Carbonite Server Backup
Agent 64-bit for Microsoft Windows
Version 8.31.7896a
Release Notes, October 4, 2017
______________________________________________________________________
Contents
1	Overview
1.1	Release History
1.2	Supported Platforms
2	NEW FEATURES
2.1	New Feature in Version 8.31a
2.2	New Feature in Version 8.31
2.3	New Features in Version 8.30
3	INSTALLATION NOTES
3.1	Agent Installation Notes
3.2	Plug-in Installation Notes
4	FIXES, KNOWN ISSUES AND lIMITATIONS
4.1	Fixes
4.2	Known Issues
4.3	Limitations
5	PRODUCT SUPPORT
5.1	Technical Support
5.2	Product Updates
5.3	Documentation
______________________________________________________________________
1	Overview
The Windows Agent is installed on each Windows system that you want to protect. Using Portal or the legacy Windows CentralControl, you can manage the Agent, back up data to a vault, and restore data from the vault.
You can also install Agent Plug-ins that protect applications and provide additional functionality. The following Plug-ins are available with the 64-bit Windows Agent:
•	Image Plug-in
•	Exchange 2010/2013/2016 DR Plug-in
•	Exchange 2007 DR Plug-in
•	Oracle Plug-in  
•	SQL Server Plug-in
•	Cluster Support Plug-in
Note: Support has ended for Exchange MAPI, SQL Server VDI, and SharePoint Plug-in jobs. Please see the documentation for other ways to protect your data.
Important: You can only register Windows Agent 8.31 to Portal version 8.30 or later. However, if a Windows Agent is already registered to a previous Portal version, you can upgrade the Agent to version 8.31 and continue to manage it using the previous Portal version. To determine your Portal version, sign in to Portal and go to Need Help > About.
You can also manage this Agent version with Windows CentralControl version 8.30. Changing job configurations using Portal and Windows CentralControl alternately is not supported. Do not manage the same Agent using both Portal and Windows CentralControl.
Note: Because important security fixes are available in Portal 8.30, we recommend using Portal to manage the Windows Agent instead of the legacy Windows CentralControl.
Windows Agent 8.31 is supported with Director 8.x vaults. You can also use the Agent with Director 7.11 vaults, but support is ending for Director 7.11 this year.
The Windows Agent supports Bare Metal Restore (BMR) backup jobs. BMR backups created using Windows Agent or Image Plug-in version 8.31 cannot be restored using an ESR version earlier than 8.30.
Note: Encrypted volumes (BitLocker, TrueCrypt, etc.) are not supported in BMR jobs.
1.1	Release History
Version 8.31.7896a, October 4, 2017
Version 8.31.7896, May 30, 2017
Version 8.30.7893, November 30, 2016
1.2	Supported Platforms
The Agent is supported on the 64-bit Microsoft platforms shown in the following table, with Intel x64 or AMD64 processors:
Supported Operating System	Editions	Service Pack	
Windows Server 2016	Essentials, Standard, Datacenter, Server Core		
Windows 10	Enterprise		
Windows Server 2012 R2	Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter, Server Core		
Windows 8.1	Enterprise		
Windows Server 2012	Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter, Server Core		
Windows Storage Server 2012	Standard, Workgroup		
Windows 8	Enterprise		
Windows Small Business Server 2011	Essentials, Standard, Premium		
Windows Server 2008 R2	Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Server Core	SP1	
Windows Storage Server 2008 R2	Standard, Enterprise, Workgroup, Essentials	SP1	
Windows 7	Enterprise, Premium, Professional, Ultimate	SP1	
Windows Server 2008	Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Server Core	SP2	
Windows Small Business Server 2008	Standard, Premium	SP2	
Windows Storage Server 2008	Basic, Workgroup, Standard, Enterprise	SP2	
1.2.1	Image Plug-in Supported Platforms
The Image Plug-in is supported on the 64-bit Microsoft platforms shown in the following table:
Supported Operating System	Service Pack	
Windows Server 2016		
Windows 10		
Windows Server 2012 R2		
Windows 8.1		
Windows Server 2012		
Windows 8		
Windows Server 2008 R2	SP1	
Windows 7	SP1	
Windows Server 2008	SP2	
Note: The Image Plug-in is supported with both UEFI and BIOS firmware.
