Veritas NetBackup™ Appliance Release Notes

Last Published:
Product(s): Appliances (4.0)
Platform: NetBackup Appliance OS

New features, enhancements, and changes for NetBackup Appliance 4.0

The following list describes the new features, enhancements, and changes in the NetBackup appliance 4.0 release:

  • Requirement to change all factory default passwords

    Starting with this release, you are required to change the default passwords for the primary appliance user accounts. For new version 4.0 appliances or appliances re-imaged with version 4.0, after logging in for the first time with the default credentials (admin/P@ssw0rd), launching the initial configuration prompts you to change the following passwords:

    • admin

    • maintenance

    • sysadmin (IPMI)

    For upgrades to version 4.0, the upgrade RPM preflight check and the Appliance Upgrade Readiness Analyzer both check for existing default passwords for these user accounts and recommends that you to change them.

  • Veritas NetInsights to replace MyAppliance portal

    The MyAppliance portal is no longer supported with the release of the Veritas NetInsights Console and will be decommissioned. Appliance registration should be done by signing in to the NetInsights portal (https://netInsights.veritas.com) with your Veritas Account Manager credentials. For more information, see the Veritas Appliance AutoSupport Reference Guide and the Veritas NetInsights Console User Guide.

    Note:

    The 4.0 software release still contains references to the MyAppliance portal in the web console configuration Welcome and Registration pages. You should ignore these references and use the NetInsights portal for appliance registration.

  • Smart Meter name replaced with Veritas Usage Insights

    Starting with this release (and NetBackup 9.0), the Smart Meter name has been changed to Veritas Usage Insights. All requirements regarding registration keys remain the same, and there is no impact to appliances with an existing Smart Meter key. For more information, see the Veritas NetInsights Console User Guide, the Veritas Appliance AutoSupport Reference Guide, or click the following link and sign in to the NetInsights portal with your Veritas Account Manager credentials: https://netInsights.veritas.com.

  • NFSv4 support

    Starting with this release, NetBackup appliances support NFSv4 from the appliance server side. All shares exported by the appliance can be mounted using NFSv4, including system shares and backup shares such as Universal shares and Copilot shares.

  • SNMP V3 support

    Starting with this release, NetBackup appliances support SNMP V3, which provides the ability to enable authentication and encryption security features for SNMP users. For more details, see the NetBackup Appliance Administrator's Guide.

  • Resize or move NetBackup VxUpdate repository partition

    Starting with this release, you can resize the NetBackup VxUpdate repository partition upward from its minimum size of 100 GB. The maximum size of the partition is dependent on the amount of all unallocated storage. You can resize this partition using the NetBackup Appliance Web Console or the NetBackup Appliance Shell Menu. You can also move the NetBackup VxUpdate repository partition to any other disk volumes using the web console or the shell menu.

    For more details, see the following:

    NetBackup Appliance Administrator's Guide

    NetBackup Appliance Commands Reference Guide

  • Restriction for retaining data when performing a factory reset

    If you upgrade to version 4.0 from versions 3.1 through 3.3.0.1, you cannot perform a factory reset (Main > Support > FactoryReset) and retain the backup data. The backup data cannot be retained because the data format was updated during a previous upgrade. The new data format cannot be reverted and the older software versions cannot recognize the new data format. Therefore, the software version still reverts back to an older version, but all of the data will be removed.

    If you upgrade to version 4.0 from version 3.0, you can perform a factory reset and retain the backup data, but the software version is not reverted and remains at 4.0.

  • New File Manager feature

    The Manage page in the appliance web console now includes a File Manager tab. Use this feature to manage the certificate files and other similar files that you manually upload to the appliance. For more details, see the NetBackup Appliance Administrator's Guide.

  • New upload option for software updates

    The Manage > Software Updates page now includes an Upload feature. Use this feature to upload hotfixes/patches, add-ons, and the Appliance Upgrade Readiness Analyzer to an appliance. For more details, see the NetBackup Appliance Administrator's Guide.

  • Guest and local user access to Universal Shares

    Starting with this release, after the upgrade has completed, Guest users and existing local users cannot access a Universal Share or CIFS shares. After the upgrade, you can grant access to these shares as follows:

    • Guest users: Replace a Guest user by creating a new local user.

