Release Notes 4.4.3 Tigon

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This is not the latest version of SEP sesam documentation and, as such, does not provide information on features introduced in the latest release. For more information on SEP sesam releases, see SEP sesam Release Versions. For the latest documentation, check latest Release Notes.


What's new in SEP sesam v. 4.4.3 Tigon

SEP sesam new release, a hybrid Tigon, brings a fistful of features that may help improve protecting data in your environment and ease administrative tasks.

Version 4.4.3 Tigon introduces new KVM-related backup extension that is already a part of a SEP sesam Tigon client. It provides efficient data protection for libvirt-based KVM virtualization.

A new extension is included for online backup of SAP ASE based on Sybase database.

SEP sesam supports automatic backup for newly added VMware virtual machines (VMs).

Windows Server 2016 is fully supported with a new version of the disaster recovery solution SEP sesam BSR Pro 2.0 for Windows.

SSL certificates are used to enhance security and help strengthen data protection by providing a secure connection for data transfer to and from SEP sesam Remote Device Server (RDS).

Si3 encryption can be defined on the Si3 deduplication store level. The Si3 deduplication store can now be used for initial seeding.

SEP sesam NDMP now supports single file restore from dump backups with selective restore and allows to exclude certain files from backups.

RHV VM restore introduces VM reduction by creating a thin-provisioned disk file.

GUI enhancements enable you to set database-based authentication, set NEWDAY option which prevents the NEWDAY event from cancelling running backups, and set the default data size units.

If SEP sesam Server is running, the REST API can be accessed via the base URL: http://<host>:<port>/sep/api/. For details, see Using SEP sesam REST API.

SEP sesam Server requirements

Java 8 (at least patch level 111)
SEP sesam Tigon v. 2 requires Java version equal to or higher than JRE 8u111 (≥ JRE 1.8.0_111). regardless of the operating system. Previous Tigon versions also require Java 8 for Windows Server and GUI, but not for other OS. For details, see Java Compatibility Matrix.
JavaFX
JavaFX is required for the web dashboard and user-defined schedules features. The dashboard can also be viewed in GUI, but only if JavaFX is present on the respective GUI client. If JavaFX is not available, the web dashboard can only be accessed by browser (http://[servername]:11401/sep/ui).
Note
Oracle®'s Java 8 already includes JavaFX (e.g., on Windows). Oracle®'s OpenJFX Project provides JavaFX packages that can be installed separately if some other Java version is used, such as IBM Java, which is typically installed on SuSE. Depending on your system and Java version, manually install either OpenJFX package or Oracle®'s Java 8 on your SEP sesam GUI client to have all the latest features available.
64-bit or PowerPC (PPC) architecture required
SEP sesam Server requires an operating system running on 64-bit or a PowerPC (PPC) architecture. PowerPC (PPC) is supported for several Linux distributions, see SEP sesam Support Matrix.

For details, see SEP sesam Support Matrix and SEP sesam Server hardware requirements.

Installation and upgrades

SEP sesam 4.4.3 Tigon was released on June 26st, 2017. Direct upgrade for versions 3.6/4.x to version 4.4.3 Tigon is supported.

Latest released versions are:

  • SEP sesam 4.4.3.42 Linux – released: August 10th, 2017.
  • SEP sesam 4.4.3.42 Windows – released: August 10th, 2017.
Windows specific

The 4.4.3 Tigon installation package on Windows also includes:

  • VMware® Virtual Disk Development Kit (VDDK) version 6.5 for Windows.
  • Callback File System® (CBFS®) version 6.1.181 from EldoS Corporation, used to create virtual file systems and disks for save sets which are stored on SEP sesam local data store or Si3 deduplication store.
Note
A CBFS driver is needed for the virtual file system layer (Cross Platform Recovery File System – XPRFS). The installation/update of this driver requires a reboot of your newly installed or updated Windows SEP sesam Server unless this driver is already installed with a previous SEP sesam 4.4.3 installation.

SEP sesam Server and Client components should be upgraded to the latest version during the upgrade process. This ensures that SEP sesam Clients are fully protected. Customers with a valid license are eligible for a free upgrade of SEP sesam to any new release for the duration of the license. See also Automatic Updates and Automatic Installation on Windows.