Note: The Image Plug-in is only supported with NTFS file systems. The Image Plug-in is not supported with ReFS file systems.
Note: Only GPT disks are supported for Image backups (including application-consistent Image backups of volumes with database files) in a cluster.
1.2.2	Exchange Plug-in Supported Platforms
The Exchange 2010/2013/2016 DR Plug-in is supported on the 64-bit Microsoft platforms shown in the following table:
Exchange Server 2016 is supported on:	
Windows Server 2016	Standard, Datacenter		
Windows Server 2012 R2	Standard, Datacenter		
Windows Server 2012	Standard, Datacenter		
Exchange Server 2013 (SP1) is supported on:	
Windows Server 2012 R2	Standard, Datacenter		
Windows Server 2012	Standard, Datacenter		
Windows Server 2008 R2	Standard Enterprise	SP1	
Exchange Server 2010 (SP3) is supported on:	
Windows Server 2012	Standard, Datacenter		
Windows Small Business Server 2011	Standard, Premium		
Windows Server 2008 R2	Standard, Enterprise	SP1	
Windows Server 2008	Standard Enterprise	SP2	
The Exchange 2007 DR Plug-in is supported on the 64-bit Microsoft platforms shown in the following table (including Cluster support with the Cluster Support Plug-in):
Exchange Server 2007 (SP3) is supported on:	
Windows Server 2008 R2	Standard, Enterprise	SP1	
Windows Server 2008	Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter	SP2	
Windows Small Business Server 2008	Standard, Premium	SP2	
Note: Granular Restore is only supported with DR safesets created with the Exchange 2010/2013/2016 DR Plug-in or Exchange 2007 DR Plug-in version 7.10 or later, backed up to Director version 7.0 or later. Portal or Windows CentralControl is required to share DR safesets.
Note: Support has ended for legacy Exchange MAPI jobs. To restore from Exchange MAPI safesets on the vault, install a pre-Version 7.5 Agent and restore data using Restore From Another Computer in Portal.
1.2.3	Oracle Plug-in Supported Platforms
The Oracle Plug-in is supported on the 64-bit Microsoft platforms shown in the following table:
Oracle 11g R2 64-bit is supported on:	
Windows Server 2008 R2	Standard, Enterprise	SP1	
Windows Server 2008	Standard, Enterprise	SP2	
Note: Oracle 11g R2 32-bit is supported on 64-bit operating systems when the corresponding Oracle Instant Client is installed. 
1.2.4	SQL Server Plug-in Supported Platforms
The SQL Server Plug-in is supported on the 64-bit Microsoft platforms shown in the following table (including Cluster support with the Cluster Support Plug-in):
SQL Server 2016 (SP1) 64-bit is supported on:	
Windows Server 2016	Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter		
Windows Server 2012 R2	Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter		
Windows Server 2012 	Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter		
SQL Server 2014 (SP2) 64-bit and 32-bit are supported on:	
Windows Server 2016	Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter		
Windows Server 2012 R2	Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter		
Windows Server 2012 	Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter		
Windows Server 2008 R2	Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter	SP1	
Windows Server 2008	Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter	SP2	
SQL Server 2012 (SP3) 64-bit and 32-bit are supported on:	
Windows Server 2012 R2	Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter		
Windows Server 2012 	Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter		
Windows Server 2008 R2	Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter	SP1	
Windows Server 2008	Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter	SP2	
SQL Server 2008 R2 (SP3) 64-bit and 32-bit are supported on:	
Windows Server 2012 R2 	Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter		
Windows Server 2012 	Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter		
Windows Small Business Server 2011 	Premium		
Windows Server 2008 R2 	Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter	SP1	
Windows Server 2008 	Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter 	SP2	
SQL Server 2008 (SP4) 64-bit are supported on:	
Windows Server 2012 R2 	Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter		
Windows Server 2012 	Foundation, Essentials, Standard, Datacenter		
Windows Server 2008 R2 	Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter	SP1	
Windows Server 2008 	Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter	SP2	
Windows Small Business Server 2008 	Standard, Premium	SP2	
SQL Server 2005 (SP4) 64-bit Standard and Enterprise are supported on:	
Windows Server 2008 R2 	Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter	SP1	
Windows Server 2008 	Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter	SP2	
Windows Small Business Server 2008 	Standard, Premium	SP2	
Note: Support has ended for legacy SQL Server VDI jobs. To restore from SQL Server VDI safesets on the vault, install a pre-Version 7.5 Agent and restore data using Restore From Another Computer in Portal.
