Release Notes 4.4.3 Tigon

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What's new in SEP sesam v. 4.4.3 Tigon

SEP sesam new release, a hybrid Tigon, brings a fistful of features that may help improve protecting data in your environment and ease the administration tasks.

Version 4.4.3 Tigon introduces new KVM-related backup extension that is already a part of a SEP sesam Tigon client. It provides efficient data protection for libvirt-based KVM virtualization.

A new extension is included for online backup of SAP ASE based on Sybase database.

SEP sesam supports automatic backup for newly added VMware virtual machines (VMs).

Windows Server 2016 is fully supported with a new version of the disaster recovery solution SEP sesam BSR Pro 2.0 for Windows.

SSL certificates are used to enhance security and help strengthen data protection by providing secure connection of data transfer to and from SEP sesam Remote Device Server (RDS).

Si3 encryption can be defined on the Si3 deduplication store level. The Si3 deduplication store can now be used for initial seeding.

SEP sesam NDMP now supports single file restore from dump backups with selective restore and allows to exclude certain files from backups.

RHV VM restore introduces VM reduction by creating a thin-provisioned disk file.

GUI enhancements enable you to set database-based authentication and set the default data size units.

If SEP sesam Server is running, the REST API can be accessed via the base URL: http://<host>:<port>/sep/api/. For details, see Using SEP sesam REST API.

SEP sesam Server requirements

Java 8
SEP sesam Windows Server and GUI require Java 8 to work properly. Other operating systems require Java 7. For details, see Java Compatibility Matrix.
JavaFX
JavaFX is required for the web dashboard and user-defined schedules features. The dashboard can also be viewed in GUI, but only if JavaFX is present on the respective GUI client. If JavaFX is not available, the web dashboard can only be accessed by browser (http://[servername]:11401/sep/ui).
Information sign.png Note
Oracle®'s Java 8 already includes JavaFX (e.g., on Windows). Oracle®'s OpenJFX Project provides JavaFX packages that can be installed separately if some other Java version is used, such as IBM Java, which is typically installed on SuSE. Depending on your system and Java version, manually install either OpenJFX package or Oracle®'s Java 8 on your SEP sesam GUI client to have all the latest features available.
64-bit or PowerPC (PPC) architecture required
SEP sesam Server requires an operating system running on 64-bit or a PowerPC (PPC) architecture. PowerPC (PPC) is supported for several Linux distributions, see SEP sesam Support Matrix.

For details, see SEP sesam Support Matrix and SEP sesam Server hardware requirements.

Installation and upgrades

SEP sesam 4.4.3 Tigon was released on June 26st, 2017. Direct upgrade for versions 3.6/4.x to version 4.4.3 Tigon is supported.

Latest released versions are:

  • SEP sesam 4.4.3.39 Linux Tux.gif – released: June 26st, 2017.
  • SEP sesam 4.4.3.39 Windows Win7.gif – released: June 26st, 2017.
Win7.gif Windows specific

The 4.4.3 Tigon installation package on Windows also includes:

  • VMware® Virtual Disk Development Kit (VDDK) version 6.5 for Windows.
  • Callback File System® (CBFS®) version 6.1.181 from EldoS Corporation, used to create virtual file systems and disks for save sets which are stored on SEP sesam local data store or Si3 deduplication store.
Information sign.png Note
A CBFS driver is needed for the virtual file system layer (Cross Platform Recovery File System – XPRFS). The installation/update of this driver requires a reboot of your newly installed or updated Windows SEP sesam Server unless this driver is already installed with a previous SEP sesam 4.4.3 installation.

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 Automatic Updates and Automatic Installation on Windows.

