Release Notes 5.0.0 Jaglion

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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.


What's new in SEP sesam 5.0.0 Jaglion

New SEP sesam release 5.0.0 Jaglion introduces a more powerful and intuitive Web UI, handy new GUI functions, and more consistent and stable internal APIs.

Features at a glance

Improvements and bug fixes

This release contains a number of improvements and important fixes in various areas and resolves the issue with slow tape restore performance.

Extended SEP sesam REST API V2

The SEP sesam REST API V2 has been extended to support a wide variety of use cases. A large number of new endpoints have been added. For details, see SEP sesam REST API V2 Jaglion.

Installation with PostgreSQL on Windows

SEP sesam introduces support for PostgreSQL on Windows. Your SEP sesam Server can now be installed with PostgreSQL.

Sparse files support

SEP sesam now provides support for Linux sparse files to prevent running out of disk space during restore. For details on how SEP sesam handles sparse files and what options are available, see Support for Sparse Files.

Enhanced Web UI

The more advanced and intuitive Web UI offers the following in addition to monitoring SEP sesam operations: Start backups immediately, restart failed jobs, lock backups, review alerts, set UI mode, and view job and data store details.

New generation Si3 data store: Si3 NG

Si3 NG is a new generation deduplication store that offers significantly increased performance for backup, restore and migration and allows for a smooth upgrade from Si3.

Information sign.png Note
If you are using an old generation Si3 deduplication store with S3, you cannot perform a restore from S3 using the GUI. Therefore you should upgrade from Si3 to Si3 NG deduplication store to enable smooth restore from S3. You can configure a new Si3 NG and an old Si3 in parallel on the same host and replicate from the old Si3 to the Si3 NG store. For details, see Configuring Si3 NG Deduplication Store.
Backup & restore
  • Now also supported: Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV) backup and restore. The Nutanix AHV module is supported on SEP sesam Linux Server and on SEP sesam Windows Server, using a Linux Client as a data mover.
  • To simplify backing up multiple VMs, you can automate the process by automatically generating tasks for VMs that are connected to the same host; in addition, you can also automatically create clients for VMs to which the generated tasks and ACLs can be assigned.
  • The new Oracle-VM task type is available to perform agentless snapshot-based backups of all OLVM virtual machines.
  • Si3 deduplication store has been improved; the new Si3 NG deduplication store enables significantly higher deduplication performance.
  • VFS (Sesam virtual file system) performance improvements enable 100x faster access to vSphere VMs booted directly from SEP sesam data store.
  • When browsing a VMware vSphere server for backup sources, VMs are displayed in the vCenter tree along with the host and clusters. The client browser for VMware now displays a description of the configured backup tasks and details of the VM-related metadata that can be copied.
  • For direct HPE backups and especially replications to the cloud, the new data store type HPE Cloud Volumes is available.
  • For Microsoft Windows Server 2016 or later, the Resilient Change Tracking (RCT) is supported to back up Hyper-V virtual machines.
  • Since Jaglion, the locked state is automatically applied to all backups in the chain of the selected backup.
  • When backing up Citrix Hypervisor VMs, it is possible to exclude individual virtual disk (VHD) from the backup.
Web Restore Assistant
Authentication & authorization

SEP sesam v. 5.0.0 authentication concept has changed. Now only a user with Superuser privileges can configure authentication and attach permissions (ACLs) to created users. The internal users can be authenticated via a signed certificate instead of a user password.

Media management

Expiring a tape provides a new option to delete all metadata, which erases all tape media metadata and initializes the tape (if the tape is loaded in a drive), removing access to all existing data on the tape.

New supported systems

SEP sesam Server 5.0.0 Jaglion now also supports the following:

  • Nutanix AHV
  • HCL Domino 12
  • Debian 11 (bullseye)
  • RHV 4.4
  • SLES 15 Service Pack 3 (SP3) for SEP sesam Server (in previous version, SP3 was only supported for RDS, GUI and Client)
  • Windows Server 2022 (without BSR Windows Disaster Recovery)
    • Note that BSR Windows Disaster Recovery for Windows Server 2022 is planned to be fully supported with SP2 for Jaglion V2.

Improvements: Cryptographic protocols OpenSSL 1.1.1/TLS2

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

Discontinued systems

Information sign.png Note
In SEP sesam Jaglion, SEP announced that it would no longer support:
  • Ubuntu 16.04
  • SLES 11
  • Windows Server 2008 R2

For details on discontinued systems, see Unsupported OS. For a complete list of supported SEP sesam Clients, see SEP sesam Support Matrix.