Note: The SQL Server Plug-in does not support SQL Server Express. To back up a SQL Server Express database, export the database to a flat file and back it up using the Windows Agent.
Note: SharePoint granular restore is supported with safesets created with SQL Server Plug-in version 7.22 or later, backed up to Director version 7.0 or later. Portal or Windows CentralControl is required to share SQL safesets.
Note: Granular restore is not currently supported for SharePoint 2016. 
Note: Host-named site collections in SharePoint are not supported for granular restore. 
2	NEW FEATURES
2.1	New Feature in Version 8.31a
This is the first Carbonite Server Backup release of the Windows Agent.
2.2	New Feature in Version 8.31
French, German and Spanish text has been updated in the Agent installation kit and log files. Portuguese is no longer available.
2.3	New Features in Version 8.30
•	Support for Windows Server 2016 and Windows 10.
•	Support for Exchange Server 2016 with the Exchange 2010/2013/2016 DR Plug-in.
•	Support for SQL Server 2016 with the SQL Server Plug-in.
•	If an Agent is registered to Portal, you cannot change its vault settings using Windows CentralControl.
3	INSTALLATION NOTES
3.1	Agent Installation Notes
3.1.1	Installation Requirements
•	CPU and RAM to meet the basic requirements of your operating system, as prescribed by Microsoft 
•	16-bit (or greater) video properties for optimal GUI display
•	Windows Internet Explorer version 6 or later 
•	A TCP/IP stack 
•	At least 200 MB of free disk space for a new installation. An upgrade may require more. Additional free space is required for Agent files created for backup jobs. 
3.1.2	Conditional Requirements
If you use an antivirus program, disable real-time scanning on reads (called "outgoing" in some antivirus products). 
Note: As a best practice, do not back up antivirus product installation directories. 
3.1.3	Licensing
Agent and Plug-in licenses are distributed automatically when the Agent connects to a vault (based on your license quota). To back up and restore data to or from a vault, you need a valid account, username and password. Contact your service provider to obtain the required information.
3.1.4	Installation/Upgrade
The file name of the Windows Agent installation kit is: Agent-Windows-x64-8-31-7896a.exe
The 64-bit Agent kit installs: 
buagent.exe - Version 8.31.7896
VV.exe - Version 8.31.7896
VVAgent.exe - Version 8.31.7896
XLogTranslator.exe - Version 8.31.7896
LogViewer.exe - Version 8.31.7896
BMRCaptureEnvInfo.dll – Version 8.3.0.3401
evVss.dll - Version 8.31.7896
Exchange2010Plugin.dll - Version 8.31.7896
ExchangeVSSPlugin.dll - Version 8.31.7896
OraPlugin.dll - Version 8.31.7896
SQL2012Plugin.dll - Version 8.31.7896
SystemStatePlugin.dll - Version 8.31.7896
SystemVolumePlugin.dll - Version 8.31.7896
VolumeImagePlugin.dll - Version 8.31.7896
VVClMsg.dll - Version 8.31.7896
VVExch.dll - Version 8.31.7896
Note: The Agent installation places the VVClMsg.dll file in the Agent installation path. This file contains the error codes and resource strings that the event viewer uses to display Agent messages.
