EVault Software
vSphere Recovery Agent
Version 8.40.8420
Release Notes, July 5, 2017
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Contents
1	Overview
1.1	Release History
1.2	Supported Platforms
1.3	Supported VMware Infrastructure
1.4	Supported Windows File Systems for File and Folder Recovery
2	FEATURES
3	INSTALLATION NOTES
3.1	Installation Requirements
3.2	Licensing Requirements
3.3	Install/Upgrade
4	FIXES and KNOWN ISSUES
4.1	Fixes
4.2	Known Issues
4.3	Limitations
5	PRODUCT SUPPORT
5.1	Technical Support
5.2	Product Updates
5.3	Documentation
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1	Overview
This document contains release notes for vSphere Recovery Agent 8.40.
The vSphere Recovery Agent (VRA) provides data protection for VMware vSphere version 6.5 environments only. After you install VRA on a Windows machine with access to a vCenter, the Agent can back up and restore VMs and templates across all ESXi hosts managed by the vCenter Server.
Note: Older vSphere versions are supported with vSphere Agent 7.36. 
The vSphere Recovery Agent is supported with:
•	Portal 8.30 or later. vSphere Agent 8.40 is not supported with the legacy Windows CentralControl.
Important: You can only register VRA 8.40 to Portal version 8.30 or later. To determine your Portal version, sign in to Portal and go to Need Help > About. 
•	Director version 8.00f or later
1.1	Release History
Version 8.40.8420, May 30, 2017
1.2	Supported Platforms
vSphere Recovery Agent 8.40 is supported on the following platforms:
•	Windows 10 Professional 64-bit
•	Windows Server 2012 R2
1.3	Supported VMware Infrastructure 
vSphere vCenter Servers:
•	vCenter Server 6.5
•	vCenter Server 6.5 Appliance
Note: Older vSphere versions are supported with vSphere Agent 7.36. 
vSphere ESX and ESXi Hosts:
•	ESXi 6.5
•	ESXi 6.0 update 2 (for the purpose of vSphere environment upgrades only). During an environment upgrade to VMware vSphere 6.5, the VRA is supported with vCenter Server 6.5 and a combination of ESXi 6.0 update 2 and ESXi 6.5 hosts. 
Raw Device Mappings:
The VRA backs up virtual disks which use virtual Raw Device Mapping (vRDM). Data backed up from a vRDM is restored as a VMDK. See VMware documentation for instructions on how to migrate a restored VMDK back to a vRDM.
When backing up VMs, the VRA skips physical Raw Device Mapping (pRDM), shared disks and independent disks. VMware does not allow these disks to be included in snapshots for VM-level backups. To back up these disks, you must install an Agent on the VM. 
If a VM contains at least one disk that can be protected, the VM will be backed up.
1.4	Supported Windows File Systems for File and Folder Recovery 
For file and folder recovery, the vSphere Agent currently supports the following Windows file systems: 
•	ReFS
•	NTFS
•	FAT
•	FAT32
•	Dynamic disks
Note: GPT partitions are supported for file and folder recovery, as long as they contain a supported file system.
2	FEATURES
The vSphere Recovery Agent backs up and restores VMs and templates in VMware vSphere 6.5 environments. The VRA supports vSphere features that were supported by vSphere Agent 7.3x in previous vSphere environment versions. The VRA can back up and restore VMs with VMDKs that are as large as 5 TB.
You cannot upgrade vSphere Agent 7.3x to VRA 8.40. However, you can continue running vSphere Agent 7.3x backup jobs without reseeding by installing a VRA and reregistering it with Portal as the vSphere Agent. See Section 3.3.2 of these release notes.
The vSphere Recovery Agent is significantly different than vSphere Agent 7.3x. Please note the following: 
•	The VRA is a Windows application. You can install the VRA on a Windows physical or virtual machine that has access to the vCenter that you want to protect. 
•	To register the VRA to a vCenter, you only have to specify the vCenter address and credentials in Portal. The VRA then connects to the vCenter immediately.
•	Up to five VRAs can protect VMs in a single vCenter. 
•	When creating or editing a backup job, it only takes a few seconds to display VMs that you can include in the backup job the vCenter. 
