Veritas NetBackup™ Appliance Release Notes

Last Published:
Product(s): Appliances (5.0)
Platform: NetBackup Appliance OS

New features, enhancements, and changes for NetBackup Appliance 5.0

The following list describes the new features, enhancements, and changes in the NetBackup appliance 5.0 release:

  • Direct upgrade paths for 5.0

    The following describes the supported direct upgrade paths for version 5.0:

    • 5240, 5250, 5330, or 5340 appliances with versions 3.2, 3.3.0.1, 4.0 and 4.1

    • 5350 appliances with versions 4.0 and 4.1

    For complete details about upgrades to version 5.0, see the NetBackup Appliance Upgrade Guide.

  • Software upgrades for NetBackup 5330 Appliance not supported after 5.0 release

    Release 5.0 is the last software version that you can use to upgrade NetBackup 5330 Appliance models. After this release, the NetBackup 5330 will have no additional updates through its end of support life on August 30th, 2023.

  • NIS user support is deprecated

    NIS user support, with or without Kerberos authentication, is deprecated and will not be supported in NetBackup Appliance releases after version 5.0.

  • Non-privileged user or service user account to run NetBackup services

    Starting with this release, most master server services can be run with a non-privileged user or non-root user, which is highly recommended. The non-privileged user is referred to as service user and is intended to run only NetBackup services.

    For more information on the service user account, read the following knowledge base article:

    Setting up the NetBackup service user

  • Two Factor Authentication

    Two Factor Authentication (2FA) with smart cards is optional for primary and media servers. When it is enabled, LDAP users with CAC/PIV cards can log into the NetBackup Appliance Web Console with their cards. The option to log in with username and password is still available on the login page and either method can be selected. The Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP), which denies authentication for revoked client certificates, is always on. Enabling smart card authentication is done though the command interface.

    To enable this feature:

    • Configure LDAP for remote authentication.

    • Add the Certificate Authority (CA) certificate chain of the issuer of client certificates.

    • Use the new Smart card menu to configure and enable smart card authentication.

    For complete details, see the NetBackup Appliance Security Guide and the NetBackup Appliance Adminitrator's Guide.

  • Changes to NetBackupCLI user privileges

    Starting with this release, NetBackupCLI users can only run some commands as a superuser and are required to follow the NetBackup CLI authorization mechanism to authenticate and run such commands. For more details, see the following:

    NetBackup Appliance Security Guide

    NetBackup Appliance Commands Reference Guide

  • Enhancements to Call Home configuration

    A Call Home test is generated automatically when performing the following tasks:

    • During the initial configuration.

    • During the configuration for GUI notifications.

    • During the upgrade checklist tasks from the Appliance Upgrade Readiness Analyzer.

    The Call Home test is intended to recommend users to turn on the Call Home feature and set it up correctly.

    If Call Home is disabled, a message appears on the header when the user logs in from the appliance shell menu.

  • STIG version updated

    Starting with this release, the STIG version has been updated as follows:

    STIG for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Server - V3R3

  • Support for MSDP direct cloud tiering

    Starting with NetBackup Appliance release 4.0, the Cloud Catalyst feature is no longer supported. You are encouraged to move to MSDP direct cloud tiering technology with its improved performance, reliability, usability, and flexibility compared to the earlier Cloud Catalyst product. The following scenarios are supported:

    • New NetBackup Appliance installations

      You can deploy any new NetBackup Appliance with software version 5.0 and later and configure it to use MSDP direct cloud tiering.

    • Existing Cloud Catalyst Appliance installations

      You can re-image most existing installations of Cloud Catalyst appliances with software version 5.0 and later to use MSDP direct cloud tiering.

      For complete details about MSDP direct cloud tiering, see the Veritas NetBackup Deduplication Guide.

      For additional details about migrating NetBackup appliances configured for Cloud Catalyst to MSDP direct cloud tiering, see the NetBackup Appliance Decommissioning and Reconfiguration Guide, Appendix A.

  • New SMTP alert commands

    Starting with this release, the following SMTP commands have been added to the appliance shell menu:

    Settings > Alerts > Email SMTP Encryption

    Settings > Alerts > Email SMTP ConfigurePort

    For complete details, see the NetBackup Appliance Commands Reference Guide.

