Release Notes for Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 4b

Challenge

Release Notes for Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 4b

Known Issues

• Backup to certain tape libraries fails with error 1117. Restore from encrypted tapes fails if a tape library has its hardware encryption setting is set to "Application managed" (data stored on tapes is however consistent, so the restore can be performed successfully once the hotfix is deployed). For more information and to download the hotfix, see KB2981

Cause

Please confirm that you are running version 9.0 Update 2 (build 9.0.0.1715) or later prior to installing this update. You can check this under Help | About in Veeam Backup & Replication console. After the successful upgrade, your build number will be 9.5.4.2866.

When upgrading from versions earlier than Update 4a, you will also see the vendor name changed from Veeam Software AG to Veeam Software Group GmbH, reflecting the legal company name change. Please note that the name change has also resulted in a change of the code signing certificate.

Solution

Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 4b is a cumulative hotfix rollup that addresses issues reported by customers on the original build of Update 4 and Update 4a, and adds the following new features and enhancements:

Platform support

• Microsoft Windows 10 May 2019 Update and Microsoft Windows Server version 1903 support as guest VMs, and for the installation of Veeam Backup & Replication and its components.
• Microsoft Windows 10 May 2019 Update and Microsoft Windows Server version 1903 support by the Veeam Agent for Windows 3.0.2 (included in the update).
• Linux Kernel version 5.0 support by the updated Veeam Agent for Linux 3.0.2 (included in the update).
• Ubuntu 19.04, SLES 15 SP1, RHEL 8 and openSUSE Leap 15.1 distributions support in the Veeam Backup & Replication agent management functionality.
• VMware vCloud Director 9.7 compatibility at the existing Update 4 feature level.
• VMware vSphere 6.5 U3 readiness based on the pre-release build. The official support will still require the full regression testing performed on the generally available (GA) build. UPDATE: vSphere 6.5 U3 GA is officially supported with Update 4b.
• VMware vSphere 6.7 U3 readiness based on the pre-release build. The official support will still require the full regression testing performed on the generally available (GA) build. UPDATE: vSphere 6.7 U3 GA is officially supported with Update 4b.

Application support

• Oracle 19c on Linux support for RMAN-based and OCI-based application-aware processing, redo log backup and Veeam Explorer for Oracle in most configurations. Due to the recent availability of Oracle 19c, testing of DataGuard and RAC configurations is still being performed. This record will be updated with further information and the official support statement based on results.
• Oracle 19c on Windows support for RMAN-based and OCI-based application-aware processing, redo log backup and Veeam Explorer for Oracle in basic configurations only. Due to the most recent availability of Oracle 19c for Windows, testing of advanced configurations (DataGuard, RAC, ASM, Pluggable DB, flashback, virtual accounts) is still to be performed. This record will be updated with further information and the official support statement based on results. UPDATE: ASM, Pluggable DB, flashback and virtual accounts are officially supported with Update 4b.

Cloud integrations

• Veeam Backup & Replication will now periodically update the list of supported Amazon AWS regions from the Veeam update server. The list will be updated as Veeam QC validates compatibility with the newly added Amazon region. This functionality requires that you opt in for automatic product update check via the existing Check for product and hypervisor updates periodically check box in the Notification settings.

Storage integrations

• Dell EMC Unity OE version 4.5 support.
• The proprietary NFS client has been updated for compatibility with the Western Digital IntelliFlash (formerly Tegile) Universal Storage API plug-in. The plug-in will be made generally available along with the Update 4b release.

In addition, Update 4b addresses over 100 bugs reported by customers and found during the internal testing, including the following common support issues:

• Tape virtual full backup reliability and performance, tape drive detection logic, WORM media support and NDMP backup reliability.
• Agent-based backup jobs may create unnecessary full backups under certain circumstances, or fail in the environments with very long backup repository paths.
• Scale-out backup repository race condition causes synthetic backup operations to dead lock when a very powerful backup proxy server is used.
• PowerShell Direct calls may hang under certain circumstances in the application-aware processing logic of Hyper-V backup.
• Veeam Agent for Windows: CBT driver block map reset issue; inability to failover to backup cache when it is hosted on a USB storage; inability to open a support case from the product UI under a restricted user account; improved command line tool for the Recovery Media creation.
• Veeam Agent for Linux: Dell servers with NUMA enabled may crash during the snapshot creation; intermittent backup jobs failures when processing XFS volumes; entire computer backup failure on Ubuntu 18.04 with Intel Software RAID; enhanced encrypted devices compatibility through redesigned device enumerator; CLI improvements for backup scope specification.
• NetApp ONTAP Snapvault retention processing in 7-mode clusters.
• Performance and resource usage optimizations in a number of backup infrastructure components.

Update 4b is a cumulative update, meaning it includes all enhancements delivered as a part of Update 4a. For the detailed information on new features and enhancements included in the original release of Update 4, please refer to this What’s New document.

Veeam Cloud & Service Provider Partners

Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 4b also includes bug fixes for service providers offering Veeam Cloud Connect services, and managing backup servers with Veeam Availability Console. For the full change log, please see this topic on the private Veeam Cloud & Service Provider (VCSP) forum. Not a member of the VCSP forum? Click here to join. Had access before, but lost it? Click here to more info.

Veeam Cloud Connect service providers: please note that Update 4b is not a "breaking" update, meaning you don't have to upgrade to one before your tenants do.

More Information

If you have 9.5 Update 4 installed (RTM build 9.5.4.2399, GA build 9.5.4.2615, or Update 4a build 9.5.4.2753), you can upgrade to Update 4b using the following update package:

[[DOWNLOAD|DOWNLOAD UPDATE|https://www.veeam.com/download_add_packs/vmware-esx-backup/update4b_exe/]]
MD5: 5b75cb6da06b656c18b7ba782109273d
SHA1: a80968efe6d265dd4494ff1854a0132092c5a0fa

For new installations and upgrades from the previous versions, use the 9.5 Update 4b ISO image:

[[DOWNLOAD|DOWNLOAD ISO|https://www.veeam.com/download_add_packs/vmware-esx-backup/update4b_iso/]]
MD5: 9bd7f50c393bf368f42d6bd58dd9d3c1
SHA1: 24e230f19244d64d23db2b3660ebbc991835076f

Should you have any questions at all, please contact Veeam Support and we'll be happy to assist you with the upgrade.