Updating and removing the Windows agent

Windows agent updates can be pushed to assets from the appliance or installed manually.

Updating the agent updates all applicable components in Unitrends_Agentx86.msi, Unitrends_Agentx64.msi, or Unitrends_BareMetal.msi during installation.

NOTES   

●   For servers that are using Windows deduplication, you must run a new full backup after upgrading the agent.

●   In some other cases, a new full backup is needed after upgrading to the agent. In these cases, the appliance cannot run an incremental or differential until a full backup runs. If you attempt an on-demand incremental or differential, the appliance promotes the backup to a full. If the next job is a scheduled incremental or differential, the job fails. After this failure, the appliance promotes the next scheduled run to a full. Once this full succeeds, subsequent incrementals and differentials run as scheduled.

●   The Windows agent includes a Windows Volume CBT driver to enable incremental image-level backups. If installing the agent manually, you can opt to include this driver. If push-installing agent updates, this driver is installed or updated as needed on assets that are eligible for image-level backups. To enable this driver, you must reboot the Windows asset after the Volume CBT driver has been installed or updated. (The last driver update was in agent version 10.3.3. If you are running a pre-10.3.3 agent version or if you have never installed the Volume CBT driver, a reboot is required.)

●   The Windows bare metal agent is required only if you need to run bare metal backups that can be used to perform image-based bare metal recovery of your Windows asset. For most Windows assets, regular Windows backups are used to perform integrated bare metal recovery, which is the recommended approach. To see if bare metal backups are required for your Windows asset, see Which bare metal method should I use?. The bare metal agent must be installed manually (push install is not supported).

See the following topics for details:

Pushing updates to Windows assets greatly reduces administration time and ensures that the latest protection software is running on your assets.

Any time an agent update is available for Windows assets, a notification displays in the Alerts area of the Global menu. Note that alerts display only for assets that meet the push install requirements described in Windows agent requirements.

Use this procedure to update the Windows core agent.

1.  Select Configure > Protected Assets. All protected assets display.

2.   Check the Agent Version to see the agent that is currently installed.

3.  Do one of the following:

●   To install available updates on all eligible assets, select Update Agent > Update All.

●   To install available updates on a subset of eligible assets, check boxes to select assets to update, then select Update Agent > Update selected.

4.  Updated Windows agents are installed on all selected Windows assets meeting these conditions:

●   Trust credentials are valid.

●   No backup or recovery job is currently in progress or scheduled to run soon for the asset.

●   Push update requirements have been met (see Windows agent requirements).

●   Updates are available for the asset (asset is not running the latest agent release).

●   The Unitrends appliance(s) protecting the Windows asset is running an equal or higher version than the agent that will be installed.

NOTE  If you see this error, the Windows asset is paired to an appliance running an older version than the agent you're trying to install: Appliance version validation failed. Please verify all paired appliance versions meet or exceed the agent. Update the appliance to enable the push-install.

If applicable, the following are also updated (if new versions are present):

●   For Hyper-V servers or Windows servers with the Hyper-V role enabled, the Hyper-V CBT driver is updated. This driver is used for faster Hyper-V incremental backups. (You do not need to reboot to enable this driver.)

●   For Microsoft SQL and Exchange servers, SQL and Exchange components are updated. These are used to run application backups for these databases. For more information, see Exchange backup requirements and considerations and SQL backup requirements and considerations.

●   For Windows assets that are eligible for image-level backups, the Windows Volume CBT driver is installed or updated if an update is available. This driver is used to enable incremental image-level backups. To enable this driver, you must reboot the Windows server after the Volume CBT driver has been installed or updated. (The last driver update was in agent version 10.3.3. If you are running a pre-10.3.3 agent version, a reboot is required.)

5.  If the Windows server uses Windows deduplication, run a new full backup.

Use these procedures to manually update, remove, or repair the Windows agent:

Install the latest agent version as described in Installing the Windows agent.

