Step by Step Upgrade of Backup Exec

Veritas now offers Professional Service for Backup Exec™ — the Backup Exec Installation, Migration and Upgrade Service — this service will help you implement the latest version of Backup Exec.

The service includes the following three options:

Option 1: An installation of the current version of Backup Exec or a previous version if required.
Option 2: An upgrade of the Backup Exec Server to the latest version of Backup Exec
Option 3: A migration of the data from an existing Backup Exec server to a new Backup Exec server

To purchase the service, contact your local software reseller or Veritas account representative today. Click here for more details.

You may also reach out to Authorized Veritas Distribution Partner using following link:
http://partnernet.veritas.com/portal/faces/PartnerLocator

IMPORTANT: Prior to following the information in this article, ensure that the information in Article 100044375 and Article 100044372 has been reviewed and understood

Before upgrading, you will need installation files and license files: Steps to download the Backup Exec Licenses, Installation Files, Updates, Feature Pack, Service Pack, Hotfix and Patches within VEMS

After upgrading, you will need to install license files: Step By Step guide to install and review Backup Exec licenses

Steps to Upgrade of Backup Exec 

1.      Login to the Backup Server with the Backup Exec service account credentials. Open Windows Services MMC and review the Backup Exec services. The account used to Start the Backup Exec Server or Job Engine service is the Backup Exec Service Account to be used during the upgrade process.

2.      Stop all the Backup Exec services and the SQL service for Backup Exec.  SQL Server (BKUPEXEC64) or SQL Server (BKUPEXEC).

3.      Take a Copy/Backup of the Backup Exec Data and Catalogs folders to safe location. 

 X:\Program Files\Veritas\Backup Exec\” folder

or

“ X:\Program Files\Symnatec\Backup Exec\”

[X represents drive where Backup Exec is installed]

4.      If custom reports are configured, copy or backup of “ X:\Program Files\Veritas\Backup Exec\Reports” will also need to be taken

5.      Start the SQL service for BKUPEXEC64 or BKUPEXEC

6.      Mount the ISO for the Backup Exec latest version installer onto the Backup Server

Note: Certain Operating Systems will block the downloaded zip file after download for Security reasons.
Please unblock the downloaded zip file before extracting the ISO image.
Backup Exec Installation Wizard Opens and disappears immediately
 

7.      Right click on Browser.exe and "Run as Administrator". (Due to security settings, some environments may require Browser.exe to be started using 'Run as Admin')

Additional Notes for (Backup Exec 22 and above)

• During an upgrade to Backup Exec 22.0 or greater, the installer will deploy SQL 2017 64bit BKUPEXEC64 instance to host the Backup Exec database. It will remove the Local BKUPEXEC SQL instance ( default BE SQL Instance used before BE 22.0 ) towards the end of the upgrade
• If the older version of Backup Exec being upgraded uses a custom SQL Instance i.e. anything other than BKUPXEC SQL instance name, then the Backup Exec upgrade will continue to use the same SQL version.
.• A fresh installation of Backup Exec 22.0 or greater deploys SQL 2017 Express 64bit instance. This default instance name is “BKUPEXEC64”.

8.     Click on Backup Exec option for upgrade or Fresh install

9.      Click on I accept and click Next

  10.     Click on Local install for Upgrade or Fresh Install and click “Next”

11.     Wait for the Environment Check to Complete

12.     Enter the License Keys and click “Next”. For more information related to step by step instructions for installing license keys review - Step By Step guide to install and review Backup Exec licenses

13.     Enter the Backup Exec Service account username and password and click “Next”

14.     Click on Next and Install until you get the Migration Screen and wait for it to complete.

15.     Once Migration is complete, it should show “successful”, you can review the Migration report and click on “I Accept” and continue if all looks good.

16.     Continue with the Upgrade Steps:

17.     Once Upgrade or Install is complete, reboot if required or asked.

18.     All your configuration should be available after the reboot.

19.     After reboot once the Backup Server is up and if the setup has Deduplication folder configured, it will be listed as “OFFLINE”.

20.     In the alerts you will see the below alert which will indicate that the Deduplication folder is being converted to the new version with estimated time

21.     You will need to then check the PDDE conversion logs to verify if conversion was successful,  located in “C:\Program Files\Symantec\Backup Exec\Logs” File name: “PDDE10 conversion log”

22.     You will need at least 12% free space on the Drive that hosts the Deduplication folder for the conversion to complete successfully.

23.     Once the conversion completes you will need to restart all Backup Exec services and the devices should now be online.

24.    Make sure you upgrade all your remote agents and that can be done by right clicking on each server and clicking on update. They may require a reboot after upgrade and hence you can decide when and how you would like to upgrade the remote agents.

Direct Upgrades

Step upgrades are NOT recommended and should be avoided. These are upgrades from an older version to an interim version to the latest version. Below are supported direct upgrades. 

To run a direct upgrade to Backup Exec 24  minimum version required is Backup Exec 22.0

To run a direct upgrade to Backup Exec 23  minimum version required is Backup Exec 21 (21.4 with Hotfix 279458)

To run a direct upgrade to Backup Exec 22  minimum version required is Backup Exec 20.1

To run a direct upgrade to Backup Exec 21.x minimum version required is Backup Exec 15

To run a direct upgrade to Backup Exec 20.x minimum version required is Backup Exec 2014

How to get updates for Backup Exec - Feature Pack, Service Pack, Hotfix, and Patches
https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.100019916