SEP sesam Server requirements

Java

SEP sesam GUI is based on Java and requires a Java Runtime Environment (JRE). The required Java version depends on the SEP sesam version.

Information sign.png Note
Java 17 is not supported by SEP sesam. For a list of supported Java versions, see the Java Compatibility Matrix.

Installation and upgrades

  • SEP sesam Jaglion 5.0.0.4 SP1 was released on 28 March 2022. A direct upgrade from versions 4.4.3.X to version Jaglion 5.0.0.4 is supported.
Information sign.png Note
You always have to update the SEP sesam Server first before updating the client software. For more information on the SEP sesam software updates, see Updating SEP sesam.

The latest released versions are:

  • SEP sesam 5.0.0.4 SP1 Linux Tux.gif – released: 28 March 2022.
  • SEP sesam 5.0.0.4 SP1 Windows Win7.gif – released: 28 March 2022.
Tux.gif Linux specific

In order to meet all required dependencies for the SEP sesam Client packages on SLES 15 SP1 or SP2, it may be required to activate the following package modules prior to SEP sesam installation:

Module-Basesystem
Module-Server-Applications
Module-Legacy

These modules are part of the installation DVD; in case no online subscription is available, they can be added via:

zypper ar dvd:/Module-Server-Applications DVD-Server 
zypper ar dvd:/Module-Basesystem DVD-BASE
zypper ar dvd:/Module-Legacy DVD-Legacy 

For details, see Installation on Linux. For a list of supported Linux versions, see the SEP sesam Support Matrix.

Win7.gif Windows specific
Installation
  • When installing SEP sesam Server on Windows, you can now choose to install a PostgreSQL database that is included with the SEP sesam installer (or use the SQLite that does not require a server to be set up and is used with SEP sesam by default). For details, see Installation on Microsoft Windows.
  • Upgrading from SQLite to PostgreSQL is currently not supported, except with the help of SEP support.
  • SEP sesam recommends the use of PostgreSQL for complex enterprise environments with many tasks, high performance expectations (due to PostgreSQL's ability to support multiple concurrent writers and read/write at fast speeds), and security and authentication requirements.

For a list of supported Windows versions, see the SEP sesam Support Matrix.

Upgrade
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 Updating SEP sesam and Remote Installation of Windows Clients.

Post update task

Version 5.0.0.x uses the enhanced LIS file format, which increases performance at least 10 times. After updating to version 5.0.0.x, a new full vSphere backup should be performed to allow mounting and attaching VMDKs.

Previous release

Known issues and limitations

Information sign.png 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.
5.0.0 Jaglion known issues:

Severity: SECURITY

SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.70-5.0.0.4 – RCE vulnerability in Spring Framework running on JDK 9+
  • As reported by VMware (Spring Framework RCE, Early Announcement), two serious vulnerabilities have been found in Spring MVC and Spring WebFlux applications running on JDK 9+ that may lead to remote code execution (RCE). The specific exploit requires the application to run on Tomcat as a war deployment. To be vulnerable to the exploit, the application must be deployed as a war file in a standalone servlet container. The execution of an executable war file with an embedded container should not be affected by the vulnerability. However, as the nature of the vulnerability is more general, there may be other ways to exploit it. Even though SEP sesam does not ship any war files and is not executed as a servlet and is therefore not affected by this vulnerability, it uses Spring Core version 5.3.16 and will provide a fix in Jaglion V2 by integrating Spring Core version 5.3.18. For more details on the "Spring4Shell" vulnerability, see VMware vulnerability report CVE-2022-22965: Spring Framework RCE via Data Binding on JDK 9+.
Resolution: Will be fixed with Jaglion V2. Newer sm_ui.jar files containing the fix are available on request for Beefalo and Jaglion V1. You can contact SEP support to get a newer version of sm_ui.jar.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.x – (Windows) STPD automatically disables the HTTPS port on Windows
  • (Applies only to Windows) The Sesam Transfer Protocol Server (STPD) automatically disables the HTTPS port if CPU instructions are missing due to unsupported AVX. Consequently, the TLS key and certificate cannot be created.
Workaround : Make sure that you use CPUs with supported AVX versions (AVX, AVX2 or AVX-512) as well as FMA3 (Fused Multiply-Add 3-operand Form) or FMA4 (Fused Multiply-Add 4-operand Form). For the list of supported AVX versions, see Advanced Vector Extensions.