Note: Do not install the Agent in a Windows-encrypted directory.
You can upgrade the following Windows Agent versions to version 8.31a:
•	Version 8.31
•	Version 8.30
•	Version 8.10
•	Version 8.0x
•	Version 7.x
•	Version 6.85
Support has ended for legacy Exchange MAPI, SQL Server VDI, and SharePoint Plug-in jobs. You must delete any jobs with these legacy types before you can upgrade the Agent. If you upgrade an Agent where a legacy plug-in is installed, the plug-in will be removed.
Note: To restore from a legacy safeset on the vault, install an Agent version 7.34 or earlier with the required plug-in, and restore data using Restore From Another Computer in Portal.
3.2	Plug-in Installation Notes
3.2.1	Image Plug-in Installation/Upgrade Notes
A system reboot is required after you first install the Image Plug-in with an Agent.
A system reboot is also required after you upgrade an Agent with the Image Plug-in to version 8.30.
3.2.2	Exchange 2010/2013/2016 DR Plug-in Installation Notes
An Agent with the Exchange 2010/2013/2016 Plug-in only needs to be installed on one member of a Data Availability Group (DAG). The Agent will have access to the database copies on that particular DAG member.
3.2.3	Exchange 2007 DR Plug-in Installation Notes
For information regarding LCR, SCR, and CCR support, see the Cluster Support Plug-in section.
3.2.4	Oracle Plug-in Installation Notes
The Oracle Plug-in can be installed during a clean install or on an existing Agent. To install on an existing Agent, select "Modify" from the installation options.
3.2.5	SQL Server Plug-in Installation Notes
This version of the Plug-in supports Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) in SQL Server 2016 (SP1), SQL Server 2014 (SP2), SQL Server 2012 (SP2) and SQL Server 2008 R2 (SP3).
3.2.6	Cluster Support Plug-in Installation Notes
To install the SQL, Exchange, and Cluster Support Plug-ins:
1.	Install Agents, SQL Server or Exchange Plug-in, and Cluster Plug-in on the physical nodes.
2.	Register the virtual node to Portal, or connect to the virtual IP using Windows CentralControl to manage the virtual node.
3.	Register the physical nodes to the vault before using the virtual Agent.
4.	Use the new registered virtual Agent as a normal Agent to register to the same vault and create backup jobs. 
4	FIXES, KNOWN ISSUES AND lIMITATIONS
4.1	Fixes
4.1.1	Fix in Version 8.31
Security improvements have been made, including using SHA-2 for communication between the Agent and Portal. 
4.1.2	Fixes in Version 8.30
Upgrades now succeed for non-English Agents. (32338, 29383)
SQL Server database backups and restores no longer fail when a database is offline. (32165, 32163)
A restore from another computer now succeeds when the source Agent name on the vault includes a space. (32083)
If a network interruption occurs during a backup where over-the-wire encryption is used, TLS messages are logged correctly as information instead of errors. (31958)
4.2	Known Issues
4.2.1	Agent Configuration and Backup Issues
When the Agent is used with a version 7.11e vault, delays may occur when registering the Agent to the vault, starting a restore from another computer, or creating backup jobs. Backup and restore speeds are not affected.
WORKAROUND: Use the Agent with a version 8.0 vault, when available. (31841)
Running multiple UNC jobs simultaneously (to the same UNC path) from Windows CentralControl fails.
