Netbackup 7.5 maintenance releases

[SteveB2006]

We have a legacy Netbackup environment running 7.5.0.4.  We have identified an issue that was bug fixed in maintenance release 7.5.0.5.

As maintenance releases contain fixes for known issues identified in release updates and do not contain any new features or enhancements to NetBackup, are the maintenance releases available for download if support has expired on the 7.5 license?

Thanks in advance for confirmation.

[RiaanBadenhorst]

They are still avialable

Go to

https://www.veritas.com/content/support/en_US.html?q=*&fq=(document_type%3A%22Downloads%22)&browse=t...

and look for 7.5.0.5

[SteveB2006]

Thank you for your response.

One of the main questions is that the support subscription for the 7.5 licenses were not renewed, so they are now expired.  However as this is a maintenance / bug fix release and not introducting any new functionality, would I still be licensed to install 7.5.0.5 maintenance release ?

[RiaanBadenhorst]

Hi,

Yes, you can install the MP. Having support provides access to Veritas support as well as NEW software releases e.g 8.1.

You're free to download the patch and install it.

[Lowell_Palecek]

Why get 7.5.0.5 rather than go to 7.5.0.7 and get all the fixes available? As a bonus, you would get support for Windows 2012 clients and Exchange 2013 (non GRT).

[SteveB2006]

Thank you for your advise, makes sense.  However the first challenege I need to resolve is I am receiving conflicting information about the license entitlement from our supplier / distributor. 

Due to the support and maintenance subscription being expired prior to the release of 7.5.0.5 and above, they have advised that we are not licensed to install any Netbackup Maintenance releases, so we are stuck on 7.5.0.4 at present.

I am unable to find any license agreement or documentation from Veritas that confirms either way.

thanks for your response.

[Marianne]

@SteveB2006

If you have purchased NetBackup perpetual license, then those licenses do not expire. They are 'permanent'. 
You own the license. You are entitled to download and install maintenance packs that are publicly available.

The fact that you have not renewed maintenance means that you are not entitled to Support from Veritas and that you cannot download any newer 'Full version' software.
(Since version 7.6,  Veritas no longer release maintenance packs - only full versions. I guess because they want to encourage users to keep maintenance up to date.) 

Even if your maintenance was up to date, you would need to upgrade to current supported NBU version, as all support for versions up to 7.6.x ended more than a year ago. 

Not having support (valid maintenance) and running an EOSL version means you are 'on your own' when issues arise.