NOTES   

●   If you are running Hyper-V incremental backups and are upgrading from a pre-10.1.0-3 agent version, you must manually uninstall the older Windows agent before installing the latest agent. In all other cases, it is not necessary to uninstall existing agent software.

●   Uninstall the older agent by using the Windows Add/Remove Programs interface. For details, see To uninstall the Windows agent.

NOTE  If you installed the agent by using the command line method or by using Group Policy, remove or repair the agent by using the command line method. See Command-line installer for Windows agents for details.

1.  In the Windows Add/Remove Programs interface, select the Unitrends Agent in the list.

2.  Click Uninstall, then Yes to confirm.

The agent is uninstalled:

3.  If needed, repeat this procedure to remove the Unitrends Volume CBT Driver.

NOTE  If you installed the agent by using the command line method or by usingGroup Policy, repair the agent by using the command line method. See Command-line installer for Windows agents for details.

1.  In the Windows Add/Remove Programs interface, select the Unitrends Agent in the list.

2.  Click Repair.

The agent is repaired and updated:

The Hyper-V CBT driver greatly increases performance for Hyper-V incremental backups. This driver is automatically installed with the Windows core agent on Hyper-V servers and Windows servers that have the Hyper-V role enabled. In most cases, you should not need to manually install or remove this driver. Use these procedures in the following cases:

●   Customer Support has indicated that you need to reinstall or remove the driver.

●    Your Hyper-V environment is using the Microsoft Hyper-V Replicas feature. This feature is not compatible with the Hyper-V CBT driver and you must uninstall the driver. Once the driver has been uninstalled, Hyper-V incrementals are supported but do not use the driver.

Use these procedures to install and uninstall the Hyper-V CBT driver:

Use Windows File Explorer or the Windows Command Prompt to locate the driver scripts. The install and uninstall scripts reside under the \PCBP\Win2012.dir\<DriverFolder> directory on the volume where the Windows core agent was installed. The DriverFolder name varies by version. In the following example, the Windows agent was installed on C: and the DriverFolder is 04-20-2017,9.2.0:

File Explorer example:

Command Prompt example:

1.  Launch the Windows Command Prompt as a user with administrative privileges.

2.  Change to the \PCBP\Win2012.dir directory under the volume where the Windows agent was installed (C: in this example):

# cd C:\PCBP\Win2012.dir

3.  Issue this command to list all subdirectories:

# dir

4.   View the command output and note the name of the driver directory. The directory name varies by driver version and is in the format <Date>,<Version>. For example, 04-20-2017,9.2.0.0.

1.  Browse to the driver directory under \PCBP\Win2012.dir on the volume where the Windows agent was installed.

2.  Double-click Install.bat to run the installer.

1.  Launch the Windows Command Prompt as a user with administrative privileges.

2.  Change to the driver directory under \PCBP\Win2012.dir on the volume where the Windows agent was installed. The directory name varies by driver version. In this example, the directory is 04-20-2017,9.2.0.0 and the Windows agent was installed on volume C:.

# cd C:\PCBP\Win2012.dir\04-20-2017,9.2.0.0

3.  Issue this command to run the install script:

# Install.bat

NOTE  The Hyper-V CBT driver is installed each time the Windows agent is installed or updated. Repeat this procedure as needed after updating or reinstalling the Windows agent.

1.  Browse to the driver directory under \PCBP\Win2012.dir on the volume where the Windows agent was installed.

2.  Double-click uninstall.bat to run the installer.

NOTE  The Hyper-V CBT driver is installed each time the Windows agent is installed or updated. Repeat this procedure as needed after updating or reinstalling the Windows agent.

1.  Launch the Windows Command Prompt as a user with administrative privileges.

2.  Change to the driver directory under \PCBP\Win2012.dir on the volume where the Windows agent was installed. The directory name varies by driver version. In this example, the directory is 04-20-2017,9.2.0.0 and the Windows agent was installed on volume C:.

# cd C:\PCBP\Win2012.dir\04-20-2017,9.2.0.0

3.  Issue this command to run the uninstall script:

# unnstall.bat