Does uninstall of Backup Exec Remote Agent on Win Server 2008 R2 require reboot?

[quantum-it]

We are migrating to NetBackUp, and away from BackUp Exec 2010 SP3.  I am trying to keep downtime to a minimum.   Can the BackUp Exec Agent for Windows (on Windows Server 2008 R2), be uninstalled without requiring a reboot of the system?

[lmosla]

Hello quantum-it,

A reboot isn't required unless you are reinstalling the agent.

[CraigV]

...you might require a reboot of the NBU agent though, so always factor in a bit of downtime. When it isn't required, at least you have covered your bases.

Thanks!

[Colin_Weaver · Accepted solution]

Whether or not a reboot is required might depend on

a) Whether or not you were using Client Side Dedup

b) Whether or not the MSI database ends up in a condition where it won't allow software installs until you have rebooted. (in this instance it is possible that the uninstall won't warn you that a reboot is needed BUT the attempt to install NBU afterwards would fail asking you to reboot first)

Unfortunately there only real way to find out if a reboot is needed is to try it as it can vary from server to server in a given envionment.

BTW I would recommend rebooting anyway as if something then stops the server from starting you only have a single last action to troubleshoot against root cause. However if you perform multiple actions and then eventually reboot and see a problem, troubleshooting is a lot harder. Even prior to working at Symantec the companies I worked in always used to schedule for reboots when changing software on servers just in case.