NetBackup 5200/5220 Appliances 2.5.1 is now available!

[CRZ]

I'm very pleased to announce that the next Maintenance Release for NetBackup 7.5 and Release Update for NetBackup 52x0 Appliances is now available!

NetBackup 7.5.0.4 is the fourth maintenance release for NetBackup 7.5.  It is a cumulative release containing fixes and content from 7.5.0.1 through 7.5.0.3. In addition, this release contains an additional 315 fixes (bringing the total fixes in 7.5.0.4 to over 700!) including the most commonly downloaded EEBs, several customer escalations, and internal engineering defects.

The simultaneously released NetBackup 5200/5220 Appliances 2.5.1 Release Update is the equivalent Appliance patch release to NetBackup 7.5.0.4.

The significant content of NetBackup 7.5.0.4 is:  

• No new features in 7.5.0.4.  However, some features that were delivered in previous maintenance releases are included:
  • Solaris 11 master server, Bare Metal Restore server and OpsCenter Managed Server support – delivered in 7.5.0.3
  • NetBackup for VMware on SLES – delivered in 7.5.0.2
  • PureDisk seeding utility – delivered in 7.5.0.2
  • Client Direct Whole Image Mode – delivered in 7.1.0.4
  • Multi-process nbostpxy for Client Dedupe – delivered in 7.1.0.4
• Fixes included in EVERY publicly available 7.5.0.3 hotfix are included in 7.5.0.4
• Other miscellaneous fixes across NetBackup which were not publicly released

Additional content applicable to Appliances 2.5.1 is:

• Improved agent for proactive support
• Support for OST 3rd party plug-ins

Information about 2.5.1 is available here:

NetBackup 5200/5220 2.5.1 Update
 http://symantec.com/docs/TECH197011

The 2.5.1 Update can only be applied to an Appliance already running at version 2.5.

To check to see if your particular Etrack is resolved in 2.5.1 (NetBackup 7.5.0.4), please refer to both sets of Release Notes:

NetBackup 7.5.0.4 Release Notes
 http://symantec.com/docs/DOC5514
 
NetBackup Appliance 2.5.1 Release Notes for NetBackup 52xx
 http://symantec.com/docs/DOC5797

[Marianne]

Has this patch been withdrawn?

URL for TECH197011 returns the following:

The URL you've tried isn't returning content. There are two possibilities:

• There is no article associated with this URL. Try searching our Knowledge Base.
• ......

Also found this TN with no download links: http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH194196

[Stanleyj]

Marianne,

I spoke with support and yes the 2.5.1 update has been pulled at the moment because of stability issues.  In my case it is the spoold service crashing.  I am waiting to find out how we are going to correct this because the rollback option does not work for this update.

[Mark_Solutions]

Been up to my eyes recently so have been out of touch with things but very interesting that 2.5.1 has been pulled

I know my customer is still having problems so maybe they just need to roll back?

Will get our guys to ask the question as it is with engineering at the moment but everything they have tried is not making it any better

[fcurrie]

Hi,

The N2.5 and N2.5.1 downloads have been temporarily removed from the Symantec Download site - they will return in early November.  The issue that has led to the removal is specific to 5200 and 5220 Appliances being used as Master Servers or Combined Master/Media Servers that were upgraded from N2.0.3 to N2.5/2.5.1.  A TechNote will be available soon outlining the issue, exposure and timeframe for resolution.  I'll update this thread when the Technote is available.

The issue which has led to the temporary removal is not relevant to:

1. 5200/5220 Appliances running as Media Servers - if you have upgraded a 5200/5220 Media Server from N2.0.3 to N2.5/N2.5.1 you should be in working order

2. 5200/5220 Appliances that were shipped with 2.5 installed and configured as Master and/or Media Servers

3. 5200/5220 Appliances that have been re-imaged/re-installed with N2.5/N2.5.1 software.

If your system falls into categories 1, 2 or 3 and you are having issues please contact Symantec Technical Services as cause and remediation will fall outside the issue that led to the patch removal.

Regards,

frank.

Frank Currie | Director of Technical Product Management | NetBackup Appliances

E - frank_currie@symantec.com

[Marianne]

Thanks for the update and clarification, Frank.

[Stanleyj]

To all who are still having issues i think the end is near.  On friday support provided with

SYMC_NBAPP_EEB_ET2962020-2.5.1.0-1.x86_64.rpm

This EEB contained files related to the spoold process.   Thursday night my disk pools went down and would not start back.  Friday we applied this fix and i am happy to report that i did not have a single backup failure fri, sat, or sun.  This included my month end standard fulls along with accelerated fulls.

So far everything is looking back to normal.  I will update if anything happens.

[I_like_3_14]

We recently added two Symantec Appliances (5220) - one a Media server at our main site, and one a Master server at our secondary site (AIR recipient, mainly).  I upgraded both from 2.5 to 2.5.1, and have seen random spoold issues, causing 2074 errors on my backups.  It's not a nightly thing, but I've seen this happen at both sites, most recently at the main backup site, and it has me concerned.

Is there a patch available for those who recieved 2.5 loaded appliances?  There seems to be no rhyme or reason for this issue.  Also, anyone esle have issues uploading logs to Symantec via the appliance?  I can't access the logs from Windows (no credentials seem to work - and yes, I've shared the log locations), and it acts like the upload is blocked from the Symantec side, as there are no network/routing issues with the appliance.

