Carbonite Server Backup
vSphere Recovery Agent
Version 8.83.1164
Release Notes, September 30, 2020
______________________________________________________________________
Contents
1	Overview
1.1	Compatibility
1.2	Release History
1.3	Supported Platforms
1.4	Supported VMware Infrastructure
1.5	Supported Windows File Systems for File and Folder Recovery
1.6	Supported applications for application-consistent backups
2	NEW FEATURE
2.1	New Features in Version 8.82
2.2	New Feature in Version 8.80
3	INSTALLATION NOTES
3.1	Installation Requirements
3.2	Application-consistent Backup Requirements
3.3	Rapid VM Restore Requirements
3.4	Licensing Requirements
3.5	Install/Upgrade
4	FIXES, Limitations and KNOWN ISSUES
4.1	Fixes
4.2	Limitations
4.3	Known Issues
5	PRODUCT SUPPORT
5.1	Technical Support
5.2	Product Updates
5.3	Documentation
© Carbonite Inc. 2020.  All Rights Reserved.
The release notes are governed by the Terms of Service found at https://www.carbonite.com/terms-of-use/carbonite-general-enterprise-terms-of-service.  Carbonite, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to modify or revoke these Release Notes at any time, without notice.
______________________________________________________________________
1	Overview
This document contains release notes for vSphere Recovery Agent 8.83.
The vSphere Recovery Agent (VRA) provides data protection for VMware vSphere version 7.0, 6.7, 6.5 and 6.0 environments. 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. 
1.1	Compatibility
Portal	This VRA version is supported with Portal version 8.85 or later.
Note: You cannot manage the vSphere Recovery Agent with the legacy Windows CentralControl interface.	
Director	This VRA version is supported with Director version 8.40 or later vaults. 
For Rapid VM Restores, Director version 8.50 or later is required.	
Granular Restore for Microsoft Exchange and SQL	To restore items from SQL Server and Exchange database backups created using the VRA, use Granular Restore for Microsoft Exchange and SQL version 8.70 or later.	
Important: Do not run another backup solution in the same vSphere environment as the VRA. Conflicts can occur between the VRA and other backup software.
1.2	Release History
Version 8.83.1164, May 14, 2020
Version 8.82.1162, February 28, 2020
Version 8.80.1043, December 16, 2019
1.3	Supported Platforms
vSphere Recovery Agent 8.83 is supported on the following platforms:
•	Windows Server 2019
•	Windows Server 2016
•	Windows Server 2012 R2
•	Windows 10 Professional 64-bit. Rapid VM Restores are not supported when the VRA is installed on Windows 10, since the iSCSI Target Server feature is required but cannot be installed on Windows 10. 
1.4	Supported VMware Infrastructure 
vSphere vCenter Servers:
•	vCenter Server 7.0 (up to Update d)
•	vCenter Server 6.7 (up to Update 3g)
•	vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 (up to Update 3g)
•	vCenter Server 6.5 (up to Update 3f)
•	vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 (up to Update 3f)
•	vCenter Server 6.0 (up to Update 3j)
•	vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 (up to Update 3j)
vSphere ESXi Hosts:
•	ESXi 7.0 (up to Update b)
•	ESXi 6.7 (up to Update 3b)
•	ESXi 6.5 (up to Update 3a)
•	ESXi 6.0 (Update 2 to Update 3a)
vSAN:
•	vSAN 7.0 (up to vSAN 7.0b)
•	vSAN 6.7 (up to vSAN 6.7 Update 3)
•	vSAN 6.6.1 (up to vSAN 6.6.1 Update 3)
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 can install a Carbonite Server Backup Agent on the VM. 
If a VM contains at least one disk that can be protected, the VM will be backed up.
1.5	Supported Windows File Systems for File and Folder Recovery 
For file and folder recovery, the vSphere Recovery Agent currently supports the following Windows file systems: 
•	ReFS
•	NTFS
•	FAT
•	FAT32
•	Dynamic disks
Note: GPT partitions are supported for file and folder recovery, if they contain a supported file system.
1.6	Supported applications for application-consistent backups
The vSphere Recovery Agent can perform application-consistent backups of the following Microsoft applications on Windows virtual machines:
•	SQL Server 2019, 2017, 2016, 2014, 2012 
•	SharePoint Server 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010 
•	Exchange Server 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010 
•	Active Directory 2019, 2016, 2012R2, 2012 
As part of an application-consistent backup, the vSphere Recovery Agent can truncate SQL Server, Exchange and SharePoint transaction logs on VMs on ESXi 6.7 and 6.5 hosts. Application transaction logs cannot be truncated on VMs on ESXi 7.0 or 6.0 hosts.