•	The VRA provides backup status information for the Daily Status Report that is scheduled using Portal. The report includes information such as missed backups and running jobs, and can be emailed daily to recipients.
•	You can restore entire VMs using the VRA, but not specific VMDKs.
•	The VRA can restore specific files and folders from Windows VMs only. You can restore files and folders from protected Windows VMs by mounting a VM's disks on the server where VRA is running, and copying files and folders from the disks. Because VRA cannot restore files and folders from Linux VMs, the Dynamic Disk Tool (DDT) is not required.
•	The following data compression settings are available for the VRA:
o	Faster — Minimizes the amount of time that is required for backing up the data
o	Smaller — Minimizes the size of the backup data, but can take longer to process the data
•	The VRA is not installed with default retention types. Default retention types are now provided by Portal. 
•	The VRA contacts Portal every hour to check for vault IP address changes from E2 appliances. If the VRA is registered to an E2, when an E2 appliance reports a new IP address to Portal, it is updated for the VRA.
•	In some Portal instances, email notifications are set up centrally for vSphere Recovery Agent backups. If email notifications are set up centrally, Admin users receive email notifications for all backup statuses by default, but can choose the statuses for which they want to receive notifications (e.g., when backups fail, are cancelled, or are missed). 
3	INSTALLATION NOTES
3.1	Installation Requirements
Install VRA on a Windows physical or virtual machine that has at least two CPUs and 4 GB of RAM. The Windows machine must have access to the vCenter that you want to protect. For best performance, install VRA on a machine in the same subnet as the vCenter.
Ensure that power management is disabled on the machine. On Windows 10, power management is enabled by default.
An account with full Administrator rights to the Windows machine is required for installing VRA.
An account with administrative rights to the vCenter is required for configuring the VRA. 
3.2	Licensing Requirements
VRA claims at least three licenses from Director. A Server Agent license and a VMware plug-in license is required for each VRA. A VMware Cluster license (called “ESXFarm”) is required for each ESXi host in the environment. 
For example, in a vCenter with five hypervisors (ESXi hosts), the VRA claims five Cluster licenses, one ESX license and one Server Agent license.
3.3	Install/Upgrade
3.3.1	Install
The filename of the vSphere Recovery Agent installation kit is: vSphereRecoveryAgent-8-40-8420.msi
To obtain the executable file, contact your licensed service provider. For installation and configuration information, see the vSphere Recovery Agent User Guide.
The following files are installed for the Agent:
Buagent.exe – version 8.40.8420
LogViewer.exe – version 8.40.8420
VV.exe – version 8.40.8420
VVAgent.exe – version 8.40.8420
XLogTranslator.exe – version 8.40.8420
dbghelp.dll – version 6.7.0005.0
evVss.dll – version 8.40.8420
InstallationCA.dll 
InstallHelper.dll – version 1.0.0.0
libeay32.dll – version 1.0.2j
mfc110.dll – version 11.0.60610.1
mfc110u.dll – version 11.0.60610.1
mfcm110.dll – version 11.0.60610.1
mfcm110u.dll – version 11.0.60610.1
msvcp110.dll – version 11.00.51106.1
msvcr110.dll – version 11.00.51106.1
PluginCatBrowser.dll 
ssleay32.dll – version 1.0.2j
SystemStatePlugin.dll – version 8.40.8420
SystemVolumePlugin.dll – version 8.40.8420
vccorlib110.dll – version 11.00.51106.1
vsphere_utils.dll
vSphereMount.dll
vsphere-soap-generated.dll
vSphereWinPlugin.dll
VVClMsg.dll – version 8.40.8420
WindowsPartitionMounter.dll
You cannot install VRA on a machine where the Windows Agent is installed.
3.3.2	Upgrade
You cannot upgrade an existing vSphere Agent to VRA 8.40. However, you can re-register VRA 8.40 with a vault as a version 7.3x vSphere Agent. You can then run backup jobs from the version 7.3x Agent without reseeding and restore VMs from existing backups. 
Note: General steps for re-registering a VRA are presented here for your convenience. For detailed information, see the vSphere Recovery Agent User Guide. 
