Release Notes 5.1.0 Apollon V2

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Information sign.png Note

You always have to update the SEP sesam Server first before updating the RDS and client components. For more information on the SEP sesam software updates, see Updating SEP sesam.


What's new in 5.1.0 Apollon V2

SEP sesam SAP IQ integration

SEP sesam now offers support for SAP IQ database environments. The SAP IQ integration is using the external isql utility to perform SAP IQ backups and restores. Supported backup types are FULL (a complete copy of the database), DIFF (all changes to the database since the last full backup, also called INCREMENTAL-SINCE-FULL) and INCR (all transactions since the last backup of any type).

VMware Backup Using Hardware Snapshots

SEP sesam provides the capability to perform efficient and fast backups of virtual environmensts using hardware snapshots. Hardware snapshots capture the precise state of a VM's virtual disks at a specific point in time, ensuring a consistent view of the VM's virtual disks during the backup process. SEP sesam utilizes hardware snapshot capabilities offered by the underlying storage systems such as HPE Nimble Storage, Pure Storage, Huawei OceanStor or other SAN storage systems.

PostgreSQL INCR Backup

The Sesam PostgreSQL module now supports DIFF/INCR backups. These backups involve file-level backup of both the PostgreSQL database data files and the PostgreSQL Write Ahead Log (WAL) files. However, it's important to note that backup and restore operations can only be performed for complete database instances. Single database backup or restore is not supported.

Configuring data migration

Apollon V2 brings changes to data migration. The option Number of copies now determines the number of saveset copies in a single destination media pool, rather than the overall number of copies across all media pools. To have multiple copies of backed-up data across different media pools, configure separate migration tasks. For each task, set the Number of copies to 1 to ensure a single copy is created in each destination pool.

Information sign.png Note
It's essential to review existing migration tasks. If the Number of copies is set to a value other than 0 or 1, adjust it to 1 to prevent multiple copies of the same data in one media pool.
Follow-up event and migration task for external backups on SAP HANA and Oracle

SEP sesam offers new parameters that can be used to configure migration task and follow-up event for external backups on SAP HANA and Oracle. Migration task can be specified with parameter SESAM_MIGRATION_TASK, and a follow-up event with parameter SESAM_FOLLOW_EVENT. In addition, SESAM_TASKEVENT parameter can be used to call a preconfigured backup event, which enables specifying a migration task, follow-up event, and failover backup event, in addition to the general settings and parameters for the backup. This enables you to manage and maintain the backup settings and related subsequent actions in one location.

Enhanced notify and alarm interfaces

SEP sesam offers enhanced notify and alarm interfaces to include email notifications for the status of executed command events. You will receive timely notifications regarding the status of essential operations such as backups, restores, commands, migrations, media initializations, and the initiation and completion of NEWDAY events.

Improvements in 5.1.0 Apollon V2

  • Perform consecutive SEP sesam self-backups of SESAM_BACKUP task for disaster recovery purposes with level DIFF instead of INCR. This enables recovery of SEP sesam Server from two backups. Essential files, like *.ini, are saved during DIFF backup, ensuring faster and more reliable recovery process.
  • Many updates and improvements to S3 storage backend.
  • The new LIS file format (introduced in Apollon) is now implemented for most backup types. LIS files store extended information about the unique files in a backup, and significantly improve restore speed for restores using mount capabilities.
  • Log handling and cleanup is improved. Old SMS/STPD logfiles are purged recursively from RDS, on SEP sesam Server old migration logs, migration DB entries, and media logs are being deleted.
  • Newly created custom SEP sesam scripts, such as sm_notify/alarm and sbc_pre/post, are now stored in the /var/opt/sesam/var/bin directory with read-write access. This directory has been added to the PATH variable in the SEP sesam profile as gv_rw_bin. When a script is called, SEP sesam will first check the gv_rw_bin directory. If it is empty, it will then check the previous gv_ro_bin directory.

