lawler
Level 4
For the agent updates, I've done a couple updates from 11d to 2010 and no reboot was required on the remote agent.  that being said I've only hit 3 sites so far (about 8 servers).

The media server itself however does require a reboot....and yes, that was a shock as the 10 to 11 and the 11 to 12 upgrade didn't require the reboots....guess who got caught with not being able to reboot due to user workloads...
CraigV
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=) Me too, not to worry.
I have found out that when upgrading agents on Windows 2000 Servers, you do need an upgrade though. Not for 2003, and I cannot comment on 2008 as we don't have any in our organisation yet.
Linas
Level 6
Caso - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Caso is a municipality in the Principality of Asturias. It shares a boundary to the North with Piloña

DAVID CASO PRODUCTION CRAFT
catalogs advertising packaging logos brochures comps retouching bio links

Commission on the Assessment of Student Outcomes
A Note from CASO--At the May 2007 Institute Meeting, the faculty endorsed a new set of Institute

???
Symanticus
Level 6
Client Access Server Object. --> not that one either..

Central Admin Server Option (CASO) --> the proper one :)
Turls
Level 6

@ Craig, FYI, the acronym BEWS has been replaced to read as Backup Exec here in the your article especially due to the reason that the product has been renamed with its new 2010 release. However, we discourage all the users using the acronym BEWS even with earlier versions. Hereafter, please make sure to refer the product to as Backup Exec. Thanks!
Symanticus
Level 6

ok we shall now mention BE 2010 for simplicity manner :)
mcakir
Not applicable
Partner Accredited
I would also like to suggest that the Symantec knowledge base articles listed below must be taken into consideration before doing an upgrade.

http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/319367.htm 
(Instructions for moving Backup Exec (tm) 10d, 11d, 12.0, 12.5, or 2010 to another computer system of the same versions. The target systems can have the same computer name or a different computer name)

http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/331658.htm (How to: Multi-step upgrade path from Backup Exec 10.x for Windows Servers to Backup Exec 2010)

http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/303066.htm (How to resynchronize the Backup Exec for Windows Servers System Logon/Service account and installation to potentially resolve functional issues with the application)

http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/342776.htm (About upgrading an existing CASO installation)

http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/346744.htm (During an upgrade from Backup Exec 12.5 to Backup Exec 2010 - 'Error 1306: Another application has exclusive access to the file C:\Program Files\Symantec\Backup Exec\Data\BE_DLO.mdf. Please shutdown all other applications, then click Retry')

http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/287939.htm (How to obtain the installation source download and license keys for the Backup Exec core product, agents, and options)

http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/347543.htm (After upgrading from Backup Exec 12.5 to Backup Exec 2010 the VMware backups fail with Final error: 0xe0001208 - The path for staging temporary data must be on a local, writeable NTFS volume on the media server. Check the job log for details.)

http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/346798.htm (Upgrades to Backup Exec 2010 fail with "FATAL ERROR: Error 1606.Could not access network location \IDR\Data.")
OmahaMCSE
Level 3
Partner
Nice post otherse.
Why does Exchange 2000 come to mind?
The SCL at http://ftp.support.veritas.com/pub/support/products/Backup_Exec_for_WindowsNT/329254.pdf shows that it is supported by BEWS... I mean BE 2010.... excuse me, Backup Exec:

32-bit Media Server

Microsoft Exchange 2000 Supported

64-bit Media Server


Microsoft Exchange 2000 Supported [2]

2. Microsoft Exchange granular recovery is supported on Backup Exec x64bit Media Servers.

Not that I have any clients running Exchange 2000, I just thought it was an odd comment.
 Nice post otherwise.
CraigV
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Mmm...I must have my eyes checked...thanks for pointing that out.  I was sure it said that Exchange 2000 wasn't supported.
 

Mjahtetn
Level 6

Simplifies management by providing concise information and centralized management of multiple Backup Exec media servers across the network:

Robust and scalable solution, enabling centrally managed operations, load balancing, distributed catalogs, bandwidth throttling, fault tolerance, and monitoring and reporting for many Backup Exec media servers in a Windows data center, distributed throughout the network or at remote offices.

The Central Admin Server Option makes Backup Exec simple to grow and effortless to manage. Operations can continue uninterrupted on the managed media server even when there is a non-persistent network connection to the central administration server

kryznix
Level 3

Does anyone know where I can find the install file for the Remote Agents?  I'm all updated to 12.5 but I think I need to update the Agents on all the servers now.

Thanks to Craig for all the great info!

