Veritas NetBackup™ Upgrade Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup (8.3.0.2, 8.3.0.1, 8.3)
  1. Introduction
    1.  
      About the NetBackup 8.3 Upgrade Guide
    2.  
      Available NetBackup upgrade methods
    3. About changes in NetBackup 8.3
      1.  
        Java GUI and JRE installation optional for some computers
      2.  
        Logging directory permissions require reset on rollback
      3.  
        Upgrades from NetBackup 7.6.0.4 and earlier are not supported
      4.  
        External certificate authority certificates supported in NetBackup 8.2 and later
    4.  
      About Veritas Smart Meter
    5.  
      Best practices for Veritas Smart Meter
  2. Planning for an upgrade
    1. General upgrade planning information
      1.  
        About planning a NetBackup 8.3 upgrade
      2.  
        How to plan for an upgrade to NetBackup 8.3
      3.  
        Known catalog backup limitation
      4.  
        About security certificates for NetBackup hosts
      5.  
        About automatic file changes from an upgrade
    2. About upgrade tools
      1.  
        About Veritas Services and Operations Readiness Tools
      2.  
        Recommended SORT procedures for upgrades
      3.  
        Recommended SORT procedures for new installations
      4.  
        About the NetBackup preinstall checker
    3. Upgrade operational notes and limitations
      1.  
        Creating the user account to support the NetBackup web server
      2.  
        About NetBackup 8.3 support for Fibre Transport Media Server with RHEL 7.5
      3.  
        MSDP changes in NetBackup 8.1
      4.  
        Potential required changes for NetApp clusters
      5.  
        Errors when Bare Metal Restore information is replicated using Auto Image Replication
      6.  
        Upgrade issue with pre-8.1 clients and 8.1 or later media servers
  3. Master server upgrade
    1.  
      About master server upgrades
    2.  
      Preinstall procedure for upgrading to NetBackup 8.3
    3.  
      Performing local, remote, or clustered server upgrades on Windows systems
    4.  
      Performing silent upgrades on Windows systems
    5.  
      Upgrading UNIX and Linux server software to NetBackup 8.3
    6.  
      Post-install procedure for upgrading to NetBackup 8.3
    7.  
      About NetBackup startup and shutdown scripts
    8.  
      Completing your system update after an upgrade
  4. Media server upgrade
    1.  
      Upgrading NetBackup media servers to NetBackup 8.3
    2.  
      Silently upgrading NetBackup media server software on UNIX and Linux
  5. MSDP upgrade for NetBackup
    1.  
      MSDP upgrade considerations for NetBackup 8.1
    2.  
      About MSDP rolling data conversion
    3.  
      About MSDP fingerprinting algorithm changes
  6. Client upgrade
    1.  
      About client upgrades
    2.  
      Upgrading UNIX and Linux clients with the NetBackup upgrade script
    3.  
      Upgrade of the UNIX and Linux client binaries with native installers
  7. NetBackup Deployment Management with VxUpdate
    1.  
      About VxUpdate
    2.  
      Commands used in VxUpdate
    3.  
      Repository management
    4.  
      Deployment policy management
    5.  
      Manually initiating upgrades from the master server using VxUpdate
    6.  
      Manually initiating upgrades from the media server or client using VxUpdate
    7.  
      Deployment job status
  8. Appendix A. Reference
    1.  
      NetBackup master server web server user and group creation
    2.  
      Generate a certificate on the inactive nodes of a clustered master server
    3.  
      About the NetBackup Java Runtime Environment
    4.  
      Add or Remove Java GUI and JRE after upgrade
    5.  
      About the NetBackup web user interface
    6.  
      About the NetBackup answer file
    7.  
      About RBAC bootstrapping
    8.  
      About NetBackup software availability
    9.  
      Additional post-upgrade steps for NetApp clusters
    10.  
      Using NetApp disk arrays with Replication Director
    11.  
      About compatibility between NetBackup versions
    12.  
      Upgrade requirements for UNIX and Linux
    13.  
      Installation and upgrade requirements for Windows and Windows clusters
    14.  
      Requirements for Windows cluster installations and upgrades
    15.  
      Removing a clustered media server by migrating all data to a new media server
    16.  
      Disabling the connection between your OpsCenter server and your NetBackup Master Server
    17.  
      Post upgrade procedures for Amazon cloud storage servers
    18.  
      Upgrading clients after servers are upgraded
  9.  
    Index