    • Existing local users: Change the passwords for these users.

  • New data encryption option for MSDP partition

    Starting with this release, you can select to enable or disable encryption for the data that is stored on the MSDP partition with the following command:

    Main > Settings > Deduplication > Tune MSDP_ENCRYPTION

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

  • New command to manage access to general CIFS shares

    NetBackup Appliance uses general CIFS shares for some of its internal operations such as storing patches and installation files, uploading logs to support, forwarding logs to an external server, and uploading OST plug-ins.

    Starting with this release, you must manage access to the general CIFS shares for all local users and Active Directory users and user groups (except the admin user). Use the Settings > Security > Authentication > CIFSShare command to manage access to the general CIFS shares. For more details, see the NetBackup Appliance Commands Reference Guide.

  • New shell menu location for PasswordExpiry command

    Starting with this release, the PasswordExpiry command option has been moved from the Main > Manage > NetBackupCLI menu to the Main > Settings > Security > Authentication > LocalUser menu. This change provides for one location to configure the PasswordExpiry for all local users, including NetBackupCLI users. For more details, see the NetBackup Appliance Commands Reference Guide.

  • New DataCollect commands

    Starting with this release, the DataCollect command set has been expanded to gather more information and to help you manage all of the collected logs. The new commands include options that let you do the following:

    • A Cleanstart option that deletes all existing datacollect logs and generates a new one.

    • Delete all previous appliance datacollect logs and gather a new datacollect log.

    • Check the progress for any current datacollect process.

    • Upload datacollect logs to a specific location/path or to the Veritas server.

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

  • New commands for setting appliance security level

    Starting with this release, you can set the security level on NetBackup appliances to restrict user access to the appliance operating system (VxOS). When the security level is set to High, the following restrictions are enforced in the appliance web console and the appliance shell menu:

    • Users can no longer access the Maintenance user account to troubleshoot or manage underlying operating system tasks (the Support > Maintenance menu is not available from the shell menu).

    • Users can no longer create and delete NetBackupCLI users (the Manage > NetBackupCLI menu is not available from the shell menu).

    • Users can no longer grant or revoke the NetBackupCLI role (the Authorization > Grant NetBackupCLI menu is not available from the shell menu).

    • Users with the NetBackupCLI role cannot log in to the appliance.

      For more details, see the following documents:

      NetBackup Appliance Security Guide

      NetBackup Appliance Commands Reference Guide

  • New command to download upgrade analyzer tool

    Starting with this release, you can use the following command in the appliance shell menu to download the Appliance Upgrade Readiness Analyzer:

    Main > Manage > Software > DownloadAnalyzer

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

  • New command to view certificate used on appliance

    Starting with this release, you can use the following command to view the Certificate Authority (CA) that is currently in use on an appliance:

    Main > Settings > NetBackup > CertificateUsage Show

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

  • New command to compact system memory

    Starting with this release, you can use the following command to compact system memory to help reduce fragments introduced by long running NetBackup job workloads:

    Main > Settings > Sysctl > CompactMemory

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

  • Command option name change for STIG

    Starting with this release, the Show option for the Main > Settings > Security > STIG command has been changed to Status (Main > Settings > Security > STIG Status).

    The NetBackup Appliance Commands Reference Guide has been updated to reflect this change.

  • New commands for Instant Access

    Starting with the 3.3.0.1 release, you can decrease or restore the operational level of Instant Access and check its current status. You should decrease the operational level only if necessary to help reduce the amount of time to upgrade appliance software. The commands are located in the Main > Support > InstantAccess view. For more details, see the NetBackup Appliance Commands Reference Guide.

  • SAN Client limitations removed (versions 3.3.0.1 and later)

    The SAN Client limitations to have only one single initiator and one single target per zone, or to zone each client host to only one FT Media Server have been removed. The information describing these limitations has been removed from the NetBackup Appliance Fibre Channel Guide.

  • Manual switchover not necessary during high availability (HA) node upgrades

    Starting with this release, HA node upgrades no longer require that you perform a manual switchover. After you upgrade the first node and run the Support > Test Software command with success, log in to the other node and start the upgrade process. The switchover occurs automatically. The NetBackup Appliance Upgrade Guide and the NetBackup Appliance High Availability Reference Guide have been updated to reflect this change.