2	NEW FEATURE
2.1	New Features in Version 8.82
Application-consistent backups of Windows VMs
The vSphere Recovery Agent can now perform application-consistent backups for Microsoft SQL Server, Exchange, SharePoint and Active Directory on Windows virtual machines (VMs). 
When creating an application-consistent backup, the Agent can truncate SQL Server, Exchange and SharePoint transaction logs on VMs on ESXi 6.7 and 6.5 hosts. Log truncation is not supported for applications on VMs on ESXi 7.0 or 6.0 hosts.
Granular restore of SQL Server and Exchange database items
Using the Granular Restore for Microsoft Exchange and SQL application, you can find and restore items from SQL Server and Exchange database backups created using the vSphere Recovery Agent. After setting up a safeset share using Portal and the vSphere Recovery Agent, use the Granular Restore application to:
•	Restore Exchange mailboxes and messages to PST files or live databases
•	Export SQL Server database items to live databases
•	Export SQL Server database items as SQL scripts
Note: Granular restore may not be supported with some recent SQL Server and Exchange versions. For supported application versions, please see the Granular Restore for Microsoft Exchange and SQL Release Notes.
Important product fixes and security enhancements
Because of significant fixes and security enhancements in vSphere Recovery Agent 8.82, we highly recommend upgrading to this VRA version instead of using previous VRA versions.
2.2	New Feature in Version 8.80
Rapid VM Restore
A new restore method is available with the vSphere Recovery Agent: Rapid VM Restore.
With Rapid VM Restore, you can restore one virtual machine (VM) to a vSphere host in your configured vCenter within minutes. Disks from a VRA backup are mounted as storage devices (virtual RDMs) on a VM for immediate access. You can migrate the VM to a permanent datastore at any time using Portal. 
For a Rapid VM Restore, the VM backup must be saved on an appliance or local Director 8.50 vault with the Rapid VM Restore feature enabled. This feature is enabled by default on appliances (i.e., Satellite vaults). If you have a local vault that is not a Satellite vault, you can enable the feature. For complete requirements, see Rapid VM Restore Requirements.
3	INSTALLATION NOTES
3.1	Installation Requirements
Install VRA on a Windows physical or virtual machine that has: 
•	At least two CPUs. 
•	At least 4 GB of RAM. 
•	A minimum of 200 GB of free disk space. This ensures that there is sufficient space for the Agent and for files that the Agent generates during backups.
•	Windows updates installed.
•	Power management disabled.
•	Access to the vCenter that you want to protect. For best performance, install VRA on a machine in the same subnet as the vCenter.
IMPORTANT: To back up or restore VMs, the VRA must have access to a vCenter.
An account with full Administrator rights to the Windows machine is required for installing the VRA.
An account that is mapped to the Administrator role is required to connect to the vCenter and configure the VRA.
Carbonite recommends using firewalls or other mechanisms to isolate VRA and the vCenter from the Internet.
3.2	Application-consistent Backup Requirements
To create application-consistent backups on a VM, VMware Tools version 11 or later must be installed on the virtual machine. 
Application-consistent backups are supported on VMs with hardware version 8 or later.
As part of an application-consistent backup, the VRA can truncate SQL Server, Exchange and SharePoint transaction logs on VMs on ESXi 6.7 and 6.5 hosts. Logs cannot be truncated on VMs that are running on ESXi 7.0 or 6.0 hosts.
3.3	Rapid VM Restore Requirements
The following table lists and describes requirements for rapid VM restores. 
If the VRA and vault requirements are not met, Rapid VM Restore does not appear as a restore option in Portal. If vSphere environment requirements are not met, you can start a Rapid VM Restore but it will not finish successfully.
Component	Rapid VM Restore requirement	
VRA	The VRA must be installed on a supported Windows Server platform where Windows File and Storage Services with the iSCSI Target Server feature is installed. If you install the iSCSI Target Server feature after installing VRA, you must stop and restart the vSphere Recovery Agent services (BUAgent and VVAgent) before you can perform a Rapid VM Restore.	
Director	The VM backup must be saved on an appliance or local Director 8.50 or later vault with the Rapid VM Restore feature enabled. 
The Rapid VM Restore feature is enabled by default on appliances (i.e., Satellite vaults). If you have a local Base vault, you can enable the Rapid VM Restore feature by running a script. See the vSphere Recovery Agent User Guide. 	
vSphere environment	
ESXi hosts	Each ESXi host must have the Software iSCSI Adapter installed and bound to a network port group that the VRA can reach. 