CLI:

  • When configuring a new datastore, the running operations of the existing datastores are no longer terminated. A new datastore can be added without re-initializing all drive queues.
  • Clients can be exported with full data on credentials, on import the credentials will be recreated.
  • A command can be renamed using sm_cmd rename command <old name> <new name>
  • For data stores the option -o (for command sm_config_drive) changed from boolean to a number:
   -o 0: do not start sm_config_drives at all
   -o 1: start sm_config_drives <dn> CREATE-DS
   -o 2: start sm_config_drives <dn>
   -o 3: start sm_config_drives
  • When removing a data store, a new option -F <n> is available to remove the data store metadata only (-F 0) or the data store metadata and data files (-F 1). Note that -F 1 is the default setting and the data store is removed with all metadata and data files by default.
  • When adding or modifying a data store, the data store options can be now set using -A "<options>".
  • When adding a new data store, two drives are created with the data store by default. The parameter -D 0 prevents creating the second drive.
  • When starting a restore, the required backup level can be specified for the restore command sm_cmd restore -j <task name> -y C. In addition, the saveset ID of a migrated backup can be specified sm_cmd restore -s <saveset ID of migrated backup>.
  • A schedule can be renamed using sm_cmd rename schedule <old name> <new name>.
  • Logs can be uploaded directly to the SEP Customer Experience server using command sm_cmd upload log.

Web Restore Assistant:

  • The option to perform single file restore and mount the VM is avaialble in simple mode.
  • File lists and other tables can be sorted.
  • Restore logging was improved and the log file contains information for restores started from started by GUI, Web Restore Assistant or CLI.

Web UI:

* Generic reports are available and can be customized to meet your specific requirements. They provide insights into the latest run of backup tasks within a specified time period.
  • HTTPS protocol is used for communication with the REST-Server.
  • A new page displaying savesets by datastore is available and can be accessed in Data Stores view (Infrastructure -> Data Stores) or data store details window.
  • Savesets can be deleted. The option is avalable in the context menu in Data Stores view (Infrastructure -> Data Stores) and in backup details window.
  • Backups can be migrated. The option is available in the context menu or from savesets bubble in Backups view (Monitoring -> Backups) and in backup details window.
  • Immediate start option is available for Schedules in the context menu in Schedules view (Backup Strategy -> Schedules) and in schedule details window.
  • Commands can be created and managed in the Command Task view (Infrastructure -> Data Stores)
  • System settings can be created and managed in the System Settings view (System Configuration -> System Settings).
  • Running backups, migrations, replications, restores and commands can be cancelled in the context menu or from timeline in Active Jobs view (Monitoring -> Active Jobs -> Timeline tab) and in result details window.
  • Many other improvements to layout and navigation to enhance the user experience.


Information sign.png Note
SEP sesam Apollon V2 is the last version to include support for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 (SLES12) and Debian 10. With the next release, the support for these operating systems will be discontinued.

New supported systems and integrations

Ubuntu 23.10
SEP sesam Server 5.1.0 Apollon V2 supports Ubuntu 23.10 distribution.
VDDK 8
SEP sesam 5.1.0 Apollon V2 supports VDDK 8 and it is included in SEP sesam for Windows. On Linux, manual update is required. VDDK 8 is compatible with VMware vSphere version 6.7 or higher.
With VDDK 8, a data mover running RHEL 9 is also supported by VMware.
SAP IQ 16.x
SEP sesam Server 5.1.0 Apollon V2 supports SAP IQ 16.x. Support is provided by the libsepsybasebr library, which is based on the library for SAP ASE.
Huawei OceanStor NDMP
SEP sesam Server 5.1.0 Apollon V2 supports Huawei OceanStor NDMP storage integration.

For a complete list of supported OS and databases, see SEP sesam Support Matrix.

Fixes: SEP sesam Server 5.1.0 Apollon V2

Fixed with 5.1.0.14 Apollon V2:
SEP sesam v. 5.1.0.5 - (#32464) Problems with deleting migrated savesets in SEP sesam GUI
The new function for deleting savesets in the SEP sesam GUI has difficulties when handling deletion of migrated savesets. The following problem may be encountered when attempting to delete such savesets:
  • Multiple savesets get selected for deletion: If a saveset has been migrated multiple times to the same media pool, deleting such saveset will select all savesets present on that media pool for deletion.
Workaround: It is strictly recommended to carefully review the list of savesets selected for deletion and ensure that only the intended savesets are chosen for removal. If the list includes savesets that should not be deleted, it is advised not to execute the deletion action.
Resolution: In Apollon V2 the option Number of copies now determines how many times savesets are migrated to the same media pool. To prevent redundant copies in the destination media pool and avoid issues with storage management and deletion, set this option to 1.

