Release Notes 5.0.0 Jaglion: Difference between revisions

From SEPsesam
(Updating with new features, in progress.)
(Removed GUI issues (UST).)
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====''Minor GUI issues''====
====''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.
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
;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.)
:*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.
}}
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{{Box Hint|Fixed with [https://download.sep.de/ SEP sesam Server 5.0.0 ''Jaglion'']|
{{Box Hint|Fixed with [https://download.sep.de/ SEP sesam Server 5.0.0 ''Jaglion'']|

Revision as of 09:11, 11 October 2021

Draft.png WORK IN PROGRESS
This article is in the initial stage and may be updated, replaced or deleted at any time. It is inappropriate to use this document as reference material as it is a work in progress and should be treated as such.

Template:Copyright SEP AG en

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 glance

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.

Backup & Restore
  • Now also supported: Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV) backup and restore. 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.
  • 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.
  • The web restore assistant now supports restoring new task types (Nutanix AHV, Micro Focus GroupWise, etc.) and additional restore options are available when restoring data online.
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:

  • Debian 11 (bullseye)

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
  • SLES11

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 xx
No changes since the last (Beefalo V2) release. For details see Java Compatibility Matrix, same requirements as for Beefalo.

Installation and upgrades

SEP sesam 5.0.0 Jaglion was initially released on xxth of xx, 2021. Direct upgrade for versions 4.4.3.X to version 5.0.0 Jaglion is supported.

Latest released versions are:

  • SEP sesam 5.0.0 Linux Tux.gif – released: x of <month>, <year>.
  • SEP sesam 5.0.0 Windows Win7.gif – released: x of <month>, <year>.
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 
Win7.gif Windows specific

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.

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.
5.0.0 Jaglion 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.
Warning sign.pngSEP sesam v. 4.4.3.84 – (Linux) Backup to VTL library* completed successfully even though there were media write errors reported and backup could not be completed
  • (Applies only to Linux) When backing up to VTL, the VTL library cannot continue writing to the underlying block device due to insufficient space and tracks error. SMS ignores the error and continues writing the data to VTL without sufficient space. The Backup log shows "backup completed successfully" although it actually failed and no data was written to backup media.
    (*This behavior is seen with the QUADStor VTL only.)
Workaround: Download the hotfix from SEP Download Center to your Linux server or RDS and install it by executing the following commands as root in a terminal session. Attention: This operation will stop all running backups.
#>sm_main stop node
#>cd /opt/sesam
#>tar xvzf <hotfix file> 
#>sm_main start node

Severity: SECURITY

SEP sesam v. 5.0.0 – (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 SSL key and certificate cannot be created.
Workaround : Make sure that you use CPUs with supported AVX versions (AVX, AVX2 or AVX-512). They are listed in the article Advanced Vector Extensions.

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
SEP sesam v. 4.4.3.74 – Cancelling a Citrix XEN backup task does not abort the backup execution
  • Aborting a Citrix Xen backup task does not prevent the backup job from running as SEP sesam does not pass a cancel request to the running sbc_proxy and sbc process. Therefore the backup process will be running without interruption. Be aware that killing the sbc_proxy or sbc process manually will keep the snapshots; in this case, snapshots must be released manually.
Workaround: Only if you have aborted Citrix XEN backups manually by killing the sbc_proxy or sbc process, don't forget to release these snapshots as they are not managed by SEP sesam automatically. SEP is working on this issue and will provide a fix as soon as possible.

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 – 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.)
Fixed with SEP sesam Server 5.0.0 Jaglion:
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 only on SEP sesam Linux Server. 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.

Web Restore Assistant enhancements

With Jaglion, the web interface Restore Assistant has been significantly improved and now supports new task types and provides additional restore options. For details, see Restore Assistant.

Web single file restore for VMs

In the web interface Restore assistant, you can now restore single files of VMware, Hyper-V, RHV/OLVM, Citrix Hypervisor, KVM/QEMU, and OpenNebula virtual machines (VMs) online, if you have been granted the appropriate permissions. Single file restore for Proxmox VE and Nutanix AHV 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 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.

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

Upcoming end of support

SEP sesam 4.4.3 Grolar -> October 2021

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