To migrate VMs restored using Rapid VM Restore to permanent storage, each ESXi host must have access to two datastores: one for writing changes while the VM runs using Rapid VM Restore, and one for permanent storage. Each datastore must have enough space for the restored VM. 	
Datastores	We recommend using supported storage from the VMware Hardware Compatibility Guide: https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php
When you restore a VM using Rapid VM Restore, you must choose a datastore for writing changes while the VM runs using Rapid VM Restore. This datastore can be local, iSCSI or vSAN storage, but cannot be NFS storage. 
When you migrate a VM to permanent storage, the destination datastore can be local, iSCSI, vSAN or NFS storage.  	
3.4	Licensing Requirements
Each VRA claims two licenses from Director: a Server Agent license and a VMware plug-in license. 
3.5	Install/Upgrade
3.5.1	Install
The filename of the vSphere Recovery Agent installation kit is: vSphereRecoveryAgent-8-83-1164.exe
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 8.83.1164
LogViewer.exe – version 8.83.1164
VV.exe – version 8.83.1164
VVAgent.exe – version 8.83.1164
XLogTranslator.exe – version 8.83.1164
dbghelp.dll – version 6.11.0001.404
evVss.dll – version 8.83.1164
InstallationCA.dll – version 8.83.1164
InstallHelper.dll – version 8.83.1164
IscsiTargetExtension.dll – version 8.83.1164
libeay32.dll – version 1.0.2u
MsIscsiTargetLibrary.dll – version 8.83.1164
PluginCatBrowser.dll – version 8.83.1164
ssleay32.dll – version 1.0.2u
SystemStatePlugin.dll – version 8.83.1164
SystemVolumePlugin.dll – version 8.83.1164
VraRvmrExtension.dll – version 8.83.1164
vsphere_utils.dll – version 8.83.1164
vSphereMount.dll – version 8.83.1164
vsphere-soap-generated.dll – version 8.83.1164
vSphereWinPlugin.dll – version 8.83.1164
VVClMsg.dll – version 8.83.1164
You cannot install VRA on a machine where the Windows Agent is installed.
3.5.2	Upgrade
You can upgrade a VRA to version 8.83 from version 8.82, 8.80, 8.60 or 8.40 by running the installation kit.
Note: If you upgrade a VRA to version 8.83 from a version earlier than 8.82, the first backup could take longer than a normal delta backup because the VRA reads all of the VM data. 
You cannot upgrade a vSphere Agent 7.3x to VRA 8.83. However, you can install VRA 8.83 and re-register the VRA with one or more vaults to download job settings that were created using the version 7.3x vSphere Agent. You can then run the backup jobs using the VRA and restore VMs from existing backups. For detailed instructions, see the vSphere Recovery Agent User Guide. 
4	FIXES, Limitations and KNOWN ISSUES
4.1	Fixes 
4.1.1	Fix in Version 8.83
VRA 8.83 successfully backs up data on disks where the disk size is not evenly divisible by 64 KB. (EV-44954)
4.1.2	Fix in Version 8.82
VRA 8.82 ensures that backups are complete for VMs with snapshots. In rare cases during QA testing, backups of VMs with snapshots were incomplete due to a changed block tracking (CBT) issue in VMware vSphere. (EV-40752)
4.1.3	Fixes in Version 8.80
Changes have been made to improve the performance of file and folder restores. (EV-38268)
Restores now succeed when datastores are attached to ESXi servers in more than one datacenter. (EV-36942, EV-37445)
If a file and folder restore fails because the VRA server does not have enough drive letters for the mounted drives, a log message now indicates the reason for the failure. Drive letter Z: on the VRA server can now be used for mounting a drive during a file and folder restore. (EV-39368, EV-38253)
Warnings that appear in a VRA log are now counted in the summary at the end of the log. (EV-37486)
File and folder restores now succeed when the datastore name of a backed-up VM includes one of the following characters: : * < > |
Note: File and folder restores do not succeed when datastore names include backward or forward slashes: \ or / (EV-33200)
4.2	Limitations
Rapid VM Restore Limitations
•	You cannot use Rapid VM Restore to restore a VM from a backup created with vSphere Agent 7.3x. Before restoring a VM using Rapid VM Restore, you must run the backup job using vSphere Recovery Agent 8.x. 
•	Due to a vSphere limitation (https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2149585), you cannot migrate a VM to a VMFS6 datastore in a vSphere 6.5 environment. 