Previous release

Known issues and limitations

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.
4.4.3 Tigon known issues:
SEP sesam v. 4.4.3-4.4.3.84 – Si3S does not work in case of changed STPD port on the Client
  • SEP Si3 source-side deduplication (Si3S) backup of a client to a SEP Si3 deduplication store not work, if the STPD service TCP port on the client side (client properties -> Options tab -> STPD options) is changed from the default port.
Workaround: Make sure that you use the default STPD TCP port on the client side. For details, see List of Ports Used by SEP sesam.
SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.42 – (Windows) A data block is not written to tape when EOM is reached together with the segment size, thus making a restore of data referencing this block impossible
  • (Applies only to Windows) When backing up to tape, a data block is not written to tape when the segment size is reached at EOM, therefore a restore of data referencing this block is not possible. While a Path Archive can still be restored until EOM is reached, a complete restore or migration will fail.
Resolution: Fixed with the patch for Beefalo V2, contact SEP sesam support at support@sep.de for assistance.
Note
The below known issues in Tigon versions 4.4.3.42/.43/.45 are fixed with 4.4.3 Tigon V2.
SEP sesam version ≥ 4.4.3.42 – SEP sesam backup for hypervisors (VMware, Hyper-V, Citrix XEN, KVM, OpenNebula) cannot back up the data on the independent disks or Raw Device Mapping (RDM) disks
  • When backing up via hypervisor and using external disk, SEP sesam cannot back up the data on the independent or RDM disks, because hypervisors are not able to back up such devices. The data of such disks is silently skipped from backup, hence the backup saveset contains no data for the independent or RDM disks while the backup succeeds and no warning about the missing data is issued. If a restore of a VM with independent/RDM disk is performed to the original VM by using the option overwrite, the independent/RDM disk is re-created and all existing data on the restore target is lost.
Workaround: To back up virtual machines that contain independent disks and RDMs, you have to install the SEP sesam Client in the virtual machine and perform an additional file or application backup to back up this data.
SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.45 – Hyper-V backup of several VMs silently skips some VMs
  • While trying to backup multiple virtual machines, only the last VM is backed up. The other VMs are skipped. This happens because SEP sesam erroneously backs up only the last VM in the source list.
Resolve: Fixed with SEP sesam Server update to 4.4.3.48 Tigon V2
  • After updating SEP sesam Server from v. 4.4.3.25 to 4.4.3.42, the GUI (sm_ui.jar) on SEP sesam Clients becomes outdated and cannot work together with the new SEP sesam Server GUI. This happens because SEP sesam Clients and SEP sesam Server can only work with the same GUI version.
Resolve: You have to update the GUI on the corresponding clients by using the new GUI package or by manually copying the sm_ui.jar file from SEP sesam Server into <SESAM_BIN>/bin/gui folder on SEP sesam Clients. For details, see Updating SEP sesam GUI.
Resolve: Fixed with SEP sesam Server update to 4.4.3.48 Tigon V2
SEP sesam ≤ 4.4.3.45 – Migration ignores client defined by migration schedule/event
  • In SEP sesam versions equal to or lesser than 4.4.3.45, if you select a client as a migration source in the schedule/event rather than in migration task, the data is not migrated because SEP sesam erroneously ignores the client.
Workaround: To select a client as a migration source, specify the client when creating a migration task: Main Selection -> Tasks -> Migration tasks. For details, see Creating a migration task.
Resolve: Fixed with SEP sesam Server update to 4.4.3.48 Tigon V2
SEP sesam Lotus Notes Linux sbc < 4.4.3.45 – Exclude pattern with leading \. does not work
  • In SEP sesam versions lesser than 4.4.3.45, the exclude list, defined on Linux/UNIX in a Lotus Notes backup task, does not work if specified with \..
Workaround: For SEP sesam versions < 4.4.3.45, specify the exclude list for Notes without the preceding backslash and a dot, e.g., use /srv/notesdata/help$ instead of \./srv/notesdata/help$'.
SEP sesam sbc Windows from 4.4.3 to 4.4.3.42 – A UNC path backup silently excludes files without file extension
  • As of SEP sesam v. 4.4.3, if the backup source of the UNC path backup is set at the top level to //server/share, e.g., //myserver/users, files without file extension are silently excluded from backup. Even though no exclude is defined, they are excluded because the source //server/share is extended with wildcard *.*, which is checked for regular files as of sbc Windows 4.4.3. This issue only occurs if the source is set at the top level; if the source is defined at the lower level, e.g., //myserver/users/anonymus, all files are backed up normally.