Severity: MAJOR

SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.2-5.0.0.x – Linux backup silently skips a directory if .nosbc file is part of backup source
  • (Linux only) When backing up a backup source that contains one or more .nosbc files, a directory is silently skipped, but the backup is marked as successful. For example, if there is a backup source /data that contains /data/ds1/.nosbc, /data/ds1/pages/ and /data/ds1/trash/, then the pages/ or trash/ directories are not backed up. If a backup source does not contain a .nosbc file, all files are backed up successfully.
Workaround: Since sbc incorrectly excludes a directory from backup if a file .nosbc is part of the backup source, use the -o noexcl switch in the backup options (backup task properties, tab Options -> Backup options) when backing up a backup source with a .nosbc file.
Resolution: SEP is working on this issue and will provide a fix as soon as possible.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3-5.0.0.4 – Hyper-V restore of Hyper-V RCT backup fails with error
  • When restoring a Hyper-V VM from a Hyper-V VM RTC backup under a new VM name, the restore fails with an error: Failed to read metadata file.
Resolution: SEP is working on this issue and will provide a fix as soon as possible.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.4 – SharePoint backup fails because browsing via SharePoint VSS writer does not return any objects
  • SharePoint backup fails because browsing via SharePoint VSS writer does not return any objects. This is due to an issue that the SharePoint Services Writer is missing from the writers list.
Resolution: Will be fixed with the next version.

Severity: NORMAL

SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.4 – Replication between Si3 and Si3 NG does not work with a Windows RDS (incl. SEP sesam Server)
  • (Windows only) Replication between Si3 and Si3 NG does not work with a Windows RDS (incl. SEP sesam Server) as sm_dedup_interface cannot read the message from the pipe correctly. The problem does not occur on Linux.
Resolution: Will be fixed with the next version. If you experience this problem, SEP support can provide a hotfix.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.1-5.0.0.4 – Check for completed Si3 -> Si3 NG replication not available
  • In this case, replication is done by reading source-side backups, but no specific information is written to the Si3 replication log or displayed in the GUI.
Resolution: Will be fixed with the next version.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.x – Backup of SEP sesam client version 5.0.0 to SEP sesam Server version 4.4.3.x fails with "XBSA: Perform: curl error 55: Failed sending data to the peer"
  • If package updates are installed on SEP sesam Clients during the regular update before SEP sesam Server is updated to the same version as the clients, the backup may fail with the message "XBSA: Perform: curl error 55: Failed sending data to the peer"
Resolution: Update the SEP sesam Server to the same version installed on the clients. Note that you always have to update the SEP sesam Server first before updating the client software.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3-5.0.0.4 – Kopano backup on Windows fails with error
  • Kopano backup on Windows fails with charmap' codec can't encode characters <char> in position <position>: character maps to <undefined>. The exception is caused by special characters such as '★' in the email subject.
Resolution: Will be fixed with the next version.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3-5.0.0.4 – New Hyper-V RCT backups do not support single file restore (via VFS mount)
  • As of 5.0.0 Jaglion, SEP sesam uses Resilient Change Tracking (RCT) by default for Hyper-V backups on Windows Server ≥ 2016 (Hyper-V VM ≥ 6.2). Single file restore (VFS mount) is currently only supported for VM Hyper-V backups without RCT option (old approach with VSS snapshots creating .avhdx files instead of the new Resilient Change Tracking). The new RCT backups have a 'RCT' attribute and the mount option is not shown. For older backups without the 'RCT' attribute, the mount option is available.
Workaround: When restoring a Hyper-V RCT backup, perform a regular VM restore of the virtual machine as described in Restoring a Hyper-V virtual machine.
Resolution: SEP development is working on a single file restore via mount for Hyper-V RTC backups and will implement it as soon as possible.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3-5.0.0.4 – Hyper-V restore fails, if the data store path from the original VM does not exist on the target server
  • Hyper-V restore fails with error Warning: Cannot create item [D:\]: [87] WIN32 API error: 87 - The parameter is incorrect., if the data store path from the original VM does not exist on the target server, regardless of whether the default Hyper-V folder for VMs is used or an existing data store path is set. The original path is always used.
Resolution: SEP is working on this issue and will provide a fix as soon as possible.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3-5.0.0.4 – (Debian only) Restore from RDX backup fails with error
  • (Applies only to Debian): Restore from RDX backup fails with an error: Error while unpacking data. Bad archive. This problem is caused by incorrect segment parsing.
Resolution: Will be fixed with version 5.0.0.5. If you experience this problem, SEP support can provide a hotfix.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3-5.0.0.4 – NDMP directory restore on NetApp 7 fails
  • NDMP directory restore with seldir argument is not compatible with NetApp version ≤ 7, causing the restore to fail.
Resolution: Will be fixed with the next version.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3-5.0.0.4 – Selective restore from NetApp Snap Store incorrectly restores all files and may overwrite existing files
  • Selective restore from NetApp Snap Store incorrectly restores all files instead of the selected files and overwrites existing files when the "Overwrite" option is selected.
Resolution: Will be fixed with the next version.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.1-5.0.0.4 – Mounting Nutanix using migrated saveset fails
  • Mount of Nutanix VD using migrated saveset fails with ERROR: sm_vfs could not be started: Cannot find matching saveset for LIS/LSL line:
Resolution: Will be fixed with the next version.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3-5.0.0.4 – SEP sesam server shutdown hangs due to unreachable DB
  • SEP sesam Server shutdown hangs when terminating SEP sesam processes because DB is no longer reachable.
Resolution: Will be fixed with the next version.