Known issues and limitations

Information sign.png Note
Antivirus programs may disrupt network communication and cause SEP sesam processes, such as backup and replication, to fail. One program that is known to cause SEP sesam processes to terminate is Sophos Firewall with IPS (Intrusion Prevention System) enabled. Make sure that there are no antivirus, firewall, IDS or IPS programs preventing interaction with SEP sesam.
5.1.0.x Apollon V2 known issues:

Severity: MAJOR

SEP sesam v. 5.1.0.13 - (#32690) Hyper-V DIFF/INCR mount issue with dynamic disks
On Hyper-V, mounting dynamic disks does not work for RCT incremental and differential backups. In the current version, mounting incremental and differential backups is only possible for fixed disks. The backup process can accurately identify and track data blocks that have been modified since the last backup on dynamic disks. However, dynamic disks cannot be mounted using an incremental and differential backup.
Solution: SEP is working on this issue and plans to provide a solution with the next release.

Severity: NORMAL

SEP sesam v. 5.1.0.14 - (#33210) Excessive logging causing replication performance issues on Si3NG
Replication v2 between Si3NG datastores, may lead to issues on the destination RDS, such as decreased replication performance, excessive disk space consumption at <SESAM_VAR>/log/sms, and potential automatic shutdown of the Si3NG service during replication processes.
The issue is caused by a missing entry in the configuration file sm_sdslog2.xml on the destination RDS. This file is located at <sesam-var>/ini and <sesam-root>/skel/templates. The entry that is missing is
<logger name="akka.http.impl.engine.client.PoolId" level="INFO" additivity="true" />.
Workaround: To resolve this issue, manually add the missing entry in both sm_sdslog2.xml files on the destination RDS. Search for the entry akka.http.impl.engine.client.PoolGateway and below it, insert the line
<logger name="akka.http.impl.engine.client.PoolId" level="INFO" additivity="true" />
Solution: SEP is working on this issue and plans to provide a solution with the next release. Note that on SEP Immutable Storage (SiS), the fix must be applied manually because SiS installations are protected against host access.
SEP sesam v. 5.1.0.14 - (#33184) Single file restore on Windows does not work
Single file restore using VM mount on Windows, including Hyper-V, Citrix, and Nutanix platforms, is not functioning correctly. After the mount process is completed, browsing of the drive paths is not possible. This issue does not affect vSphere environments.
Solution: SEP is working on this issue and plans to provide a solution with the next release.
SEP sesam v. 5.1.0.14 - (#32451) On Debian, the installation of SEP sesam Server fails
SEP sesam Server may fail to install on Debian 11 Bullseye and Debian 12 Bookworm versions due to an issue with the package ca-certificates-java, which is a dependency of openjdk. This issue is caused by a Debian bug, where Debian package manager (apt) sometimes fails to sort the package dependencies correctly. This occurs more frequently since the release of the new openjdk-17 package. For more information on Debian issue, see
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1030129.
Workaround: To proceed with the installation of SEP sesam, you can either temporarily disable security repositories or install the openjdk headless package. Alternatively, you can wait for Debian to release a fix, which is already in progress.
SEP sesam v. 5.1.0.13 - (#33119) The Time Frame option in CLI is ignored
In CLI, the Time Frame option to stop a running task is not working as intended. The -Z [param] option in the CLI is intended to set a time frame after which a task, if it is still running, should be canceled. Currently, the running task is not cancelled after the specified time as expected.
Workaround: If a task continues to run beyond the specified duration, it can be cancelled manually.
SEP sesam v. 5.1.0.7 - (#32785) Failed backup of vSphere VM with configured vTPM
When attempting to back up a virtual machine (VM) with a configured virtual Trusted Platform Module (vTPM), the backup process may fail. This is caused by the specific VM configuration involving a vTPM, which prevents successful export of the VM's Open Virtualization Format (OVF). SEP sesam can successfully perform backup of such VMs only when they are in offline mode (powered off).
Workaround: If the virtual TPM is not actively used by the guest operating system or for encrypting the entire virtual machine, consider removing or disabling the vTPM from the VM configuration in vSphere Management console.
SEP sesam v. 5.1.0.5 - (#32419) Unable to install BSR Pro using MSI installer during a SEP sesam update
If BSR Pro was not previously installed on the client and the option to install it during the update process is selected, the update process fails with an error. During a SEP sesam update, when attempting to install BSR Pro using the MSI installer, the installer tries to uninstall BSR Pro, resulting in an error since BSR Pro is not present on the system. As a result, the update process is aborted.
Workaround: Uninstall the Windows SEP sesam Client and then reinstall the latest version of the SEP sesam Client, with the BSR Pro option selected during the installation process.
SEP sesam v. 5.1.0.5 - (#32381) PostgreSQL startup failure after changing SEP sesam service user (Windows only)
By default, the SEP sesam service starts under the SYSTEM user account. At installation, postgreSQL database is set to start under this account. However, if the user name of the SEP sesam service is changed from SYSTEM (for example, to Administrator) after installation, PostgreSQL encounters startup issues and fails to start.
Changing the user name of the SEP sesam service affects the ownership and permissions of the PostgreSQL data directory, typically the db_pg folder. As a result, PostgreSQL is unable to access the necessary files and resources, causing failure to start up.
Solution: You can revert to the previous SEP sesam service account (SYSTEM), or change the ownership and permissions of the PostgreSQL data directory (db_pg folder) to the used SEP sesam service account user. In this case make sure you change ownership and permissions for subfolders and files as well (use Windows Explorer option Replace owner on subcontainers and objects). PostgreSQL regains the necessary access rights, enabling it to start successfully. Note that this workaround modifies the folder's ownership and permissions, so make sure that the used user account has appropriate privileges for managing the SEP sesam database.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.x – BSR Pro fails to update during silent SEP sesam update
BSR Pro is not updated when you update a SEP sesam Server, RDS or Client component including BSR in silent mode, e.g. via the powershell command line.
BSR Pro is installed with own MSI installer and cannot be included automatically in a chained installation. During a manual update using the installer EXE, or during the remote update installation via the SEP sesam GUI (sm_update_client) BSR Pro will be updated normally. During the silent installation the update of BSR Pro is not performed.
Workaround: Start a regular GUI-based update or use the SEP sesam GUI (sm_update_client), which includes updated version of BSR Pro.

