BE Agent backwards compatibility

[Hans_A]

I'm moving to a new BE2012 server from BE2010. Due to hardware issues (HBA needs to be moved from old server to new) and large number of servers, I'd like to upgrade the agents to 2012 incrementally and once they are all done, move the hba and start using 2012. Will 2012 Agents work with 2010, or will I have to do all the upgrades and move the HBA all at once?

[Backup_Exec1]

Hi

It is always recommended to upgrade your remote agent after upgrading media server to any version or service pack son that remote agent version on media server and remote server matches and you have stable backup and restores

Moreover BE2010 have 3 version and R3 is the last version of BE2010 not sure what you have got from that version Symantec introduced SSL trust relation between remote agent on media server and remote agent on remote server ,so same Is there in BE2012 so with BE2012 on media server and remote agent of 2010 r3 on remote server it should work nut stability can be an issue. Any other version below r3 would not be compatible as there is no SSL trust relationship used in those versions.

Hope that helps

Thanks

[pkh]

I don't think this is true.  BE is designed to work with agents from one version back and BE 2010 with all its various sub-releases is the version before BE 2012.  The SSL security should not be the constraint against BE 2010 and BE 2010 R2 agents working with BE 2012.  If this is the case, then BE 2010 and BE 2010 R2 agents would also not work with BE 2010 R3 which introduces SSL security.

[Kiran_Bandi]

It is not just BE 2010 (All versions) but also BE 12.5 agents are also supported with BE 2012 media server according to SCL. As you are planning to upgrade the agents incrementally, using 2010 agents won't be a problem till you upgrade them. But do it ASAP.

Quoting from SCL: Backup Exec 12.5, 2010, 2010 R2, and 2010 R3 Agents are compatible with 2012 Servers for the purpose of upgrades only. This configuration is not recommended orsupported for extended periods. Every effort should be made to get all Backup Exec components to the same version as soon as possible. Please refer to <http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH39208> for more details.

You can find the SCL here: http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH175581

Thanks!

[pkh]

Ahh!  Thanks for confirming my hunch and more.  I should have thought of checking the SCL which is the final authority on support matters.

BE 2012 supporting BE 12.5 remote agents would make sense because you can directly upgrade to BE 2012 from BE 12.5

I don't know why your post is marked down.  Perhaps it is not favourable to their answer.  I will give you a thumbs-up to correct the situation.

[Hans_A]

I think you got the compatibility issue reversed. I would like to know if my Backup Exec 2010 R3 can talk with 2012 Agents to perform backups? This would only be a temporary situation, which would allow us time to update the Agents on 60+ servers incrementally instead of all at once.

[pkh · Accepted solution]

No.  This is not possible.  There is no upwards compatibility with BE, i.e., BE 2010 R3 cannot talk to a BE 2012 agent.