Steps to Upgrade to Backup Exec 20.x and above

 

Below are the steps to upgrade from earlier versions of Backup Exec. Note: a Direct upgrade is only supported from Backup Exec 2014 and later versions

 

1.      Login to the Backup Server with the Backup Exec service account credentials.

 

2.      Stop all the Backup Exec services and the SQL service for BKUPEXEC.

 

3.      Take a backup of Data and Catalogs folder from “ X:\Program Files\Symantec\Backup Exec\” folder or “ X:\Program Files\Veritas\Backup Exec\” [X represents driver where Backup Exec is installed]

 

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

 

5.      Now Start the SQL service for BKUPEXEC

 

6.      Mount the ISO for the Backup Exec 20.x installer onto the Backup Server

 

7.      Double Click on Browser.exe (Due to security settings, some environments may require Browser.exe to be started using 'Run as Admin')

       

 

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

       

 

9.      Click on I accept and click Next

        

     

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

         

 

11.     Wait for the Environment Check to Complete

         

 

12.     Enter the License Keys and click “Next”

        

 

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

         

 

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

         

 

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

          

 

16.     Continue with the Upgrade Steps:

             

 

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

 

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

         

 

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

 

20.     In the alerts you will see the below alert which will indicate that the Deduplication folder is being converted to the new version 10 with estimated time

          

           

 

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

         

 

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

 

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

              

 

 

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

 

Note:-

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

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

Any earlier version of Backup Exec will need to be upgraded to supported versions to be upgraded to Latest version of Backup Exec