GUI issues

We are experiencing some GUI issues that do not significantly affect the performance and functionality of SEP sesam. SEP is working to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.

SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3-5.0.0.4 – If a double quote exists in the annotations, tags or custom attributes of a VM, the VM cannot be browsed
  • When a double quote appears in the VM annotation, tags or custom attributes, the VM cannot be browsed in ESX or vCenter due to broken parsing.
Workaround: If you experience this problem, contact SEP support to get a newer version of sm_ui.jar.
Resolution: Remove special characters in annotations, tags or custom attributes. The issue is addressed and will be fixed with the upcoming Service Pack 2 release.
SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.84–5.0.0.4 – If a manual snapshot of the VM exists, the vSphere DIFF backup fails
  • When a manual snapshot is created for the VM, the snapshot number is not processed correctly and the *.cbt file on the datamover is not created, causing the backup to fail.
Workaround: If you experience this problem, contact SEP support to get a newer version of sbc_vadp.jar.
Resolution: The issue is addressed and will be fixed with the upcoming Service Pack 2 release.
SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.84–5.0.0.4 – When setting a backup source for a Microsoft SharePoint server backup by browsing, the backup source is invalid
  • When browsing items of a Microsoft Sharepoint server to select a backup source, the created backup tasks are not valid because the check expects a leading slash ('/') that is not part of the Sharepoint backup source path.
Workaround: Edit the backup task and correct the backup source manually by removing the '/SharePoint Server:' part from the source path.
Resolution: The issue is addressed and will be fixed with the upcoming Service Pack 2 release.

Severity: MINOR

SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3 – The command sm_dedup_interface dir full lists no items
  • The sm_dedup_interface dir full command does not work, so the SI3 fsck report shows "Saveset not found on disk", even though saveset files exist.
Resolution: Will be fixed with the next version.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.4 – (Windows) A core dump occurs during SEP sesam backup on Windows
  • (Applies only to Windows) SEP sesam backup on Windows crashes due to low disk space (VSS snapshot problem).
Resolution: Will be fixed with the next version.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.x – Proxmox VE backup does not work with the client name as plain IP address
  • If the node added to the SEP sesam environment is not set up correctly and an IP address is used as the client name instead of the client's hostname matching the hostname returned by the Proxmox server, the backup fails.
Resolution: This problem can only be solved by correctly configuring the Proxmox clients in the SEP sesam environment. For more details on configuring the client name correctly, see Proxmox VE Backup: Adding the Proxmox server (and nodes) to the SEP sesam environment.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.x – Kopano backup containing non-ascii characters fails to create index, but backup is marked as successful
  • A Kopano backup containing non-ascii characters results in the error UnicodeEncodeError: 'ascii' codec can't encode character... Consequently, the mail subject index cannot be created, but the backup is marked as successful.
Resolution: The index problem can only be fixed by creating the correct locale:
#vi /etc/locale.gen and then enable de_DE.UTF-8 UTF-8
#locale-gen
SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.86–5.0.0.x – Initial Seeding functionality temporarily removed
  • As using the Initial Seed option to set up a new Si3 deduplication store for replication resulted in an apparently successful setup, but no data was replicated, the Initial Seeding functionality is no longer available in version 5.0.0.x. It is not yet known whether it will be available again in the future.