Any help/pointers would be appreciated.  I don't really want to roll back to 2.5 unless i have to.  I prefer to keep the appliance at the same NetBackup version as the Master (7.5.0.4). 

[Stanleyj]

the 2.5.1 patch does have spoold issues.  Trust me i have expierenced this since the day it was released but support just recently provided me an eeb and it has completly solved my spoold problems.  Since applying the patch i have not had one issue on my primary data center media server or my DR master/media appliance.  Both were having the spoold issue.  Also i dont think you can roll back to 2.5.

As for the log issue.  2.5.1 has changed the way you access the logs and yes i also had that complaint as well.  Some days i get prompted for credentials that never work and other days it connects right up but i did discover a trick that im sure any symtec tech on here is going to curse me for.  You can disable the clish which will allow you to use something like winscp or filezilla to access the root of the appliance with your admin credentails.  But you have to enable the clish back before disconnecting.

Log in to the root of the appliance.  CD /admin (this is a hidden directory). 

Type the following to disable the clish. mv .bashrc .bashrc.old

Now try accessing the appliance via winscp.  once you are done reverse the command mv .bashrc.old .bashrc

Hope this helps.

[Mark_Solutions]

map a drive to the logs folder and select to use alternate credentials - then try admin and P@ssw0rd - this is the wrong username for that password but it seems to do the trick - if you have changed the sysadmin password then thry that but using the admin user

Hope this helps

[I_like_3_14]

I suddently decided to work.  <scratches head>

I applied the update, but I still can't back up to the PureDisk disk pool.  Spoold is up this time, but backups still fail.  I opened a case, I'm at a loss.  The appliance passes both hardware and software tests.

Is there some super-secret maintenance password required to get to the LInux kernel?  The supplied commands in a SSH shell are exceedingly limited.  I can't get to the "Linux" part at all to have a peek at what's going on under the hood.  I'm sure this is by design, but it's annoying (or I'm missing something... I'm not a Linux admin, but know enough to do the basics).

Thanks for all the help/suggestions!

[SYMAJ]

Go to the command-line menu on the appliance using putty (or any other ssh shell tool):

- Support -> Maintenance

- enter admin password again

- elevate

You are now ‘behind the scenes’ within the appliance

Operate with care !!

AJ

[Gunni75]

Hello,

when will be the upgrade patches avaiable for Appliance 5220 ? ? ?
Our Appliances are configured as MediaServer, with version 2.0.2 
Is There a unoffical link for download ?

Regards


 

[Mark_Solutions]

All patches can be downloaded from here:

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH150251

Alternatively ensure that your appliance can access the internet (if you need to go through a proxy configure the proxy under the callhome section - Settings-CallHome) and go to Manage-Software-Check

This connects to Symantec to find updates. You can then used Downlaod to download them straight onto the appliance

Hope this helps

[Mark_Solutions]

I take it all back!! They have all gone from the site

So there is now no 2.5 or 2.5.1 available for download from Symantec

The replacements for both will (should?) be available this month so hopefully not long to wait now.

I guess if you really needed it you could ask for the current 2.5 2.5.1 patches if your appliance is to be a media server only - but to be honest I would be inclined to wait a week or two

[CRZ]

The new "B" patches are now available:

NetBackup Appliance 2.5b Patch (for NetBackup 5200 and 5220)
 http://symantec.com/docs/TECH198449

NetBackup Appliance 2.5.1b Patch (for NetBackup 5200 and 5220)
 http://symantec.com/docs/TECH199726

I would highly recommend downloading them both before attempting an upgrade - in fact, I believe it may be mandatory to apply 2.5.1b to a 2.5b server before you can start it up again, so you would definitely want to have them both downloaded ahead of time!

Here's the updated Tech Alert:

Upgrades of NetBackup 52x0 Appliances configured as master servers from version 2.0.x to version 2.5.x may experience catalog issues. These patches have been replaced.
 http://symantec.com/docs/TECH198390

(Note: check for an "Updated: 2012-11-26" date to make sure you're seeing the newest version of these documents!  It may take up to 24 hours for them to refresh depending on which web server you're hitting.)

[Mark_Solutions]

So if you had already upgraded to the original 2.5 and then 2.5.1 before they were withdrawn can either / both of these be applied to those appliances?

Thanks

[CRZ]

If you've already upgraded, you don't need these.  (The installer changed, but the software delivered didn't.  You already have the software.)

In other words, if you're at 2.5, you don't need 2.5b.  You will eventually need 2.5.1b (or higher).

If you're at 2.5.1, you don't need 2.5.1b.

(Is that what you were asking?)

[Mark_Solutions]

Thanks Chris - that is what i was asking - had a few issues since going to 2.5.1 and was hoping there was something new in these!

[SYMAJ]

If the 251b is only an installer change (and no code change), where are we at with the spoold issues which appear to have been resolved by the EEB SYMC_NBAPP_EEB_ET2962020-2.5.1.0-1.x86_64.rpm

This EEB contained files related to the spoold process.

Is this included, required or recommended after the 251b upgrade from 2.5 ?

AJ

[CRZ]

Hi AJ,

Sorry for my late reply.

To fix those spoold issues, yes, the EEB in Etrack 2962020 will need to be applied on top on 2.5.1B just as it would have needed to be applied on top of 2.5.1.  That fix will be included in the next release (2.5.2?)