BE Installation Upgrades

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If you are not on Backup Exec 12.5 you really should think about upgrading, if not for the new comprehensive recovery of virtual and physical systems, or enhanced granular data recovery, or the fact that Backup Exec is now integrated with the Symantec ThreatCon^TM system to automatically manage continuous data protection functionality in an increased threat cycle, but for the fact that the new version of Backup Exec enhances the management capabilities around managing disk and tape based backup - across the board.

The great thing about upgrading is its simplicity. Now you can run the Backup Exec Environment Check on the computer on which you want to install Backup Exec, before you actually install Backup Exec for real. This makes sure that the installation process can complete. If there are any configuration issues the environment check kicks out warnings that tell you if there are configuration issues that can be fixed or that will prevent the BE installation.

I would also suggest that you install the storage device controller, drives, robotic libraries on the media server (following the documentation included with your storage device hardware for installation instructions, of course) and check that your Windows security settings to make sure they work properly with the Backup Exec service account.

If the drive on which you want to install Backup Exec is encrypted or compressed, and you would like to use a default SQL Express database, verify that an unencrypted and uncompressed drive is available for SQL Express installation.

Check the computer name of the computer on which you want to install Backup Exec. It should only use standard ANSI characters. You may receive errors if you install Backup Exec on a computer with a name that uses non-standard characters.

Oh, and exit everything before you start.

So, for upgrades from 11d or more recent then no separate migration or upgrade utility is necessary. Most settings and all catalogs and data directories from previous versions of Backup Exec are kept. At the end of the installation, the upgrade process is summarised. Before you upgrade delete job histories and catalogs that you no longer need to shorten the upgrade window and then run a database maintenance job.

Like most application installs Backup Exec has a default location for both the program files as well as all the existing catalogs and data. You do not have to keep previous catalogs and data and there is an option during the install process that allows you to continue with the upgrade without backing up existing data. Just a word of warning, you cannot change the database location during the upgrade process. If you want to change the database location after the upgrade, use BEUtility.

Following the install make sure that your storage devices are connected and configured properly and decide if your backup will be to a tape device or a disk device. You can configure both devices when you prepare your Backup Exec environment. If you’re backing up to a tape device, make sure the device is supported. You can install drivers for the devices when you configure your Backup Exec environment. If you’re backing up to disk using the Backup-to-Disk feature, decide where you can create a backup folder. You should create it on a disk that won’t be included in the backup jobs and that has enough free space to contain the backup job.