Workaround: When backing up a network share and your source is set at the top level, use the wildcard * to process all regular files: //server/share/*; e.g., //myserver/users/*. SEP support is working on this issue and will provide an sbc patch as soon as possible.
Resolve: Fixed with a hotfix available for x64 and x86 Windows versions under https://download.sep.de/servicepacks/4.4.3_Tigon/4.4.3.39/hotfix/ with description: A UNC path backup silently excludes files without file extension (includes previous 4.4.3.39 patches).
Linux
SEP sesam unable to start necessary amount of processes since Systemd 228:
Resolve: Resolved with entry TasksMax set to infinity in configuration file /lib/systemd/system/sepsesam.service.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.42 – Starting Si3 deduplication server fails
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.42, starting Si3 deduplication server fails with the following error: Starting dedup sever fails with java.lang.VerifyError: Uninitialized object exists on backward branch 209.
Resolve: This issue occurs if the installed Java version is not supported. SEP sesam requests a Java version equal to or higher than JRE 8u111 (≥ JRE 1.8.0_111). For details, see Java Compatibility Matrix.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.42 – Windows
IBM Domino Server aborts when starting INCR backup but 'ARCHIVE' logging style is not enabled:
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.42, when running IBM Domino INCR backup but 'ARCHIVE' logging style is not enabled then the Domino Server aborts.
Resolve: Call NotesTerm() in that case. Hotfix for SEP sesam clients or servers, available at https://download.sep.de/servicepacks/4.4.3_Tigon/4.4.3.39/hotfix/sbc_lotus_notes_fe36fab_x64_win-4.4.3.39.exe.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39/.42 MaxDB backup fails
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.39/.42 MaxDB/SapDB backup ends with ssb-error.
Resolve: Fixed with a hotfix, available at https://download.sep.de/servicepacks/4.4.3_Tigon/4.4.3.39/hotfix/ssb_33d5536_x64_win-4.4.3.39.exe.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39/.42 - Setting the Client filter in 'All Results' throws Java Lang NPE
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.39/.42 - Setting the Client filter to a specific name in the status view 'All Results' aborts the GUI with a Java Lang Null Pointer Exception.
Workaround: Do not use the Client filter in status view 'All Results'.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39/.42 - Changing the default interface in a drive group restarts the drives
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.39/.42 - Changing the default interface in a drive group restarts the drive configuration for all drives connected to same Server or RDS.
Workaround: Do not change the default interface of a drive group unless all drives are idle.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39/.42 – Log files in SMS directory grow too large
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.39, the sm_dedup_fsck log file in the <SESAM_VAR>/var/log/sms is growing too fast and is too large. This can cause performance issues and consume valuable disk space.
Workaround: There are two possible solutions:
  1. Stop SEP sesam and delete all files from the <SESAM_VAR>/var/log/sms.
  2. To prevent the logs to become that big in the future, edit the file \var\ini\sm_sdslog.xml. Go to the section
<appender name="FSCK" class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.RollingFileAppender">
    <file>${gv_rw_stpd}/sm_dedup_fsck-${drive_num}.log</file>
    <rollingPolicy class="ch.qos.logback.core.rolling.TimeBasedRollingPolicy">
      <fileNamePattern>${gv_rw_stpd}/sm_dedup_fsck-${drive_num}_%d{yyyy-MM-dd}-%i.log</fileNamePattern> 
and change .log to log.gz at the end of the last line:
     <fileNamePattern>${gv_rw_stpd}/sm_dedup_fsck-${drive_num}_%d{yyyy-MM-dd}-%i.log.gz</fileNamePattern>
SEP support is working on this issue and will provide a fix as soon as possible.
Fixed with SEP sesam Server version 4.4.3.42 Tigon:
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39 – Microsoft SQL Server backup with source '{instance}/{database}' fails
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.39, you cannot use backup sources with '{instance}/{database}' for Microsoft SQL Server backup tasks; backup with exclude file fails with error: Could not find DB with <...> name.
Workaround: Use backup source 'all'.
Resolve: Fixed with a hotfix for SEP sesam clients or servers, available at https://download.sep.de/servicepacks/4.4.3_Tigon/4.4.3.39/hotfix/sbc_45bd78f_x64_win-4.4.3.39.exe.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39 – VSS Hyper-V backup fails
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.39, VSS Hyper-V backup fails with error: Virtual machine is located on CSV and non-CSV volumes.
Resolve: Fixed with a hotfix, available at https://download.sep.de/servicepacks/4.4.3_Tigon/4.4.3.39/hotfix/.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39 – IBM Domino differential backup fails
