Beefalo V2 4.4.3.86

From SEPsesam

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Icon archived docs.png 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.


SEP sesam Beefalo V2 4.4.3.86 overview

  • version: 4.4.3.86 released: 5th of July, 2021
SEP Tip.png Tip

See also the initial release of Beefalo V2 and Beefalo V2 Service Packs Releases.

New supported systems

  • OpenNebula 5.10.1 and 6.0

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

Unsupported systems

Information sign.png Note
In SEP sesam 4.4.3.86 Beefalo V2, SEP announced that it does not support:
  • SEP sesam Server 4.4.3.86 Beefalo V2 on SLES15 SP3
  • Currently, SEP sesam Server 4.4.3.86 on SLES15 SP3 is not supported. Upgrading existing SEP sesam installations on SLES15 from older service packs to SP3 may result in data loss.

Known issues

Beefalo 4.4.3.86 known issues:

Severity: CRITICAL

Warning sign.pngPossible data loss due to non-executed updates of the entries in the SEP sesam database at extremely high system load.
  • There may be problems updating entries in the SEP sesam database if the system load is so high that the maximum number of connections is reached (PostgreSQL) or the busy timeout (SQLite) is no longer sufficient. This can result in the backup status being incorrectly set as successful and external applications (e.g. SAP Hana) seeing backups as successful even though they did not complete successfully. In such a case, data loss may occur during a restore.
Workaround: SEP is working on this issue and will provide a fix as soon as possible.

Severity: SEVERE

SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.86 - VM backup may fail if a backup source path is too long
  • If a source path of a VM backup is too long, the backup may fail with the following error:
    Exit code from sbc_com_interface: [1] - warning
    Error: VM Exception: [Command [sbc_com_interface, -b, openjob...fails].

    Note that this only occurs in rare cases when a large number of VMKDs are attached to VM. If no such error is displayed, the VM backup is successful.
Resolution: Already fixed, contact support for help.
SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.86 – Mount of RHV, Citrix XEN, KVM or OpenNebula backup fails on Windows Host
  • Mounting the virtual disks of RHV, Citrix XEN, KVM or OpenNebula backup fails on Windows host with an error: ImportError: sh 1.12.14 is currently only supported on Linux.
Workaround: SEP is working on this issue and will provide a fix as soon as possible.
SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.86 – Core dump of sm_stpd during closejob operation via FTP on SLES12 PPC
  • Core dump occurs during closejob operation over FTP on SLES12 PPC due to string variable being too short.
Workaround: Use the network protocols http:// or https:/; ensure that the interface is correctly added to the client properties (see Configuring Clients: Procedure).
Resolution: Already fixed, contact support for help.

Severity: MINOR

SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.86 – Exchange incremental backup fails sporadically with error
  • When trying to perform an Exchange INCR backup, it may fail with an error: ''STATUS=WARNING MSG=global name 'self' is not defined''.
Workaround: SEP is working on this issue and will provide a fix as soon as possible.
SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.86 – While configuring Si3 deduplication store, sm_config_drives aborts on Windows Server 2016/2019
  • (Windows only) An Si3 deduplication store is created and configured, then another data store is created; sm_config_drives starts again and terminates.
Workaround: SEP is working on this issue and will provide a fix as soon as possible.
SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.86 – Seeding Si3 deduplication store fails with error
  • Using the Initial Seed option to set up a new Si3 deduplication store for replication results in a seemingly successful setup, but no data is replicated and the sm_dedup_server.log shows a Java exception.
Workaround: SEP is working on this issue and will provide a fix as soon as possible.
SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.86 – After database import via GUI, SEP sesam processes rmi and sds are offline
  • When sm_db_update is finished, SEP sesam is restarted, but all running processes are stopped and fail to get restarted.
Workaround: Execute the following commands after db import:
sm_main start rmi
sm_main start sds

Minor GUI issues

We are experiencing some minor GUI issues that do not affect SEP sesam's performance and functionality. SEP is working on these issues and will provide a fix as soon as possible.

SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.86 – When a loader is reconfigured with a new drive, the drive is not shown
  • When a new loader is created and an already configured drive is moved to the new loader, clicking the Apply button fails to show the drive for the newly created loader.
Workaround: Close the Loaders view and then open it to refresh the displayed loader configuration.
SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.86 – Send button in migration task properties does not work
  • When using the Send button for the Main log in the properties of the migration task, sending does not work.
SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.86 – Starting disaster recovery from the toolbar fails
  • When attempting to start disaster recovery from the toolbar, an error message is displayed and the operation fails. (This button is only displayed if a Defaults disaster_recovery entry is set with a value of 1.)
SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.86 – Filtering may not work correctly in some views
  • When using Main Selection -> Scheduling -> Events as List -> Filter to filter the results for the backup, the results list is empty.
  • When using Main Selection -> Tasks -> As List -> Filter to filter tasks by their status, selecting Execution off will only display tasks where both client and task are disabled.
SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.86 – Copying a backup task fails to copy assigned schedules
  • When copying a backup task, all properties except assigned schedules are copied to the newly created task.