  • New CIFSShare command

    Starting with this release, the following CIFSShare command has been added to the appliance shell menu:

    Settings > Security > Authentication > CIFSShare > RestrictAnonymous

    The command lets you restrict SAMR access to prevent Microsoft application connections to the CIFS share.

    For complete details, see the NetBackup Appliance Commands Reference Guide.

  • New CA certificate commands

    Starting with this release, the following CA certificate commands have been added to the appliance shell menu:

    Settings> Security > Certificate> Add CACertificateMSDP

    Settings> Security > Certificate> Remove CACertificate

    For complete details, see the following:

    NetBackup Appliance Commands Reference Guide

    NetBackup Appliance Security Guide

  • New FIPS support

    Starting with this release, you can enable the FIPS 140-2 standard for MSDP, NetBackup and VxOS. The NetBackup Cryptographic Module, which is used by MSDP, NetBackup and VxOS, has been FIPS validated. The following commands have been added to the appliance shell menu:

    Settings > Security > FIPS Enable MSDP (followed by the maintenance password)

    Settings > Security > FIPS Enable NetBackup (followed by the maintenance password)

    Settings > Security > FIPS Enable VxOS (followed by the maintenance password)

    Settings > Security > FIPS Enable All (followed by the maintenance password)

    For complete details, see the following:

    NetBackup Appliance Commands Reference Guide

    NetBackup Appliance Security Guide

  • Changes and additions to DataCollect commands

    Starting with this release, several updates have been made to the Support > DataCollect menu, along with the addition of the following new command:

    Support > DataCollect > sanitization

    For complete details, see the NetBackup Appliance Commands Reference Guide.

  • New Security > Sessions commands menu

    Starting with this release, you can use the Sessions commands to set and show the maximum number of concurrent sessions for the appliance interfaces.

    For complete details, see the following:

    NetBackup Appliance Commands Reference Guide

    NetBackup Appliance Security Guide

  • Additional audit log support

    Starting with release 4.1, support was added to audit the appliance shell menu access logs. The NetBackup Appliance Security Guide for the 4.1 release did not include this information. This oversight has been corrected and that version of the guide has been republished to include it.

    Starting with this release, both the appliance shell menu and appliance web console access logs can be audited and forwarded. For more information, see the topic "Log Forwarding feature overview" (Chapter 5) in the NetBackup Appliance Security Guide.

  • IPsec configuration commands removed temporarily from appliance shell menu

    To address and resolve defects related to IPsec configuration, starting with this release, the following IPsec configuration commands have been removed temporarily from the appliance shell menu:

    Network > Security > Configure

    Network > Security > Delete

    Network > Security > Provision

    Network > Security > Refresh

    Network > Security > Show

    Network > Security > Unconfigure

    Once all defects have been resolved, the above commands will be re-enabled and available in a future NetBackup Appliance release. Until then, please contact Veritas Support for assistance to configure IPsec on a NetBackup Appliance.

  • New hardware alert commands

    Starting with release 4.0, several new commands were added to the Main > Settings > Alerts > Hardware menu for the following threshold settings:

    CPUIdleThreshold Set

    CPUIdleThreshold Show

    CPUIOWaitThreshold Set

    CPUIOWaitThreshold Show

    DiskSystemSwapThreshold Set

    DiskSystemSwapThreshold Show

    Hardware DiskSystemLogThreshold Set

    Hardware DiskSystemLogThreshold Show

    Hardware DiskSystemRootThreshold Set

    DiskSystemRootThreshold Show

    Hardware MemorySwapFreeThreshold Set

    MemorySwapFreeThreshold Show

    MemoryUtilizationThreshold Set

    MemoryUtilizationThreshold Show

    The NetBackup Appliance Commands Reference Guide for the 4.0 and 4.1 releases did not include these command descriptions. This oversight has been corrected and those versions of the guide have been republished to include the above commands.

  • Universal Share creation and storage recovery removed from NetBackup Appliance interfaces

    Starting with this release, the ability to create Universal Shares and to recover Universal Share storage has been removed from the appliance web console and shell menu interfaces. To perform these tasks, you must use the NetBackup web UI. Upgrades to release 5.0 will migrate existing Universal Shares automatically to the NetBackup web UI. For complete details, see the Veritas NetBackup web UI Administrator's Guide for NetBackup release 10.0.