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.
4.4.3 Tigon known issues:
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39 – Saveset EOL is automatically adjusted and may result in over-increased EOL
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.39, a Saveset EOL is automatically adjusted for:
    • DIFF/INCR backups and migrations, when a save set belonging to the FDI chain has too short EOL; if such a save set is missing in the target pool and its EOL could expire too soon, then any consecutive DIFF/INCR backup or migration that is running on a pool with longer EOL will increase the EOL of the media pool for the respective save set.
    • Failed backups and migrations; this results in extended EOL of the previous successful backup, either a COPY backup or complete FDI chain.
  • In such cases, the EOL of a save set stored on another pool is automatically extended. In the case of migration of DIFF/INCR save sets (when a save set belonging to the FDI chain is missing in the migration pool), this may lead to excessive EOL prolongation for media pools that originally have a very short EOL. For example, because DIFF/INCR migration detects that a save set belonging to the FDI backup chain is missing in the migration media pool, the EOL of the original pool is automatically extended, e.g., DAY (EOL: 5) to EOL of YEAR (EOL: 375).
Workaround: To prevent automatic EOL adjustment in the case of DIFF/INCR save sets migration, make sure that you have set the sesam profile, then run the following command: sm_glbv w gv_adjust_eol_only_on_pool 1. In other two cases (DIFF/INCR backups and failed backups and migrations), the automatic EOL adjustment works as expected and cannot be switched off.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39 – Hyper-V restore does not support target volume different than source volume
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.39, you can only restore Hyper-V VM to the same target volume as the source volume.
Workaround: Restore a VM to the original location as described in Hyper-V Restore. SEP support is working on this issue and will provide a fix as soon as possible.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39 – Microsoft SQL Server backup with source '{instance}/{database}' fails with 'Could not find DB with .../... name'
  • In SEP sesam 4.4.3.39, you cannot use backup sources with '{instance}/{database}' for Microsoft SQL Server backup tasks.
Workaround: Use backup source 'all'.
SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39 – the GUI on SEP sesam Linux Server does not allow to change media properties
  • In SEP sesam version 4.4.3.39, the GUI on Linux SEP sesam Server throws an exception when changing media properties.
Resolve: Fixed with a hotfix. You can download the sm_ui.jar from [hotfix sm_ui.jar] into <SESAM_BIN>/bin/gui folder on SEP sesam Server. Then restart the SEP sesam UI server by running sm_main reload rmi. SEP sesam Clients can be updated the next time they connect to the server. For automatic client updates, see Using sm_update_client for automatic updates.


Enhancements and changes

New supported systems

SEP sesam Server 4.4.3 Tigon supports the following operating systems and applications:

Newly supported operating systems

Newly supported applications

  • vSphere 6.5
  • Hyper-V 2016

You can download SEP sesam from the SEP sesam download center. For a complete list of supported OS and databases, see SEP sesam Support Matrix.

libvirt-based KVM virtualization

New backup extension provides efficient data protection for libvirt-based KVM virtualization. It performs online backups of KVM/QEMU virtual machines using snapshot technology and provides a complete or configuration restore to the same or another target. For details, see KVM/QEMU Backup.

SAP ASE

New backup extension provides efficient data protection for SAP ASE. It performs online backups of SAP based on Sybase ASE databases using the Sybase SQL API. For details, see SAP ASE Configuration.

Automating backup of VMware virtual machines

Whenever a new vCenter or ESXi host is added and there are a lot of new VMs present, it is possible to automate VMs backup by including VMs to task groups and using the option Create VM tasks. For details, see Automating Backup of Virtual Machines.

SEP sesam BSR Pro 2.0 for Windows

New version BSR Pro 2.0 for Windows – Windows Server 2016 now fully supported – has a new user interface with improved operability, introduces command line function and live update, and has enhanced backup and imaging speed. For more details, see BSR Pro 2.0 – Disaster Recovery for Windows.

SSL secured communication

SEP sesam introduces SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protocol to authenticate identities, encrypt and securely transfer data. SSL requires certificates to authenticate clients and establish a secure and trusted communication channel between SBC (sesam backup client) and STPD. For details on configuration, see Configuring SSL Secured Communication for SEP sesam Backup Network.

Si3 encryption

SEP sesam provides encryption for Si3 deduplication store to help ensure compliance with data protection legislation. For details, see Encrypting Si3 Deduplication Store.

Seeding Si3 deduplication store

An Si3 deduplication store can now be used for initial seeding, typically to set up a new Si3 deduplication store for the purpose of replication. For details, see Seeding Si3 Deduplication Store.

NDMP single file restore

SEP sesam introduces selective restore for NDMP. It is now possible to restore single files from dump backups (files and directories are backed up to tape). For details, see NDMP Restore.

RHV VM reduction

During RHV restore, SEP sesam uses the dd utility to create a thin-provisioned (sparse) disk file, thus restoring only the actual size of the VMs. This reduction can be configured in the last step of the restore wizard by clicking Expert Options -> tab Options: Restore options -> enter the option: -a use_dd. For details, see Restoring RHEV Virtual Machines.

GUI enhancements

Database-based authentication can be enabled from GUI by activating authentication under the Permission Management. This is the only way to set the password for the Administrator user. For details, see Configuring Database-Based Authentication.
GUI can be customized according to your needs – besides setting up different GUI layouts and filtering displayed contents, you can also change default data size units. For details, see Customizing GUI.

MSP license

The new Managed Service Provider license model is available. For more information, contact sales@sep.de.

End of maintenance and support

Obsolete SEP sesam Server version

No changes since SEP sesam version 4.4.3.

Unsupported SEP sesam Server OS

No changes since SEP sesam version 4.4.3.

Major fixes and changes