Enhancements and changes Beefalo 4.4.3.86

Consistent export of the SEP sesam Server database

SEP sesam used to export its database table by table without taking care of foreign keys. As foreign keys enforce the database referential integrity and ensure that the relationship between database tables is preserved during the insertion of data, the export is now improved by using pg_dump, resulting in a consistent export and a faster import of the database.

Optimized license check

License check performance has been improved; the license is now checked during startup, reducing noise and clutter in the log with detailed logging of license checks.

SHA-256 for enhanced security

SEP sesam now uses SHA-256 to sign all executables in the Windows kit when upgrading or (re)installing SEP sesam.

Fixed issues Beefalo 4.4.3.86

Kernel

Scheduled jobs and external backups fail due to yet uninitialised queue

Problem

  • When a new drive is introduced or a new datastore and media pool are created and a backup or other scheduled job is started immediately afterwards, the job fails with an error about the non-existing queue. The same problem can occur if SEP sesam Server starts after the update and backups are started immediately after the server is started, as sm_config_drives has not yet created drive queues.

Queue manager fails with timed out when it is busy for more than 12 hours

Problem

  • Submitting a task in a queue for processing times out waiting for a response when the queue is busy for more than 12 hours.

No error is recorded when the database is locked

Problem

  • If an external backup is started and an error occurs when trying to access the database because the database is locked, no error is recorded for the failed backup.

sm_sms_watch crashes when starting the SEP sesam services or a NEWDAY event

Problem

  • sm_sms_watch crashes on SEP sesam startup or on startup of a NEWDAY event due to the SM_QM status output that leads to overrun in the stack during drive configuration.

Sesam DB

If the connection limit to the PostgreSQL database is reached, SEP sesam Server stops

Problem

  • By default, the Sesam DB instance runs with the default max_connections = 100. When this connection limit is reached, for example to the PostgreSQL database, SEP sesam terminates, but the error log does not contain information about database access errors and reaching the maximum connection limit.

SEP sesam external backup modules (Oracle, Hana...) encounter errors during 'closejob' operation, but backup is reported as successful

Problem

  • SEP sesam external backup modules (Oracle, Hana...) report backups as successful after the data transfer is complete. Any problems during the 'closejob' operation are ignored. For example, if the SGM file copy fails, the saveset will not be found during restore. Checksum errors may also be detected, but the backup will still be shown as successful.

Update

Linux update fails due to faulty copy DB file command

Problem

  • On some operating systems (e.g., SLES12) the behavior of overlapping string operations is undefined; because the update script uses the same string as source and target in the string operation, the update fails.

Automatic SP update of Windows clients on Linux Server fails

Problem

  • When attempting to update Windows clients of the SEP sesam Linux Server, the automatic SP update fails or gets stuck in a loop due to the missing sm_execute_update.cmd file.

Windows client update from GUI fails if BSR is already installed on the system

Problem

  • If BSR is already installed on the system to be updated automatically from GUI, the update fails due to a syntax error in the cmd file.

Installation of SEP sesam BSR Pro fails due to wrong installation path

Problem

  • The installation of SEP sesam BSR Pro fails because of the wrong installation path with wrong double slash in BSR Pro path.

STPD

When a backup is aborted, STPD does not write the metadata (LIS and SGM file)

Problem

  • (Applies only to Windows) STPD (Sesam Transfer Protocol Server) does not write the metadata (LIS and SGM file), causing a saveset to become invisible and unable to be deleted even though it occupies the space.

Backup session receives incorrect COM responses (not matching the openjob command)

Problem

  • The backup session receives incorrect COM responses during the backup, for example, during Oracle backups using multiple channels or with SAP HANA backups; in the latter case, the backint backup module receives responses that do not match the openjob command and proceeds without backup error. Consequently, backups are performed to the arbitrary media pool with a much shorter retention time than configured, which can lead to data loss (the backup is not available for restore due to the shorter EOL).

STPD log shows cpio errors, but backup is successful

Problem

  • STPD log shows cpio errors, for example, ERROR: cpioana_func: read_in_header (2): Synchronization lost, but SBC log shows no error and backup is marked as successful, which may result in a failed restore.