-Chris
Dinsdale
Level 3
Partner
You can install agents remotely from the Media Server.  It is under Tools then Intsall Agents and Media Servers on other servers.
kryznix
Level 3
Thank you!   I am a bit confused now though.   I just did all the Live Updates on our 12.5 BE server and I could have sworn one of the updates was a upgrade to BE 2010.   I must be mistaken though huh?   I have to download the ISO, burn to DVD and install that way I thinks,  it is entirely too big for a live update,  very strange though I thought it said BE 2010 update.
CraigV
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Might have been an update patch for 2010, but if you haven't upgraded, I doubt they would put this on as an upgrade. There would be licensing issues with that...
kryznix
Level 3
Anyone have any ideas why during the install it failed to migrate all my jobs, devices etc?  I simply get a pop up saying it failed with no explanation.   Effectively making my life miserable.  angry
CraigV
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Put a screendump here, or log a forum query.
In my case, I suspected McAfee was blocking something it thought was virus-like activity during the SQL upgrade, and that is where it bombed!

kryznix
Level 3
I don't think I have any of that info,  and if I did wouldn't know where to find it.   At any rate I recreated every job from scratch,  it was needed anyway,  a lot of uneeded data was being backed up.  Still a headache and no clue whatsoever as to what caused it except that it failed on upgrading the database.  Maybe I didn't stop all the sevices or something,  would have been nice if it gave me a clue as to what the issue was. But I digress the upgrade is done and backups are flowing that is all that matters.  I would say if you don't have to upgrade,  don't.  I'm not getting anything special out of the new version anyway.
CraigV
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Hi,

If any of this helped, would you mind closing it off as solved?

Thanks!
Wellsoft
Level 4

Good god....really....the user posts a great guide and all Symantec cares about is the acronym....makes the company look petty and foolish!
rjwilson01
Not applicable
The one problem I encountered that I thought I would share is I purchased a licence for Backup exec with 3 agents for windows , an agent for SQL and a agent for Oracle
When I attempted to install from scratch with all four licences keys added - the installer required a CAS - and so I could not install my media server

When I installed with one licence key at a time - it did not require a CAS server
CraigV
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Weird...I have always added all the agents in during the installation. There would definitely not be a requirement for CASO in this, unless you selecte the option as a trial...
Aladeptus
Not applicable

Backup Exec was giving me a ccsvchst.exe appcrash error. Eventually figured out there was some sort of conflict with Norton Internet Security due to an old file. Just a reminder that it's always important to clean out old versions of software.

jackst
Not applicable

I liked this advise, you should always backup your data. This should apply to other appliacations and programs as well (any improtant data that you have got on your pc), since people tends to backup their data only after they felt the pain of losing their data one way or another.

f_mueller
Not applicable

Hello Guys,

happy new year smiley. I need some help. I`m new in the Backup Exec Stuff. Came from DataProtector and Legato Networker. Tomorrow I have to do an upgrade on customer site.

Upgrade from 12.5 up to the latest 2010. But I have to reinstall the BE Server because it is an Windows 2008 32-bit. (Am I right that BE 2010 need a 64 Bit enviroment?)

I would like to backup the "old" installation (Complete) and backup the cataolog files according to http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH74415 to another location. After that I install the OS (Server 2008 64 bit) and do an install of the new BE Software. After importing the catalog does BE typically "know" his old enviroment or do I have to do other things for making this working?

Sorry for my bad english. blush

Maybe there is a good documention for this and somebody can show me the link....

Thanks in advance!

Yours,

Frank

f_mueller
Not applicable

...I found out that an upgrade of BE Server OS from 32-bit to 64-bit is not neccessary.

32-bit version supportet (according to SCL)....

So it should be easier. Only to backup the catalog files.

Greetings,

Frank

CraigV
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Hi Frank,

 

If you plan to use deduplication and back up Exchange 2010 servers, then your OS has to be x64. If not, x32 does the trick just fine...

Wellsoft
Level 4

We will be moving to Exchange 2010 later this year and we currently are on BE 12.5 with an Exchange agent running.....will we need ot upgrasde to BE 2010 first, will we need a 64-bit OS for it if so?

 

 

Thanks!devil

CraigV
Moderator
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Hi Wellsoft,

 

Your OS must be x64 to back up Exchange 2010, so get that upgraded/installed first before upgrading BE.

jayz7
Not applicable

What makes backup exec 2010 different from other utilitites?

CraigV
Moderator
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Hi,

 

It isn't a utility. BE 2010 R2 is different in that it supports newer software (basically just an R2 version of BE 2010)...dedupe has been optimized.

Check the Admin Guide and the SCL/HCL for a better understanding.

 

Laters!

Tomkm
Not applicable

Almost any antivirus can interfere with backup. It is always better to turn it off and not take the chance. I have also learned the hard way!

CraigV
Moderator
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...and if your server gets virused?

Best bet is to rather use the Symantec best practice and exclude the services from the active scanning.

Faeed
Not applicable

Hi

I tried pushing out the Agent for Windows on 4 of my servers. It went trhu perfectly on 2.

The other 2 are failing with error code 1603. I looked it up and it seems to be permissions on registry entries and folder permissions under prgram files\symantec\...

I tried doing  a local install on those servers as well from the Raw32 Directory and i get teh same errors.

Anyone have ideas perhaps..

rami_d
Not applicable
Partner Accredited Certified

thanks

CraigV
Moderator
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Hi Faeed,

 

Check the Backup Exec forum. There is a running query on the same error. Otherwise please open a new forum query.

 

Thanks!

Muhammad_Nazaka
Level 4
Partner Accredited

When attempting to add product keys for Backup Exec 2010 you receive the error "SAN Shared Storage Option is no longer licensed in this upgrade."

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH125025

Version history
Last update:
‎03-16-2010 06:20 AM
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