Important fixes: SEP sesam Server 5.0.0 Jaglion

Fixed with SEP sesam Server 5.0.0 Jaglion:
SEP sesam v. ≥ 5.0.0.3-5.0.0.4 – Allowed automatic SEP sesam Client update to a higher version than SEP sesam Server
  • Although the SEP sesam Server version should always be greater than or equal to the client/RDS version, an automatic client update is allowed before SEP sesam Server is updated.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4 SP1.
SEP sesam v. ≥ 5.0.0.3-5.0.0.4 – Fail to encrypt Oracle backups
  • Oracle backups are not encrypted even though the Encryption option is enabled for the task.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4 SP1.
SEP sesam v. ≥ 4.4.3.84-5.0.0.4 – Exchange server backup finishes with errors and is not retried when an error such as VSS_E_PROVIDER_VETO occurs, controlled abort is not executed
  • Exchange Server backup does not retry operation if the error VSS _E_ PROVIDER _VETO occurs and incorrectly aborts the backup, even if it is a transient error that may be caused by network errors or faulty drives that are only temporarily misbehaving. At the same time, it fails to execute the controlled abort with AbortBackup.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4 SP1.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3-5.0.0.4 – Backup of a Windows client with the Encryption or Compression option enabled may fail with error
  • Encrypted/compressed backups of a Windows client may fail with an error, such as MTF descriptor block ID or Unknown MTF descriptor block ID.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4 SP1.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.4 – HPE Catalyst replication to HPE Cloud Bank store fails
  • HPE Catalyst replication to HPE Cloud Bank store incorrectly uses sm_dedup_interface put/get instead of replicate and replication fails.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4 SP1.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.1-5.0.0.4 – Replication for the source pool is started across multiple data stores
  • Replication correctly selects all savesets from the source pool, but spawning across multiple data stores because the unmodified replication command does not use the correct datastore/drive where the saveset is located.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4 SP1.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.4 – MySQL backup fails with Invalid backup source
  • MySQL backup fails with Invalid backup source due to an incorrect check of all backup sources in the file system.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4 SP1.
SEP sesam v. ≥ 4.4.3.84-5.0.0.4 – Exchange server backup with VSS writer fails due to retry with 'Microsoft Exchange Replica Writer'
  • Exchange Server backup running on the active node with VSS Writer 'Microsoft Exchange Writer' completes with an error and incorrectly attempts to run the backup again with 'Microsoft Exchange Replica Writer' and therefore fails.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4 SP1.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3-5.0.0.4 – Backup of NFS share shows warning List of EA returned with error: errno = 95, error = Operation not supported
  • Backup of NFS share shows the following warning for each processed file: List of EA returned with error: errno = 95, error = Operation not supported.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4 SP1.
SEP sesam v. ≥ 4.4.3.84-5.0.0.4 – SAP HANA backup exits with an error after a new read retry, even though everything has been backed up
  • When a SAP HANA backup is performed and a timeout occurs, the backup is retried and all items are backed up, but the backup is still treated as unsuccessful and exits with an error.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4 SP1.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3-5.0.0.4 – Restore from NetApp Snap Store using snapshot mount does not work
  • Restore from a NetApp Snap Store using snapshot mount does not work due to the incorrect drive number of a data store.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4 SP1.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3-5.0.0.4 – RHEV full CBT restore fails
  • RHEV full CBT restore fails with Cannot add Virtual Disk. VM <VM_name> is being imported. The problem occurs because the process did not wait for the VM to be in the DOWN state.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4 SP1.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.1-5.0.0.4 – Restore of a vSphere VM using migrated saveset fails when backup and migration were done with 4.4.3.x
  • Restoring a vSphere VM with v. 5.0.0.x using a migrated saveset fails if backup and migration were done with 4.4.3.x. The problem is caused by SEP sesam using the wrong .sgm file.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4 SP1.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.1-5.0.0.4 – The recorded data size after backup is incorrect
  • After the backup is complete, the data size DB:results.data_size' is not updated correctly.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4 SP1.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.4 – Automatic update of Windows RDS to version 5.0.0.4 may fail
  • (Windows only) When automatically updating Windows RDS (e.g., initiated by SEP sesam Server), the update may fail and the SEP sesam service will no longer start.