Possible data loss if STPD timeout occurs during backup but backup is successful

Problem

  • If the STPD timeout occurred during the backup at the same time as the closing saveset operation, SBC ended with success, which may result in a failed restore.

Delayed start of STPD main process when using HTTP connection

Problem

  • When performing a migration using HTTP, the start of the http process blocks the main STPD process for a longer period of time as it performs various operations (e.g. HPE communication, authorization).

Restore from HPE StoreOnce fails due to invalid credentials

Problem

  • Restore from HPE StoreOnce fails with error: RETR Failed. Command error with HPE StoreOnce server [COFC-CZ3935RB01]: OSCLT_ERR_INVALID_CREDENTIALS. because password decryption failed.

Restore from RDX drive fails

Problem

  • Restore from RDX disk drive stalls, STPD generates log files in an endless loop, or restore fails with MTF error because ESET metadata is printed with incorrect offset; consequently, restore fails.

SMS

Oracle RMAN multichannel backup fails with failed to create sequential file

Problem

  • Oracle RMAN multichannel backup fails with error ORA-19506: failed to create sequential file. This issue is related to the SEP sesam SBT Windows dll that was not thread-safe, causing the RMAN multichannel backup to fail.

Backups and migrations to tape drive hang or fail after media change

Problem

  • Write operations to tape that were active during a media change hang with zero throughput, do not start at all, or are aborted after some time.

Backup on VTL that exceeds tape size is shown as successful

Problem

  • When backing up to the Quastor VTL library, the backup fails to continue writing to the underlying block device due to lack of storage space; even though the error is tracked in the SMS log, the STPD log shows the data transfer as complete and SEP sesam issues the message Backup completed successfully.

Restore of data split on several tapes fails

Problem

  • Restoring data saved on multiple tapes fails with an error: The archive could not be resynchronized. The same incorrect tape block size is automatically used for the second tape, resulting in a failed restore.
  • The restore fails due to the data block not being written to the subsequent tape after EOM, resulting in a lost data block.

On sayFUSE, EOM is not recognized and backups fail

Problem

  • The EOM (End of Media) parameter is not recognized on sayFUSE, causing backups to fail with "No further tape available" or "Tape not ready" to appear for each session.

Next EOM after EOM IO error sets IO error flag

Problem

  • SMS remembers EOM IO error status on subsequent normal EOM handling and incorrectly sets IO error flag on subsequent EOM.

Backup to tape with IO error is successful but restore fails

Problem

  • Backup to tape with IO error is successful, but restore fails with Error: Cannot read from remote archive.

The restore performance from tape is 2-3 times slower than backup performance

Problem

  • Restore throughput is at most half (more likely less) compared to backup, which significantly increases the total restore time.

Media

Wrong start time is displayed for readability check

Problem

  • The media readability check start time is set in the past.

Writing to tape could fail with Error sharing violation

Problem

  • If there is no tape trailer on the tape, the first write job to the tape works but it does not set hw_drives.label to DB; consequently, the second job tries to talk to the tape drive while all other jobs fail with Error sharing violation.

OpenNebula

Restored OpenNebula VM does not boot

Problem

  • The restored OpenNebula virtual machine does not boot because the recovered image was created with the wrong format setting.

OpenNebula VM restore fails with AttributeError or ONE instance has no attribute 'o'

Problem

  • The restore of OpenNebula VM fails with the error message AttributeError: NoneType object has no attribute group or ONE instance has no attribute 'o' due to missing attribute in VM xml.

OpenNebula VM architecture is not restored

Problem

  • For OpenNebula virtual machines, the architecture (i386, x86_64) can be specified when the VM is created. During restore, this option is not restored according to the specified VM xml configuration.

Citrix XenServer

When Citrix XenServer CBT backup is started, SEP sesam automatically enables NBD

Problem

  • When a Citrix XenServer CBT backup is started, SEP sesam enabled NBD on all network interfaces. This was a potential problem if there are interfaces that are inaccessible to the Sesam datamover or if user settings were overwritten on some interfaces.

Solution

DB modules

Saveset query for external backups (Oracle, SAP...) returns failed backups

Problem

  • When searching for savesets related to external backups, savesets with failed status are returned.

Backup

Backing up a VM from an ESXI host with a restricted license results in a deadlock

Problem When backing up a VM from an ESXI host without an applied license, SEP sesam attempts to create a snapshot for a virtual machine and an exception occurs. Because the runner does not exit correctly, it gets stuck in an endless loop.

Restore

Restore fails with error At current offset 144 (0x90) no valid MTF Stream ID was found

Problem

  • Restore fails with error At current offset 144 (0x90) no valid MTF Stream ID was found due to incorrectly set SPAR header length for a zero-ranged file.

