5 1 0:About Installation and Update

Welcome to the latest SEP sesam documentation version 5.1.0 Apollon. For previous documentation version(s), check documentation archive.

Overview

Additional resources

Visit SEP sesam YouTube Channel for latest videos and webinars.

Check FAQ to find the answers to most common questions.

Problems? See the Troubleshooting Guide.

If you are using an older SEP sesam version, refer to Documentation archive.

SEP sesam hybrid backup is the ideal data backup solution for heterogeneous IT infrastructures. It supports an extensive portfolio of virtualization platforms, operating systems, databases, and applications as well as provides protection for cloud environments; for details, see SEP sesam OS and Database Support Matrix. SEP sesam software and extensions are available at SEP Download Center. SEP sesam software requires a license.

Licensing

SEP sesam requires a paid license after the trial period expires. SEP sesam provides various licenses and editions that you can combine according to your needs to implement optimized backup. Some features require additional licenses. For details, see Licensing.

Essential modules

The essential modules of each SEP sesam environment are: SEP sesam Server, SEP sesam GUI, SEP sesam Remote Device Server (RDS), and SEP sesam Client(s). Each module is installed separately. The SEP sesam environment is managed centrally by the SEP sesam GUI.

Additional modules/extensions

SEP sesam also provides additional modules and functionality that enable consistent backup of databases (Oracle, MS SQL, IBM DB2, Informix SAP R/3, etc.), applications (such as SAP), groupware systems, virtualization environments, and cloud-to-cloud backup. Some of these extensions are already part of a Client package, and some require a separate license in order to function. Check the SEP sesam OS and Database Support Matrix to learn what is supported on each of the platforms. For a list of all supported extensions and their configuration, see Extensions.

Installation requirements and procedure

Once you have determined how you want to set up your SEP sesam environment, you can install the required components. Make sure that the hardware and software requirements are met before configuring SEP sesam environment. For details, see SEP sesam Requirements.

The installation procedure depends on the platform on which you are installing a SEP sesam package:

Microsoft Windows Installation; once your SEP sesam Windows Server is already installed, you can remotely install any SEP sesam package (Client, RDS, etc.) to any Windows system. SEP sesam automatic installation is a Windows-only feature, for details see Remote Installation of Windows Clients.
Linux Installation
Mac OS X Installation

Note that when Si3 deduplication is used, Java is required on all systems that serve as SEP sesam Server, SEP sesam GUI client or SEP sesam Remote Device Server (RDS). For details, see Installing and Managing Java.

Component compatibility

SEP sesam Server and GUI client have to work with the same GUI. This means that whenever you update the SEP sesam Server, GUI update is required. SEP sesam prompts for GUI update when the server is updated.

Updates

After you have installed and configured your SEP sesam components according to your environment, SEP sesam provides free updates from previous to new versions and features of SEP sesam within the maintenance period. During this period, you can download bug fixes, patches, service packs, and the latest SEP sesam version(s) if you have a valid license.

Installing either Windows or Linux-specific distributions is pretty straightforward. For Linux systems, SEP provides special service pack executables that ease the installation of service packs and patches; see Applying Service Packs on Linux.
Updating SEP sesam extensions, e.g., BSR Pro for Windows, is done automatically during the SEP sesam update process.

	Tip
	SEP generally recommends upgrading the SEP sesam Server and Client components to the latest version during the regular upgrade process. For the complete list of releases, see SEP sesam release versions.

SEP may request that you install a particular update (i.e. fix, patch, or service pack) to resolve a specific problem. To get instantly notified about SEP sesam vulnerabilities and updates, click to subscribe to the SEP sesam RSS feed.

Updating methods and settings

There are a number of options available for updating SEP sesam software.

Install/Update options in GUI (available in newer version of SEP sesam – v. ≥ 4.4.3 Beefalo): You can set up your server to automatically check, download and install updates or decide to do it manually, you can update all clients within the location at once or select to update only OS-specific clients (Windows/Linux update), you can exclude a particular client from being updated, etc. For details, see Updating SEP sesam.

CLI command sm_update_client (available in newer version of SEP sesam – v. ≥ 4.4.3 Beefalo): You can perform all of the mentioned options above by using sm_update_client. The sm_update_client command implements all the features of the sm_update_client, as well as the previously used sm_remote_installer and sm_config_client commands that have been deprecated. For details, see Updating SEP sesam Using CLI.

	Note
	Updating SEP sesam is version-related hence some of the update options may not be available in earlier versions. If you are running a version ≤ 4.4.3 Grolar, see 4 4 3:Updating SEP sesam in earlier versions.

SEP sesam release cycle

Approximate release frequency of SEP sesam software is once a year for a major release, followed by a minor SEP sesam version which includes all preceding fixes and also introduces new features and functionality.

SEP sesam provides service pack executables that ease the installation of service packs and patches. Service packs are cumulative and contain all released bug fixes for the corresponding SEP sesam version. Download and installation of service packs are pretty straightforward on Windows and Linux; for the latter, SEP provides special service pack executables that ease the installation of service packs and patches, see Applying Service Packs on Linux.