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.39, when running IBM Domino backup and a database is not accessible, the following error occurs: File is not a database; consequently, backup fails.
Resolve: Handling of NotesTerm() and NotesInit() is improved with a hotfix for SEP sesam clients or servers, available at https://download.sep.de/servicepacks/4.4.3_Tigon/4.4.3.39/hotfix/sbc_lotus_notes_fe36fab_x64_win-4.4.3.39.exe.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39 – Tape encryption is set, but no longer recognized
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.39, if media property of an encrypted tape was modified in GUI, SEP sesam incorrectly interprets its encryption flags; consequently, the encryption is no longer recognized.
Resolve: SEP support is working on this issue and will provide a fix as soon as possible.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39 – Restore fails when selected saveset contains umlauts or Unicode characters
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.39, when a selected saveset for restore contains umlauts or Unicode characters, GUI cannot find matching LIS line because UTF-8 character encoding was not preserved. Consequently, restore fails.
Resolve: Fixed with a hotfix. You can download the sm_ui.jar from https://download.sep.de/servicepacks/4.4.3_Tigon/4.4.3.39/hotfix/gui/sm_ui.jar into <SESAM_BIN>/bin/gui folder on SEP sesam Server. Then restart the SEP sesam UI server by running sm_main reload rmi.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39 – Selective restore becomes full in case of a vSphere Server client
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.39, GUI starts selective restore of a single file as full if the target client is a vSphere Server.
Resolve: Download sm_ui.jar (GUI patch for v. 4.4.3), available at https://download.sep.de/servicepacks/4.4.3_Tigon/4.4.3.39/hotfix/.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39 – Saveset EOL is automatically adjusted and may result in over-increased EOL
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.39, a Saveset EOL is automatically adjusted for:
    • DIFF/INCR backups and migrations, when a saveset belonging to a FDI chain has too short EOL; if such a saveset is missing in the target pool, then any consecutive DIFF/INCR backup or migration that is running on a pool with longer EOL will increase the EOL of the saveset from the respective pool.
    • Failed backups and migrations; this results in extended EOL of the previous successful backup, either a COPY backup or complete FDI chain.
  • In such cases, the EOL of a saveset stored on another pool is automatically extended. In the case of migration of DIFF/INCR savesets (when a saveset belonging to the FDI chain is missing in the migration pool), this may lead to excessive EOL prolongation for savesets that originally have a very short EOL. For example, because DIFF/INCR migration detects that a saveset belonging to the FDI backup chain is missing in the migration media pool, the EOL of the saveset in the original pool is automatically extended, e.g., DAY (EOL: 5) to EOL of YEAR (EOL: 375).
Resolve: Fixed with a hotfix, available at https://download.sep.de/servicepacks/4.4.3_Tigon/4.4.3.39/hotfix/. It prevents automatic EOL adjustment in the case of DIFF/INCR savesets migration. In other two cases (DIFF/INCR backups and failed backups and migrations), the automatic EOL adjustment works as expected and cannot be switched off; for details, see Managing EOL.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39 – VSS Hyper-V restore fails
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.39, Hyper-V restore fails with error: Call Detect() is failed for file descriptor.
Resolve: Fixed with a hotfix, available at https://download.sep.de/servicepacks/4.4.3_Tigon/4.4.3.39/hotfix/.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39 – Hyper-V restore does not support target volume different than source volume
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.39, you can only restore Hyper-V VM to the same target volume as the source volume.
Workaround: Restore a VM to the original location as described in Hyper-V Restore. SEP support is working on this issue and will provide a fix as soon as possible.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39 – the GUI on SEP sesam Linux Server does not allow to change media properties
  • In SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39, the GUI on Linux SEP sesam Server throws an exception when changing media properties.
Resolve: Fixed with a hotfix. You can download the sm_ui.jar from https://download.sep.de/servicepacks/4.4.3_Tigon/4.4.3.39/hotfix/gui/sm_ui.jar into <SESAM_BIN>/bin/gui folder on SEP sesam Server. Then restart the SEP sesam UI server by running sm_main reload rmi. SEP sesam Clients can be updated the next time they connect to the server. For automatic client updates, see Using sm_update_client for automatic updates.