WORKAROUND: Run concurrent UNC jobs from the command prompt. (24226)
Backups can fail over UNC path to or from a Windows operating system running an older Windows operating system. Microsoft does not support all Windows operating system combinations for UNC paths. Only those combinations supported by Microsoft are supported. (25579/23712)
On Windows 2012 with deduplication, when a backup job includes the deduplication chunk store, it will be backed up again by the system state job.
WORKAROUND: If backing up system state, exclude the deduplication chunk store data from the job backups to avoid multiple backups of the same data. (24228)
When attempting to create a new job after a vault failover (1:1 vault), Windows CentralControl limits the job name to 8 characters instead of 30 characters. When the old active vault comes back online, the 1-30 character limit returns for job name length when creating a new job. (19893)
4.2.2	Agent Restore Issues
Backup to a Satellite vault resets the status and location of safesets that exist only on the Base vault. If a safeset is available on the Base vault (but not on the satellite), the Agent cannot restore unless you synchronize first. You must run a synchronize operation before you restore. Synchronizing provides updated status and location information about safesets on vaults. (20573/21168/21896)
Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 may not restore security streams properly when restoring to an alternate location in some circumstances (UNC path, backup mountpoint). This is Microsoft issue that they are currently addressing. (25780/25775/24166)
4.2.3	Plug-in Configuration and Backup Issues
When Cumulative Update 14 is applied to an Exchange 2013 server, an Exchange backup fails with timeout issues.
WORKAROUND: Apply the following registry key to the Exchange server: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\EVault\InfoStage\Agent\Ex2010SequentialValidation=1 (32388)
When the Agent is registered to a version 7.11e vault, the BMR option is not available in Portal when you try to create an Image Plug-in backup job. After a delay, a “Cannot communicate with the agent” message appears.
WORKAROUND: Register the Agent to a version 8.0 vault, when available. A Portal configuration change can also allow the BMR option to appear after a delay. (31859)
You cannot back up a SQL Server database that has an AlwaysOn replica in Microsoft Azure. (28055/28054/28053)
A backup job created on a physical node of a SQL Server 2012 cluster fails (on the physical node) with a stream backup error. Note that this is not a supported backup scenario. There is no support for protecting databases on the virtual node with jobs created on the physical node.
Support for backing up SQL 2012 on a virtual node in a cluster is available with the Agent with the Cluster Support Plug-in. (23622)
An Exchange DR job will fail if launched while a BMR job is running. 
Recommendation: A user should avoid running more than one backup of the same database at the same time.
WORKAROUND: To enable simultaneous backups, manually add the following section to the bottom of job .vvc file (located in the Agent installation directory):
1. vssadmin list writers, copy "writer name" and "writer ID"
2. Append the following section to BMR job vvc 
For an Agent 7.00.1039 and higher:
VSSWriterBackup001 {
  ID = <writer ID>       <<<<<<<<<<<< change to 
       copied "writer ID"
  Include = ".\*"
  InstName = 
  Name = Microsoft Exchange Writer       <<<<<<<<<<<< change to 
       copied "writer name"
  Options = 4
}
(23599)
If you reregister a different computer than was used for the original backup (reregister computer Y to the vault as computer X) and attempt to do another backup of the existing SQL VSS job, the backup will fail. A restore can still be performed successfully.
WORKAROUND: Create a new job and run the backup from the reregistered computer. (23270)
A database with a Simple Recovery Model cannot run transaction log backups, but the error message in the log when the backup fails does not indicate this is the reason for the failure:  BKUP-E-04706 job will be forced to fail  BKUP-F-04110 job failed to complete  CAT -E-08056 backup aborted. (24811)
When the VSS backup warning: "Some hard links <> were not selected and have not been backed up.", a file within a selection has hardlinks and some of the hardlinks were not included. These hardlinks will be ignored, but the file and the hardlinks included in the selection will be backed up.
