NetBack Versions

[ricp]

Hi,

Quick query about running different versions of netbackup between client and media server. We are running 7.1 across the board. We have an issue on Exchange 2010 mailbox servers which is apparently fixed in 7.1.0.3, so we were going to upgrade the mailbox servers and leave media/managment server as is. The documentation says the two slightly different version of netbackup can run OK. But what about the Exchange netbackup agent? In the NetBackup_AdminGuide_MSExch_Win it states:

'To use the new features that are included in NetBackup for Exchange in NetBackup 7.1 or later releases, you must upgrade your NetBackup for Exchange clients. The media server and NetBackup for Exchange clients must be at the same NetBackup version.'

Before we saw this, we were going to upgrade the netbackup clients on the mailbox servers. We can't touch the media server/management server to upgrade it, so it will have to stay at 7.1 for now.

Can we upgrade the MBX servers to 7.1.0.3 or will that screw up the Exchange backup functionality?

Many thanks,

Ric

[AmolB · Accepted solution]

Refer to the below link about version compatibility

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH29677

[Yogesh9881]

I will storngly recommend you to keep Master / Media / Client on Same netbackup version.

or at least Master server with higher netbackup version than Media server & Client (agent)

[ricp]

I'm afraid we can't upgrade the master and media boxes at the minute due to business issues and it being a large estste. Is it really not recommended to vary the client in a minor release? The Exchange 2010 system isn't live and we are trying to get the backups to work before it goes live in the next few months.

Symantec kind of contradicts itself on that link above and it still doesn't mention anything about Exchange agents:

It is recommended to have all NetBackup (NB) master, media, client, and database extensions on the same major, minor, or release update.  In larger environments it is not possible to update all servers and clients simultaneously. NetBackup therefore allows for servers to run a mixture of NetBackup major releases and release updates in the same environment. This capability gives rise to a number of general multi-version co-existence rules, together with some version-specific rules.

[ricp]

Is the Exchange agent built into the client or is it a seperate install to the client? We don't install the product so not exactly sure how the install works.

[V4]

are exchange servers also media servers???

NetBackup clients are unified after 7.x release. Pre-7.x release there were DB extention which requires to be added on top of base client. But with 7.x release not needed. single client does all

[revarooo]

Actually it's ok to have clients at a higher minor release (as in 7.1.0.X) They cannot be higher as in 7.X though.

[ricp]

No exchange servers aren't media servers, the Unix guys tell me we are backing up to Pure Disk. Thought that was the case with everything included in the client, after doing a bit of reading.

[Lcadloff]

Here's the problem: while it's true that Symantec supports minor version discrepancies for NetBackup, it's quite possible that the fix for your problem may be part of the master or media server code, not the Exchange client code. In other words, upgrading only the Exchange clients to 7.1.0.3 while leaving the master and media servers at 7.1 should not break anything, but it may not fix your issue. It's always best practice to have the master and media servers at the same version level or higher version level than the clients. 

[Yogesh9881]

Dear ricp,

its all about the Documentation vs Real World experience.

So now you have 2 options ....

1 --- upgrade master / media server 

2 --- downgrade netbackup client on Exch servers

however symantec always recomends taht we should always run NBU with recent patch level (at least master / media)