Severity: MINOR

SEP sesam v. 5.1.0.14 - (#33198) SEP sesam Server requires client certificate for SSL handshake (Windows only)
In certain scenarios, a request for a client certificate is issued when attempting to connect to the REST server. In Chrome and Firefox browsers a dialog box opens, requesting a client certificate for authentication. However, after selecting and confirming a certificate, connection to the server may be rejected with an error message stating that the site cannot provide a secure connection.
Workaround: When prompted to select the client certificate, click Cancel. This allows the connection to the WebUI without any further issues.
Solution: SEP is working on this issue and plans to provide a solution with the next release.

Discontinued systems

Information sign.png Note
With Apollon release SEP sesam no longer supports Java JRE 1.8 release. During SEP sesam Server update, Java update to version 11 or higher is enforced. On RDS component, you have to upgrade Java to version 11 or higher manually.

If you are using Si3 or Si3-NG deduplication store, which require Java, update the Java version before updating the RDS component, otherwise Si3 might not start.

In SEP sesam Apollon V2 the following OS versions are no longer supported:

  • RHEL 7
  • Debian 9 (Stretch)
  • Windows 2012 R2

Note that for SEP sesam Server installations on SuSe distributions the following applies:

  • for SLES12 Service Pack 5 is required
  • for SLES15 Service Pack 4 or higher is required

You can continue using the last available version of SEP sesam on these operating systems, but SEP AG no longer provides updates or fixes for the specified versions.

For SEP sesam Client versions, backward compatibility is maintained and the last available versions for a platform are continuously supported. On older platforms you can use older versions of SEP sesam Client component, but it is recommended to combine such clients with the latest versions of SEP sesam Server and RDS components.

For details on discontinued systems, see Unsupported OS. For a complete list of supported SEP sesam Clients, see SEP sesam Support Matrix.

End of maintenance and support

Obsolete SEP sesam Server versions

The following versions of SEP sesam are no longer supported:

For the list of all SEP sesam versions see SEP sesam Release Versions.

Change reports

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