Questions regarding Backup Exec 2010 R3 SP3 installation

[YonatanC]

Hi guys,

We use one BE2010 R3 media server which runs on Windows Server 2008 x64 Standard.

We perform daily backups of more than 100 servers (2003 and 2008) and most of them are production.

I installed SP3 in a test environment and I have some questions:

1. I know the guy that was here before me used to update all the agents manualy and not with push-install. Any reason to do so?

2. If I do install the agents manually, do I need to run the setup.exe from the RAWSX64 folder or just the "RAWSx645204RSP3.exe" file from the update folder?

2. Some of the jobs we run are configured to use AOFO set on "System - Use Microfost Shadow Copy Provider". When I push-install the agents, do I have to check the AOFO option?

3. I understand the if I install the agents with the AOFO I will need to reboot the remote server. This is very problematic for me since I have lots of servers which are most production. Is this reboot really necessary? Can I just restart the BE Services or other services on the remote servers? What are the implications if I don't reboot the servers?

I think that's it for now :)

Thank you.

[Jaydeep_S]

Push Installation or manual installation are options available to perform the upgrade of the remote agent. You should choose what works best for you. As for the upgrade if you want to do it without the reboot (perhaps want to schedule a reboot at a later day) the best is to copy the RAWS32 or RAWS64 folder and perform a manual upgrade using the setupaa.cmd file. This is a silent installation and would supress/postpone the reboot for a later time.

About AOFO, this was an option typically used in Windows 2000/3 servers to be able to perform a snapshot backup. However, using Windows 2008/2012 servers, every backup is a snapshot backup even without AOFO.

[YonatanC]

Hi Jaydeep,

So If I understand, as long as I install the agent update on a 2008/2012 server I don't need to check the AOFO option in the installation window? And doing so will not affect backup jobs that are currently set to use AOFO?

Also, if I understand, the silent installation you suggested won't make the reboot redundet, it will only allow me to reboot later? If so, it's the same as push-install in a way that it also allow me to reboot later and does not reboot automaticaly.

And one more thing - what happens if I don't update the agents at all?

[Jaydeep_S · Accepted solution]

No it wouldnt matter if you dont install AOFO on the 2003/8 or 2012 server as in the Backup job settings BE would use VSS for snapshots. Windows 2000 machines did not have VSS, so AOFO installation was required.

The silent installation would not ask you for a reboot. The reboot is suppressed. However, if you want to apply any further updates or if a feature that needs a reboot is being installed, you could use that feature or apply the next updates after the reboot is done.

I would suggest you to update all the agents as if you don't you might get errors/warnings on the backup job. In some cases where there is added functionality supported with the update (like Server 2012 or Exchange 2013 supported with SP2) these features can only be used if the remote agents are updated and the reboot is done.

[YonatanC]

OK, thanks for your help!

[YonatanC]

BTW, I tried installing the agent on a Windows Server 2003 x64, which runs SQL 2005 (in the test environment).

The installation failed with error code 1603. Manual installation also failed with same error.

Couldn't find anything specific on symantec site.

What could be the problem?