Workaround: Update the Windows RDS manually. If a pop-up window appears asking you to reboot the host, restart the host.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4 SP1.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3-5.0.0.4 – Uninstalling SEP sesam RPM packages on SLES 15 fails
  • Uninstalling SEP sesam Client and Server RPM packages on SLES 15 fails because of dependency problems.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4 SP1.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3 – Possible data loss due to a faulty purge function
  • Due to the missing database entry by the purge process ('Delete everything older than the oldest Sesam day'), an FSCK error may occur as sm_pur_status could accidentally remove backup information for migrated savesets. Although the migrated version of the backup still exists, it is no longer listed in the database. Consequently, the administrator may decide to use the funtion Clean up Data Store to fix the error, which results in the deletion of the migrated saveset and loss of data.
Resolution: This logic issue was addressed and fixed with 5.0.0.4.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3 – Possible data loss in case of migrated savesets with "lock" but expired retention
  • Migrated savesets with expired retention period and manually set write protection in one of the previous versions are no longer write-protected ("locked") after the update to Jaglion and are immediately purged if their end of lifetime (EOL) has expired. This problem was caused by missing support for locking individual migrated savesets in version 5.0.0.3 and could lead to data loss.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4. When updating to 5.0.0.4, the lock is successfully forwarded to the backup entry. Individual locks on migrated savesets now result in a lock for all savesets of the same backup.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3 – SAP HANA backup is aborted by SEP sesam
  • When running SAP HANA backup, SEP sesam aborts the backup job after about 18 minutes. This is due to the timeout setting, which is set to 540 seconds by default. SEP sesam multiplies this value and uses it as the limit in seconds for aborting running jobs (stop time).
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3 – Purging a backup on a data store does not delete metadata from the lis folder and may result in running out of disk space
  • After a purge has finished, the lis folder still contains the metadata even though the files (.data, .info, ...) and DB entries have been deleted, which can lead to running out of disk space.
Resolution: The logic is improved and the problem fixed with 5.0.0.4.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3 – Backup to tape with EOM fails with error Failed to detect lis file
  • Backup to tape with EOM fails with error message Failed to detect lis file.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4. The block size is now retrieved correctly from the segment file.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3 – Selective restore of Windows savesets from tapes fails with "no valid MTF Stream ID was found"
  • The selective restore of Windows savesets from tapes fails with the error message "no valid MTF Stream ID was found". The complete restore of these savesets works normally. This problem is caused by the block size not being retrieved from the segment file during a selective restore.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3 – Citrix XenServer VM restore to selected target data store fails
  • XenServer VM restore to selected target data store (Citrix storage repository – SR) fails as SEP sesam sbc_proxy does not use the selected SR for restore, but the default data store.
Resolution: Fixed with 5.0.0.4. The selected SR is now correctly used by sbc_proxy.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3 – A backup of a OES NetWare resource fails
  • After updating the OES cluster nodes to version 5.0.0.3, NSS backups are stopped due to NWSMTSConnectToTargetServiceEx CL3PROG_SERVER (NWSM_AUTH_UTF8_DATA - encoded). The problem only occurred when the source was a Linux cluster file system.
Resolution: NSS requires the use of the SSL 1.0.x library.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3 – Exchange backup fails with error a bytes-like object is required, not 'str'
  • After updating SEP sesam Windows Server to version 5.0.0.3, Exchange backups fail with ERROR: a bytes-like object is required, not 'str' .
Resolution: The logic is improved and the problem fixed with 5.0.0.4.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3 – SEP sesam on Linux gets stuck at shutdown after updating (or reinstalling) to version 5.0.0.3 Jaglion
  • After updating to version 5.0.0.3, SEP sesam on Linux gets stuck when closing the sesam processes and does not shut down, but waits for sesam service to finish for the maximum allowed time of 2 hours. The problem occurs due to the missing DB access when shutting down the system.
Resolution: Start SEP sesam PostgreSQL server with 'setpriv' instead of 'su/runuser', because 'systemd' terminates 'su' sessions before stopping SEPsesam service.
SEP sesam v. 5.0.0.3 – sm_shutdown instead of sm_main stop is called to stop SEP sesam on the client
  • The systemd unit file calls sm_shutdown instead of sm_main stop on the client. Stopping the sesam service on the SEP sesam Client does not stop all SEP sesam components, especially "sm_sshd". So it can happen that not all running SEP sesam components are stopped correctly.
Resolution: Now 'sm_main stop' is called successfully and the problem is fixed with 5.0.0.4.

SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.75 – Tape restore performance is slower than backup performance
  • When restoring from tape the performance is 2-3 times slower than the performance of the backup.
Resolution: Fixed; fill the second buffer while processing the first buffer, EOF handling adapted.
SEP sesam v. ≥ 4.4.3 – 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 (in sm.ini and/or stpd.ini) is changed from the default port.
Resolution: You can now set the STPD service TCP port on the client (client properties -> Options tab -> Listen port) to the new TCP port.

Enhancements and changes

Nutanix AHV

With Jaglion, SEP sesam provides efficient data protection for Nutanix AHV virtual machines (VMs). The Nutanix AHV module is supported on SEP sesam Linux Server and on SEP sesam Windows Server, using a Linux Client as a data mover. You can easily back up and restore Nutanix AHV VMs, as described in Nutanix AHV Backup and Nutanix AHV Restore.

Authentication and authorization

The authentication and authorization concept is enhanced with two new user types - superuser, which replaces the previous admin role, and backup user. Now only a user with Superuser privileges can configure authentication and attach permissions (ACLs) to created users. For details, see About Authentication and Authorization and Using Access Control lists.

Certificate-based authentication

Now it is possible to authenticate users via a signed certificate instead of a user password if a database-based authentication is enabled. Note that the users from external authentication sources (LDAP/AD) cannot be authenticated using a certificate (only by using a password). For details, see Configuring Certificate-Based Authentication.

Automating backup process

To simplify backing up multiple VMs, you can automate the process by automatically generating tasks for VMs that are connected to the same host; you can also automatically create clients for VMs that can be assigned the generated tasks and ACLs. It is recommended to use these features when a new hypervisor is added and many new VMs need to be backed up. For details, see Automating Backup Process.

HPE Cloud Volumes storage

In addition to HPE StoreOnce Catalyst stores and HPE Cloud Bank storage, you can now use HPE Cloud Volumes as backup storage. The HPE Cloud Volumes solution provides efficient direct backup, replication, and restore. Although you can use HPE Cloud Volume store for direct backups, it is recommended that you use it more as a secondary target repository for replication. For details, see HPE Cloud Volumes Backup.

Resilient Change Tracking for Hyper-V

For Microsoft Windows Server 2016 or later, the Resilient Change Tracking feature (RCT) is supported to back up Hyper-V virtual machines. Similar to CBT for VMware and Citrix, incremental backup technology RCT for Hyper-V detects block-level changes and backs up only the data that has changed since the last incremental backup. This allows you to back up VMs faster while saving storage space. See RCT for Hyper-V.

Oracle-VM task type

The new Oracle-VM task type is available to perform agentless snapshot-based backups of all OLVM virtual machines, regardless of their workload or operating system. See OLVM Backup.

New and improved with web Restore Assistant

The web Restore Assistant supports new task types and offers new features and an intuitive user experience that makes restoring data online quick and easy. For details, see Restore Assistant.

Web single file restore (SFR) for VMs

In the web interface Restore assistant, you can now restore individual files from VMware, Hyper-V, RHV/OLVM, Citrix Hypervisor, KVM/QEMU, OpenNebula and Nutanix AHV virtual machines online, if you have been granted the appropriate permissions. SFR for Proxmox VE VM is currently not supported. For details, see Web Single File Restore for Virtual Machines.

Web Exchange restore

Now it is possible to restore a single Exchange mailbox database using SEP sesam Exchange Recovery Pro via the web interface Restore Assistant. Exchange Recovery Pro is only supported on Windows systems and must be installed on the system serving as SEP sesam Server or SEP sesam RDS. See Web Exchange Restore.

Web VMware sandbox restore

Enhanced VMware sandbox restore via the web Restore Assistant can be performed in advanced restore mode. It provides improved functionality and usability of the recovery options, i.e. the use of run and execution commands of the VMware guest tools. See VMware Sandbox Restore.

Web MS SQL restore

Online restore of MS SQL Server databases is supported with specific recovery state options (leave the database ready for use by rolling back uncommitted transactions, etc.) and additional execution options (overwrite existing items with newer/older items from backup and skip ACL settings during restore). See Web MS SQL Restore.

New Si3 NG deduplication store

The new generation of Si3 deduplication store, Si3 NG, offers significantly improved performance and allows you to back up your data to S3 cloud storage. You can upgrade from Si3 to Si3 NG by configuring a new Si3 NG on the same host using the enable_gui_allow_multi_dedup key and creating a replication job to replicate from the Si3 to the Si3 NG store. For details, see Replicating from Si3 to Si3 NG.

