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Backward agent compatibilities

Peter_M1
Level 3
Is it possible to use a BE9.1 remote agent with a BE11d media server for a short period until the old servers that don�t meet the patch criteria is patched?

//PM
5 REPLIES 5

Jamie_Tatum
Level 4
Generally we only support remote agent backwards compatibility with one version down. In this case it would mean that you would need at least the 10d Remote Agent. Of course, in the long term, you need to upgrade to the 11D remote agent.

Peter_M1
Level 3
Ok, so if I understand you correctly it is impossible to use the 9.1 agent with 11d even if it is only for a matter of days?

//PM

Ken_Putnam
Level 6
According to the SCL at http://seer.support.veritas.com/docs/284493.htm

The Backup Exec 10.x Remote Agent for Windows is not supported and not recommended for use with Backup Exec 11d for Windows Media Servers.

the way that I read it, they don't even accept a one version old RA any more, certainly not a v9.x RA

DanielBickford
Level 6
Employee Certified
Allow me to clarify the statement on the SCL a little further:
It is recommended that an entire environment be at 11d.

For the purposes of rolling upgrades only, a 10d Remote Agent(with the latest hotfixes and service packs) can be used. There are several known limitations to mixing versions-most notably, any new 11d features will not work.

It is not recommended or supported to run a 10d RAWS with 11d Media Servers for an extended period of time. Simply put, if you are running a 10d (or earlier) RAWS, and you have any problems, upgrade it to 11d.

If you must run an older version, just realize Symantec cannot guarantee the results, and suggests upgrading to 11d as soon as possible.

I hope this clears things up, and We will work on changing the verbiage in the SCL to be more clear also.

Nick_Pearce
Level 3
The thing that scares me the most about this upgrading situation is as follows...

There are several employees at Symantec (two of which have posted in this topic and several have either physically viewed my servers over WebEX or at least spoken to me about it over the phone) who do not realise the capabilities of the systems they are selling/supporting, I have found several responses indicating that 10d agents WILL run with an 11d CMS, and then when the upgrade has been done, all the backups fail, then by pure accident, hidden away in the darkest depths of the Symantec (lack-of) knowledge base a coleague found this article...

http://entkb.symantec.com/availability/resultDisplay.do?contextId=37078%3A1125.1246&docType=1000&gotoLink=1125&clusterName=SymantecAVailability&contentId=f918a7bb-b479-41fa-982c-5397ef2c00fc&responseId=6ea8ff628248993e%3A1b1fbf4%3A10f86b12cb9%3A1cac&groupId=7&answerGroup=7&score=609&result=6&page=http%3A%2F%2Fseer.support.veritas.com%2Fdocs%2F283642.htm&excerpt=Stop+all+running+CPS+Backup+Jobs.+Upgrade+the+Continuous+Management+Server+to+CPS+11d+and+allow+the+system+to+reboot.&resultType=5000&preview=1

CPS 11d is not backward compatible with CPS 10d.

This incompatibility means that all CPS servers in the same CPS Backup Group must be running the same version of CPS. After a CPS server has been upgraded from CPS 10d to CPS 11d, it will not be able to participate in backup jobs with CPS servers running CPS 10d


I have personnaly spent several hours this afternoon on the phone to Tech Support who've been after gathering logs, having me change the way the services run, deleting jobs, creating jobs, etc... with nearly 180 jobs sitting right in front of his eyes, and with me explaining that the greyed out ones are still at 10d, Symantec PLEASE sort out your support team, provide them with the correct information, I have had no backup running on nearly 100 mission critical servers since Tues (12th Dec, nearly a week) today is the first time I've managed to speak to a support representative, and that was only after going to the higher echelons... This is NOT acceptable for someone on your GOLD support package...

I shall report the success (or lack of it) when I've managed to get all of my servers upgraded to 11d.

Edited:
There appears to be no 'un-attended' install option still even though the installers are .msi files with .mst's!! apart from that the installation of remote agents is much faster than 10d, as long as you copy all the required files to the remote server first (C:\Program Files\Symantec\Continuous Protection Server\Install\CPS32\*.*) and (C:\Program Files\Symantec\Continuous Protection Server\Install\RAWS32\*.*) and run the setups, do the RAWS32 first, and don't restart, then do the CPS32 and restart. Will keep the updates coming...Message was edited by:
Nick Pearce