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Proper and best practice upgrade proceedure?

RBall
Level 5
Can a tech or someone outline the best upgrade proceedure to go from v7.03 to v8.01?
 
Just plug in the BESRM CD on the manager to start? Upgrade the manager first? Should I uninstall and reinstall or will the upgrade work? Will previous 7.03 agents still function with the v8 manager? Should I remove the current backup sets and start fresh? Will reboots be required for the upgrades?  How do the new license keys plug in since the licensing portal won't send .slf files and support says they are no longer used?
 
I'd like some idea of what to expect before diving in...
 
/RB
11 REPLIES 11

RBall
Level 5
I'm opting to do a complete uninstall and fresh start over in the hopes it will minimize any potential issues. I need to get this done over my maintenance windows this weekend. Upgrading to v8 is supposed to address issues in 2 open cases.
 
Now, I try not to vent on forums but case in point, case 320-093-599 I opened with questions similar to what I posted here. About 2 hours after opening it I get a case update notice, when I take a look I find
"ACTION: Answered custoemr questions about BESR version 8 and upgrading to it."
 
I've had no phone call and no email (which I know works because I got the case updated noticed). I checked messages, my cell phone, my personal email... looking for any possible confusion that could have occured. I have not received any contact.  Almost an hour since the case was updated, still no contact.
 
/RB

RBall
Level 5
Symantec Support is now in the "Complain bitterly until they do something about it" category. It took them 6 months to get there and I've been as nice as I can be, but their system is broken, everyone but Symantec seems to know this. I did an off the cuff survey contacting several colleagues on LinkedIN to ask their opinion of Symantec Support... laughter was the most common response. 
 
That said... my case I opened this morning supposedly got a response at 11:30AM but I didn't receive a copy of the email until about 5:45.  I'll post it here so someone else might benefit from it, enjoy.  BTW, I never did get the batch file he talks about.
 
----

Should I uninstall v7 and install v8 fresh?

To be absolutely sure you get a clean install on the first try, yes, uninstall and run the attached batch file, then reboot before you proceed. The batch file was renamed to .TXT so it will pass the mail scanner.

If I upgrade running v8 will it require a reboot?

Every install needs a reboot.

I'm running the manager and agents. If I upgrade the manager first will it cause a problem with the previous 7.03 agents?

If there is an agent installed on the machine running the manager, you will have to remove the agent first before the manager will upgrade. After the new manager is in place you will need to redeploy a new Management Control so the agents will talk to the new Manager.

The new license keys are not .slf files, how will I be applying the new license serial numbers?I got of the phone with licensing portal case# 220-215-272 and was told I just plug in the licensing keys that BESR no longer uses slf files. I asked how it keep track of the proper count and she did not know.

Correct in that the new version 8 uses serial numbers, in line with the other BE products and has stopped using the SLF files. In the Manager you can import serial numbers AND license files (in case you are running a mixed-version environment). As for the mechanism to track licensing count, I can't answer that one either. I'm sure that if you exceed the count it'll bark at you, though.

How is the Exchange Retrieve option going to function now? Should I uninstall it first?

Exchange Retrieve got upgraded, too. The version 8 iteration is renamed to "Granular Restore Option", and you would need to uninstall BEER to put BESR-GRO in place. It will have its own license number as well. GRO now supports Sharepoint as well as Exchange.

When I upgrade the BESRM is it going to create downloadable install packages I can then distribute?

Yes, the new Manager has new EasyInstallers.

Should  I start with an empty backup destination? Or will it recognize the previous files and continue backing up?

No. Just point to it. We will see that there are backups there and give you access to them in the new product.

I'll hold onto the case until the end of the day in case you have other questions. I'd refer you to the version 8 user guides at the following links:

Core Manual: http://support.veritas.com/docs/297631
Mgr Manual: http://support.veritas.com/docs/297835
GRO Manual: http://support.veritas.com/docs/297834

Natezilla
Level 3
I just installed over 7.02, I did not install 7.03 since 8 was coming out.  But everything upgraded very nicley, without the need for uninstalling. The v8 install uninstalls the v7 automatically, the fortunate part was when I installed the manager piece, all of my machines and definitions were there.  The only thing that was deleted was my SMTP notifications, no big deal really.  Now there may be a problem with the Granular component though I haven't had time to mess with it.  I will post my findings.

Natezilla
Level 3
I just tested the Granular Restore Option, and it was sucessfull.  I just needed to be patient.  It takes 3-5 minutes to open the Recovery Point.  Then you can restore Mailbox, folder, individual email.  So far since I have installed v8 on it has worked great.  Good luck RBall, I hope you do not have the same issues you did with 7.

-Nate


Message Edited by Natezilla on 02-22-2008 09:42 PM

RBall
Level 5
Thanks for the post, your success gives me hope!
 
I have to plan carefully and apply upgrades or anything that requires reboot etc... into specific windows of opportunity. I don't have the luxury of just installing and see what happens, if it doesn't work reboot etc... On a few non-critical systems I was able to install the agents. The Backup server that runs the manager is non-critical and we can do without backups for a day.  I've setup my remaining systems to upgrade tonight.
 
My previous issues remain untested but my biggest issue with v8 appears to be instability of the manager connection to the agents and the slower speed at which they backup.  I'm running a very small sample on my non-critical servers so I hope to see more normal performance on the production servers.
 
/RB
 
 
 

Jill_Of_All_Tra
Level 3
Natezilla,
 
I too had success with the Granular Restore Option for Mailboxes, Folders and Individual Emails, but when i select the Second Storage Group to recover a public folders, i don't see any public folders. Have you or anyone had any success with recovering public folders? Is there some trick that i am not aware of
 
Any info anyone has it is appreciated.

Natezilla
Level 3
Jill,

No tricks I am aware of, only thing I can think of is if the second mail store was on another drive that was not being backed up.  I will look into this.

-Nate

Jill_Of_All_Tra
Level 3
Thanks for your response Nat.
 
The Public Folder Database and the Mailbox Database both live on the K drive, whereas the Logs for both drives are on the L drive and the OS is on C. We set up Exchange like this as it is recommended practice.
 
My backup job backs up C, K and L at the same time, so if both databases were not appearing then it would be obvious that the K drive isnt being backed up correctly but it is.
 
Any other thoughts are gratefully appreciated.
 

Natezilla
Level 3
This may be a silly question, but is your backup job set to backup all drives or individual drives?

Jill_Of_All_Tra
Level 3
My backup job backs up the three drives C, K, and L drive within the same job. Ie when creating the job i selected the three drives and specified a schedule for them.
 
So in answer to your question the job backs up all drives related to Exchange at once.
 
 

David_F
Level 6
Employee Accredited
Though you can often perform an in place upgrade over the top of a existing install of BESR, best practice would include running the SEAST.EXE utility to create a backup on log files but also ones history and jobs so in the event that you have to uninstall completely and install the new build these files can be replaced in hopes of not loosing the current backup schedule.