WORKAROUND: Manually include the folder(s) that contain the missing hardlinks. (20281)
4.2.4	Plug-in Restore Issues
A database restore can fail in a mirroring environment when restoring with the "overwrite" option or "overwrite with no recovery" option. As per MSDN: While a database mirroring session is active, the following restrictions apply: 
•	Backup and restore of the mirror database is not allowed. 
•	Backup of the principal database is allowed, but BACKUP LOG WITH NORECOVERY is not allowed. 
•	Restore of the principal database is not allowed. 
(23359)
After reregistering an Agent or running Restore From Another Computer, when performing a VSS Restore job of a SQL 2005 backup (original database names with overwrite selected) to a Windows 2008 R2 machine, the restore may fail. The Restore log and process dialog, however, report success. (23304)
With Windows CentralControl, using Restore From Another Computer from a SQL standalone machine to a virtual SQL cluster, Restore to file on disk fails and the wizard disappears after you select the vault, computer and job. No Dump or Log file is created.
WORKAROUND: Use Portal to run this type of Restore From Another Computer, or restore using the physical node. (23261)
Safeset bytes processed on the vault for a SQL job with a random read restore of SharePoint is more than double the actual size of the safeset data. (25016)
A SQL restore fails when restoring to an alternate database, under the same instance, with the overwrite existing database option selected.
Note: This restore scenario is not supported as we do not rename the database files upon restore. 
Restoring this database could be accomplished if you remove or rename the original database file names before trying to restore. (23099)
When restoring a database to a SQL database other than the original database, the logical and file names are not renamed to match the database where it is being restored. This feature is not supported by VSS. (22981)
Using Restore From Another Computer on a machine where the SQL Plug-in is not installed, a SQL safeset can be shared using an older UNC path format. (25907)
4.2.5	Install/Uninstall/Upgrade Issues
If a 6.85 Agent that is not registered to Portal is upgraded, the Cluster Plug-in creates a duplicate evault_shared folder on another shared drive (two EVault_Shared folders exist on one virtual server). (24471)
Unable to uninstall the Spanish Agent 7.23 via Windows Control Panel when it has been installed on the Spanish version of the Windows operating system.
WORKAROUND: Launch the Agent installation kit and select Remove. (25365)
When you upgrade a non-English Agent from version 7.24 and attempt to register the Agent to Portal at the same time, the Agent fails to register to Portal.
WORKAROUND: Instead of upgrading the non-English Agent, uninstall the Agent's program files only, and install the new Agent version to the same folder. (28032)
Silent install on Windows 2012 running Exchange 2013 requires an additional switch when running the command from Power Shell.
WORKAROUND: Run the silent install command from a command prompt.
Correct command: C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop> setup.exe /s 
/v"ACCOUNTTYPE=AutoCreate FEATUREEXCHANGE2010=On SILENTINSTALLDIR=C:
\EVault /l C:\install.log /qn" /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms
(24368)
4.3	Limitations
The SQL Server Plug-in cannot back up a database in the following cases:
•	the database name includes one of the following special characters:  \ ’ ” , / : * ? < > | ^
•	the database has files in Microsoft Azure, and the SQL Plug-in is not installed on the Azure VM
In these cases, the SQL Server Plug-in skips the database that it cannot back up, but backs up other databases in the job.
After restoring a SQL Server 2016 database that is stretched to Microsoft Azure, you must run a stored procedure (sys.sp_rda_reauthorize_db) to reconnect the local restored database to the remote Azure data. See “Restore the connection between the SQL Server database and the remote Azure database” on the Microsoft Developer Network website: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt733205.aspx#reconnect
5	PRODUCT SUPPORT
5.1	Technical Support
Contact information for your provider is available through the:
•	Need Help button in Portal
•	Help menu in Windows CentralControl
5.2	Product Updates
Product updates are available from your provider.
5.3	Documentation
The following documentation is available for the Agent:
•	Agent for Windows User Guide
•	Agent release notes (this document)
•	Portal help
•	Windows CentralControl Operations Guide (and help)
•	Plug-in guides