To install VRA 8.40 and re-register it as a version 7.3x vSphere Agent:
1.	Capture all logs from the version 7.3x vSphere Agent in a Support bundle.
2.	Disable all scheduled jobs for the version 7.3x vSphere Agent.
3.	Install VRA 8.40, and register it to Portal 8.30.
4.	On the Computers page in Portal, view the VRA that you installed.
5.	Click Configure Manually.
6.	On the Vault Settings tab, re-register the VRA to a vault as the vSphere Agent 7.3x. 
7.	On the vCenter Settings tab, enter the vCenter User Name and Password, and confirm the CBT setting. Save the settings.
8.	Click the Advanced tab. If required, enter SMTP credentials on the Notifications tab.
9.	On the Jobs tab, edit each backup job, re-enter the encryption password, save the job, and then synchronize the job.
IMPORTANT: To avoid reseeding the job, you must enter the same encryption password that was used when the version 7.3x vSphere Agent ran the job.
4	FIXES and KNOWN ISSUES
4.1	Fixes 
This is the first release of the vSphere Recovery Agent.
4.2	Known Issues
In rare cases when the Agent loses connection to the vCenter during a backup, the Agent stops the job but does not clean up files. Portal does not show that the job failed, no email notifications are provided, and the backup is not included in the Daily Status Report. This problem can occur if the vCenter connection is lost while the Agent is unlocking or locking a VM, or while the Agent is opening or closing a VMDK. (EV-7459)
If high availability settings are out of synch on ESXi hosts, a restore might fail if the original VM exists in the vCenter inventory. 
WORKAROUND: Disable and re-enable vSphere high availability, and then try the restore again. (EV-7350)
If a long network disconnection (e.g., longer than several minutes) interrupts a restore, the restore will not continue when the network is reconnected. A shell of a partially-restored VM may remain in the vSphere UI.
WORKAROUND: Manually delete the VM shell in the vSphere UI, and then restart the restore without interruption. (EV-7340)
When restoring files and folders, if the machine where the Agent is installed does not have enough drive letters to mount all volumes from the selected VM, the restore appears to be successful. The restore should fail. (EV-7344)
After a granular restore, the RestoreMount folder remains on the machine where the VRA is running, but subfolders created during the granular restore are removed. Subfolders created for a subsequent granular restore will have a new timestamp and entries. (EV-8782)
Because VRA preserves Windows ACLs and permissions, you cannot restore files and folders where only one owner has permission to the files or folders, and that owner account does not exist on the machine where you are restoring the files and folders (EV-7343).
When you try to restore files and folders from a VM that is not supported for granular restores (e.g., a Linux VM or a VM with an invalid or uninitialized VMDK), the VRA does not indicate why the restore fails. (EV-7349)
4.3	Limitations
•	You can only perform a fresh install using the VRA installation kit. Repairs are not supported. To change the Portal instance to which VRA is registered, you must uninstall the VRA and install it again. 
•	When backing up VMs, the vSphere Agent skips any physical Raw Device Mapping (pRDM), shared and independent disks. To back up this data, you must install an Agent on the VM and use it to back up data on pRDMs and independent disks. VMware does not allow pRDM and independent disks to be included in snapshots used for VM-level backups.
•	vSAN is not supported.
•	You can restore VMs with VRA 8.40, but you cannot restore individual VMDKs. 
•	You cannot restore specific files and folders from Linux VMs.
•	During a granular restore, disks from the selected VM are mounted on the machine where the VRA is running. Files and folders on the disks will be accessible to anyone on the system, including non-Admin users. If you are concerned about security, you must secure the Agent machine and prevent users from logging in to the machine locally. 
•	Distributed vSwitches are not restored for templates. If you back up a template connected to a distributed vSwitch and then restore the template, vCenter will report a warning for the template indicating that it is not connected to a network. In our restore log, the user will see the following message: VSPH-W-09851 dvPortgroup information not found in backup. dvSwitch will not be restored.
5	PRODUCT SUPPORT
5.1	Technical Support
Contact information for your provider is available through the Help menu.
5.2	Product Updates
Product updates are available from your provider. 
5.3	Documentation
The following documentation is available for the VRA: 
•	  vSphere Recovery Agent User Guide
•	  vSphere Recovery Agent release notes (this document) 
All documentation is available from your provider.