Web UI enhancements

SEP sesam Web UI now provides a more detailed overview of jobs and tasks, improved monitoring of the SEP sesam environment, and the possibility of performing different operations, e.g., running or locking the backups, restarting failed jobs, etc. For details, see SEP sesam Web UI.

GUI enhancements

  • Under the Configuration -> Defaults -> General tab, two additional options are available. Now you can use Sort case insensitive option to ensure that upper- and lowercase letters are treated the same when sorting results. Additionally, new filter option allows you to set a delay for reloading data when changing the filter(s). For details, see Configuration: Defaults.
  • When creating a backup task on Linux, you can now set that deleted or modified files are not reported as errors. For details, see Creating a Backup Task.
  • Now you can start the replication immediately under the Activities -> Immediate Start -> Replication, see Activities.

Technical improvements

  • In previous SEP sesam versions, the backup locked state (savesets of the backup cannot be deleted) is applied to the selected backup only, so you have to lock all backups of a backup chain manually. As of Jaglion, the locked state is automatically applied to all backups in the backup chain. See Backups by State.
  • When backing up Citrix Hypervisor VMs, you can exclude individual virtual disk (VHD) from Full/Diff/Incr backup in the SEP sesam GUI to avoid storage occupancy. For details, see Citrix XenServer Backup.
  • Expiring a tape provides a new option to delete all metadata, which erases all tape media metadata and initializes the tape (if the tape is loaded in a drive), removing access to all existing data on the tape.

End of maintenance and support

Obsolete SEP sesam Server versions

The following versions of SEP sesam are no longer supported:

Discontinued SEP sesam Server OS

The following table lists the last available version of SEP sesam Server or RDS components for specified operating systems. You can continue using the last available version of SEP sesam on these operating systems, but SEP AG no longer provides updates or fixes for the specified versions.

For SEP sesam Client versions, backward compatibility is maintained and the last available versions for a platform are continuously supported. On older platforms you can use older versions of SEP sesam Client component, but it is recommended to combine such clients with the latest versions of SEP sesam Server and RDS components.

SEP sesam Release Versions

Operating system Last available version Release Notes
Windows Server 2012 5.1.0.7 Apollon 5.1.0 Apollon
RHEL 7 5.1.0.7 Apollon 5.1.0 Apollon
Debian 9 »Stretch« 5.0.0.15 Jaglion V2 5.0.0 Jaglion V2
SLES 11 SP2, SP3, SP4 4.4.3.x Beefalo V2, see notes 4.4.3 Beefalo V2 SEP announced that it would no longer support SLES 11 SP2, SP3, SP4 with SEP sesam Beefalo, but has re-established support for Beefalo V2, where all SEP sesam Beefalo V2 packages (Server, Client, etc.) can be used. However, Beefalo V2 is the last available SEP sesam release for SLES 11 SP2, SP3, SP4 .
Windows Server 2008 R2 4.4.3.x Beefalo V2, see notes 4.4.3 Beefalo V2 SEP announced that it would no longer support SEP sesam Server on Windows Server 2008 R2 with SEP sesam Beefalo, but has re-established this support already in Beefalo. This actually means that the last available SEP sesam Server release for Windows Server 2008 R2 is Beefalo V2.
Ubuntu 16.04 4.4.3.84 Beefalo V2 4.4.3 Beefalo V2
RHEL 6 4.4.3.64 Grolar 4.4.3 Grolar
Debian 8 »Jessie« 4.4.3.64 Grolar 4.4.3 Grolar
Debian 7 »Wheezy« 4.4.3.64 Grolar 4.4.3 Grolar Version 4.4.3.64 only available for sesam-cli on amd64
Windows Server 2008 4.4.3.64 Grolar 4.4.3 Grolar
Windows 7 4.4.3.64 Grolar 4.4.3 Grolar
Ubuntu 14.04 4.4.3.48 Tigon V2 4.4.3 Tigon V2
All 32-bit operating systems 4.2.2.40 4.2.2 For some operating systems SEP sesam client is still available in 32-bit.
SLES 10 4.2.2.40 4.2.2
RHEL 5 4.2.2.40 4.2.2
Debian 6 »Squeeze« 4.2.2.40 4.2.2 sesam-cli also available in version 4.4.1.22
Windows Server 2003 4.2.2.40 4.2.2
Debian 5 »Lenny« 4.2.1.34 4.2.1
SLES 11 ≤ SP1 4.2.1.34 4.2.1 Initial SLES 11 Release and Servicepack 1


Major fixes and changes

See also

SEP sesam Release Versions