Other Limitations
•	When performing an application-consistent backup, the VRA cannot truncate application transaction logs on VMs that are running on ESXi 6.0 hosts.
•	Repairs are not supported using the VRA installation kit. 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 data on these disks, 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.
•	You can restore VMs with VRA 8.83, but you cannot restore individual VMDKs. 
•	You cannot restore specific files and folders from Linux VMs.
•	During a granular (file and folder) 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.
4.3	Known Issues
The Rapid VM Restore method is not available for a VRA that is installed on a non-English operating system. (EV-46290)
When performing an application-consistent backup, the VRA cannot truncate application transaction logs on VMs on ESXi 7.0 hosts. A log message indicates that log truncation is not supported on ESXi 6.0. (EV-49906)
If you restore a VM using Rapid VM Restore, use vCenter to manually migrate the VM to another datastore and convert its disks, and then cancel the Rapid VM Restore, DRS automation is disabled for the VM.
WORKAROUND: Use Portal to migrate a VM restored using Rapid VM Restore to permanent storage. If you have migrated a restored VM using vCenter, remove the VM manually from the VM Overrides list in the DRS configuration settings for the cluster. (EV-51053)
An application-consistent backup cannot be created for a Windows 2019 VM that is EFI-boot, has a recovery volume and has a GPT-formatted system disk. Backups will be crash-consistent for these VMs. VMware is currently working with Microsoft support to resolve this issue. 
WORKAROUND: To allow application-consistent backups, do one of the following on each Windows 2019 VM:
•	Delete the recovery volume from the VM using the Microsoft diskpart command.
•	Install Windows 2019 on an MBR-formatted disk. 
 (EV-36585)
In rare cases, particularly in vSphere 6.0 environments, application-consistent backups cannot be created for some VMs. Backups will be crash-consistent for these VMs. (EV-38818)
NFS datastores appear in the Datastore list in Portal when you start a Rapid VM Restore. Rapid VM Restores are not supported with NFS datastores.
WORKAROUND: When restoring a VM using Rapid VM Restore, select local, iSCSI or vSAN storage. (EV-39915)
If you add a disk to a VM that is running using Rapid VM Restore, you cannot migrate the VM to permanent storage. 
WORKAROUND: Add the disk to the restored VM after the VM is migrated to permanent storage. (EV-38480, EV-38753) 
When performing an application-consistent backup with log truncation of a non-English SQL Server, the VRA might not be able to determine whether the logs were truncated. A warning message appears in the backup log, even though the logs may have been truncated.
When you restore a VM that had CPU, memory and disk shares or reservations applied, these settings are not restored. (EV-39600)
When you restore a VM that had a VM storage policy, the storage policy is not restored. (EV-39599)
If you migrate a VM running using Rapid VM Restore to permanent storage without using Portal, VM overrides against storage and regular DRS are not removed when you stop the Rapid VM Restore process.
WORKAROUND: Delete the VM overrides manually from vCenter. (EV-39127)
RECOMMENDATION: To migrate a VM to permanent storage, use Portal rather than the vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client.
When a VM’s operating system is on a SCSI disk and the VM has a secondary IDE disk, the VM cannot boot after it is restored.
WORKAROUND: Go into the BIOS of the restored VM and manually set the SCSI disk as the boot disk. (EV-39520)
If the VRA stops working while a VM is running using Rapid VM Restore, the VM is not responsive and you cannot power off and delete the VM.
WORKAROUND: From the command line of the ESXi host, kill the process that is running the VM. You can then delete the VM from disk. (EV-39059)
RECOMMENDATION: Back up VMs while they are running using Rapid VM Restore. 
If Storage DRS moves a VM shortly after a backup begins, the backup can fail with the following message: Failed to open vmdk "vmdkName" for reading. Information from VDDK: error code 4, message "A file was not found". (EV-39631)

If the VRA’s VVAgent service stops running, a VM that is running using Rapid VM Restore might not be removed from the vCenter immediately. 
WORKAROUND: Either restart the BUAgent service, or wait approximately five minutes for the VM to be cleaned up. (EV-38054)
If high availability settings are out of synch on ESXi hosts, a restore may 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 may 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)
In some cases where network shares are mapped to drive letters on the machine where the Agent is installed, file and folder restores appear to be successful but you cannot access volumes from the VM backup. (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 may be removed. Subfolders created for a subsequent granular restore may 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 may not indicate why the restore fails. (EV-7349/EV-7359)
5	PRODUCT SUPPORT
5.1	Technical Support
Contact information for your provider is available through the Portal 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.