Manually initiating upgrades from the media server or client using VxUpdate

Manually initiate deployment jobs when you are logged into the media server or client locally and want to force an immediate update. You can either use a deployment policy to initiate an immediate upgrade or specify an upgrade without an associated policy. You can use the upgrade to update the NetBackup version or for other upgrades such as emergency binaries.

Among the reasons for a media server or a client initiated upgrade using VxUpdate is mission critical systems with specific maintenance windows. One example of these systems is database servers with limited available down time.

Note:

You can only launch updates on the local media server or client. You cannot use the nbinstallcmd command on a media server or client to launch jobs on other media servers or clients. If you want to launch updates on other media servers and clients, you must initiate them from the master server.

VxUpdate also provides the ability to launch upgrades from the master server with the command line. More information is available.

See Manually initiating upgrades from the master server using VxUpdate.

The nbinstallcmd version on a back-level host is not the current nbinstallcmd version when you initiate a non-policy based upgrade directly on the target client or media server. Refer to the NetBackup Commands Reference Guide for the currently installed version of NetBackup for the exact format of nbinstallcmd command.

Because of this older version of nbinstallcmd, exceptions to normal VxUpdate behavior include:

  • If your master server uses both NetBackup certificate and an external certificate, and your target media server or client is at NetBackup 8.1.2: Running a non-policy based upgrade directly on the target host is not supported. You must upgrade with one of the options shown:

    • Upgrade the client or the media server using VxUpdate from the master server.

    • Create a policy on the master server. Then run policy-based nbinstallcmd on the target client or media server.

    • Disable the external certificate on your master server before starting the non-policy-based upgrade on the target host. You may turn on the external certificate after the upgrade completes successfully.

  • If the client or the media server is at NetBackup 8.2 or earlier, the -components flag is not available. This flag was introduced in NetBackup 8.3 to enable optional installation of the NetBackup Java GUI and JRE. When you run an ad-hoc nbinstallcmd on a client or a media server at NetBackup 8.2 or earlier, the -components javagui_jre option defaults to MATCH. This value causes the upgrade to match the Java GUI and JRE status of the pre-upgrade host. If the pre-upgrade host had Java GUI and JRE installed, it remains installed after upgrade. If the pre-upgrade host did not have Java GUI and JRE installed, it is not installed after upgrade.

To start a media server or client initiated deployment job based on an existing policy

  1. Navigate to the binary directory from a command prompt.

    UNIX or Linux: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin

    Windows: install_path\netbackup\bin

  2. Use the nbinstallcmd as shown:

    nbinstallcmd -policy policy -schedule schedule -master_server name

    Example: nbinstallcmd -policy all_clients -schedule install812 -master_server master1

    If the job initiated successfully, you are returned to the command prompt without an error message.

    Note:

    When you initiate a media server upgrade with the nbinstallcmd command, you must include both the -master_server and the -media_server options. In this case, the value for both these options must be the same.

  3. Monitor upgrade status with the NetBackup administrator and the Activity Monitor in the NetBackup Administrative Console.

You can start a media server or client initiated deployment job without an associated policy from the command line. The options that are required for the nbinstallcmd command vary depending on your security configuration and the NetBackup version on the computer you want to upgrade. Refer to the nbinstallcmd command documentation for a list of all possible options and examples of command usage.

NetBackup Commands Reference Guide