Limitations

SEP sesam backup for hypervisors (VMware, Hyper-V, Citrix Xen, KVM, OpenNebula) cannot back up the data on external disks

The data of such disks is silently skipped from backup, hence the backup saveset contains no data for the external disk while the backup succeeds and no warning about the missing data is issued.

  • In case of VMware, SEP sesam cannot back up the data on the independent or Raw Device Mapping (RDM) disks due to a VMware limitation that does not support including independent/RDM disks in virtual machine snapshots. To have a successful backup, you should exclude the independent disks/RDMs from the backup task or install a SEP sesam Client in the virtual machine and perform an additional file or application backup to back up this data.
  • In case of other hypevisors (Hyper-V, Citrix Xen, KVM, OpenNebula), SEP sesam cannot back up the data on the RDM disks or on a VM without attached SCSI controller(s). To back these hypervisors, you have to add one or more SCSI controller to the virtual machine before performing a backup, even if there are no devices to use the SCSI, or you have to install a SEP sesam Client in the virtual machine and perform an additional file or application backup to back up this data.
Warning
If a restore of a VM with external disk is performed to the original VM by using the option overwrite, the disk is re-created and all existing data on the restore target is lost.

Enhancements and changes

New supported systems

SEP sesam Server 4.4.3 Tigon supports the following operating systems and applications:

Newly supported operating systems

Newly supported applications

  • vSphere 6.5
  • Hyper-V 2016

You can download SEP sesam from the SEP sesam download center. For a complete list of supported OS and databases, see SEP sesam Support Matrix.

libvirt-based KVM virtualization

New backup extension provides efficient data protection for libvirt-based KVM virtualization. It performs online backups of KVM/QEMU virtual machines using snapshot technology and provides a complete or configuration restore to the same or another target. For details, see KVM/QEMU Backup.

SAP ASE

New backup extension provides efficient data protection for SAP ASE. It performs online backups of SAP based on Sybase ASE databases using the Sybase SQL API. For details, see SAP ASE Configuration.

Automating backup of VMware virtual machines

Whenever a new vCenter or ESXi host is added and there are a lot of new VMs present, it is possible to automate VMs backup by including VMs to task groups and using the option Create VM tasks. For details, see Automating Backup of Virtual Machines.

SEP sesam BSR Pro 2.0 for Windows

New version BSR Pro 2.0 for Windows – Windows Server 2016 now fully supported – has a new user interface with improved operability, introduces command line function and live update, and has enhanced backup and imaging speed. For more details, see BSR Pro 2.0 – Disaster Recovery for Windows.

SSL secured communication

SEP sesam introduces SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protocol to authenticate identities, encrypt and securely transfer data. SSL requires certificates to authenticate clients and establish a secure and trusted communication channel between SBC (sesam backup client) and STPD. For details on configuration, see Configuring SSL Secured Communication for SEP sesam Backup Network.

Si3 encryption

SEP sesam provides encryption for Si3 deduplication store to help ensure compliance with data protection legislation. For details, see Encrypting Si3 Deduplication Store.

Seeding Si3 deduplication store

An Si3 deduplication store can now be used for initial seeding, typically to set up a new Si3 deduplication store for the purpose of replication. For details, see Seeding Si3 Deduplication Store.

NDMP single file restore

SEP sesam introduces selective restore for NDMP. It is now possible to restore single files from dump backups (files and directories are backed up to tape). For details, see NDMP Restore.

RHV VM reduction

During RHV restore, SEP sesam uses the dd utility to create a thin-provisioned (sparse) disk file, thus restoring only the actual size of the VMs. This reduction can be configured in the last step of the restore wizard by clicking Expert Options -> tab Options: Restore options -> enter the option: -a use_dd. For details, see Restoring RHEV Virtual Machines.

GUI enhancements

  • Database-based authentication can be enabled from GUI by activating authentication under the Permission Management. This is the only way to set the password for the Administrator user. For details, see Configuring Database-Based Authentication.
  • New option is introduced in the Schedule -> Parameter to prevent NEWDAY from cancelling running backups upon its start. For details, see NEWDAY Event.
  • GUI can be customized according to your needs – besides setting up different GUI layouts and filtering displayed contents, you can also change default data size units. For details, see Customizing GUI.

MSP license

The new Managed Service Provider license model is available. For more information, contact sales@sep.de.

End of maintenance and support

Obsolete SEP sesam Server version

No changes since SEP sesam version 4.4.3.

Unsupported SEP sesam Server OS

No changes since SEP sesam version 4.4.3.

Major fixes and changes

See also

SEP sesam Release Versions