Restore from migrated saveset uses wrong transport mode

Problem

  • When restoring a migrated saveset, the restore wizard displays the settings of the original saveset with the selected transport mode, and then uses the correct RDS without adjusting the protocol of the specified interface (transport mode), for example, FTP mode is used instead of HTTP, resulting in a failed restore.

Restore exclude filter does not work correctly

Problem

  • The restore exclude filter does not work correctly. For example, for a selective restore, the exclude filter is set to "-*.ini" (- prefix), but the filename is not extracted correctly (e.g., /debug.ini instead of debug.ini) so the matching file cannot be found and excluded.

Migration

Core dump occurs after starting the migration

Problem

  • Migration is terminated (core dump of sm_sms_copy) with exception 0xc0000417 after a NEWDAY event occurred.

Migration from tape fails in case of EOM due to insufficient recorded information on next tape

Problem

  • Migration of savesets that exist on two tapes (media_change) back to datastore fails. SMS fetches the next media label over the restore_results table, refers only to the restore and not to a migration task.

Migration is successful with database error

Problem

  • Migration results in database error DB_SEL_GETVALUE: Error during DBaccess - return 0. Incorrect szSql variable was used to execute DB select.

NDMP

NDMP restore from tape fails with error RESTORE: Mangled directory

Problem

  • NDMP restore from tape failed with NDMP: 1 info: LOG_MESSAGE: 'RESTORE: Mangled directory' due to incorrect buffer handling with the new asynchronous read approach.

NDMP restore via FTP fails with Found a checksum error in header

Problem

  • NDMP restore via FTP fails with Found a checksum error in header during data transfer, but works via HTTP; as sbc_ndmp uses an incorrect seek function, the restore fails.

An incorrect task type is displayed in the backup task for Dell EMC Unity NDMP client

Problem

  • (Applies to Dell EMC Unity NDMP backup only) When creating a Dell EMC Unity NDMP backup task in the GUI, the task type NetApp is incorrectly displayed.

HCL Domino

HCL Domino backup fails with Problem while loading dynamic link library

Problem

  • HCL Domino 11 backup fails with Problem while loading dynamic link library: [dlopen() returned: libgsk8iccs_64.so. This issue occurs due to Domino 9 server upgrade to SLES12SP5 Domino 11.0.1FP1 which does not contain libgsk8iccs_64.so, required by SEP sesam.

SBC Windows

Windows backup of a volume mounted as folder name fails

Problem

  • On Windows, backing up a volume mounted as a folder name (instead as a drive letter) fails with the message Invalid file name in FILE block.

GUI

The license file in the form of lic.ZIP was not recognized by the GUI

Problem

  • The license file written with .zip extension as .ZIP is not recognized and accepted by the GUI, because the check for the archived file is done case sensitive. Therefore SEP sesam tried to read the compressed file directly as a text file and the file was not accepted.

Password length is limited to 27 characters

Problem

  • When you configure a new SEP sesam client and switch to the Access tab (for example, when configuring OES, ESXi, Citrix, Linux/VM server types, and other virtualization servers), it is not possible to enter a password longer than 27 characters; it is also not possible to re-enter the password unless 1 character is removed from the first password field.

Source-side deduplication cannot be changed for an existing backup event

Problem

  • It is not possible to change the setting (enable/disable) for source-side deduplication if it is set for an existing backup event; when creating a new backup event for a Si3 media pool, source-side deduplication can be enabled.

Deselecting files for selective restore also deselects all parent directories

Problem

  • Deselecting a subdirectory/subnode in the tree also deselects the parent directory/node - all files above the deselected directory up to the top level are deselected and only the direct parent directory is subselected, so selective restore is not possible.

Restore wizard does not recognize migrated saveset settings

Problem

  • When restoring from the migrated backup, the last step of the restore wizard displays the settings of the original backup (media pool, RDS...) and not the specific settings of a migrated saveset.

Empty target node selection list in restore wizard for OpenNebula restore

Problem

  • There is no client with the virtualization type OpenNebula Server. Therefore, the target node selection list is empty, but no message is displayed and the restore wizard can continue.

Adding a drive from a different drive group in the datastore dialog results in an error

Problem

  • When creating a new drive group and trying to add a new drive of another drive group, an error occurs because it is not possible to use two drive groups for a datastore.

Active backup results do not appear in the results of the task context menu

Problem

  • GUI does not display the entry for active backup results when opening the results from the task context menu after installation. The active state is not selected in the filter.

Information sign.png Note
For a list of features, enhancements, and fixed issues in the initial release of Beefalo V2 and its service packs, see Beefalo V2 Release Notes and Beefalo V2 Service Packs Releases.