The following table provides a visual guide of the compatibility between supported versions of Rapid Recovery Core and Rapid Recovery Agent.

Previous editions of this topic depicted compatible versions of Rapid Recovery Core and Rapid Recovery Agent, regardless of whether the release versions shown were currently supported.

The following hybrid chart shows supportability (using the color coding explained in the legend) as well as compatibility between Core and Agent versions since release 5.4.3.

¹ While not currently supported, AppAssure 5.4.3 and Rapid Recovery 6.0.2 are shown in this chart to convey interoperability. See note 4.

² Protected machines with EFI partitions must be upgraded to Rapid Recovery release 6.0.x or later to successfully restore data, perform bare metal restore, or perform virtual export. To receive assistance from Quest Data Protection Support, Quest recommends upgrading to a supported release (generally, the latest release), as detailed in note 4.

³ Users can protect machines using older versions of Rapid Recovery Agent in a newer Core. Logically, newer features provided in more recent versions of Rapid Recovery Agent are not available for machines protected with older Agent versions installed.

⁴ As shown in this chart, Rapid Recovery supports the current version (6.3.0x), and the latest maintenance release of the last two major/minor versions (6.2.1 and 6.1.3, respectively). When a new maintenance release becomes generally available, it becomes fully supported. The prior version goes into limited support. For detailed information, see the "Product Life Cycle and Policies" section of the Rapid Recovery Support website at https://support.quest.com/rapid-recovery/.

Only the latest maintenance releases for the last two major/minor versions (N-1 and N-2 releases shown in table 11) are supported. For example, in release 6.3.0x, these versions include only releases 6.2.1 and 6.1.3. With the general availability of this release, other versions (such as releases 6.2.0, 6.1.2, 6.1.1, and so on) are now outside of the support policy. While Quest expects these versions to function, they may not have been tested for interoperability with the current version. If you have a current maintenance agreement, Quest Data Protection Support can attempt to answer your questions. However, if you call for support for an unsupported version, expect to be asked to upgrade.

Other factors affect interoperability. For example, the Rapid Snap for Virtual feature was first introduced in Rapid Recovery version 6.0, letting you protect VMware ESXi VMs agentlessly. Rapid Recovery release 6.1.0 expanded this support to host-based protection for Hyper-V VMs. Release 6.2 introduced agentless application support for protected machines running Exchange Server and SQL Server. Logically, users of Core version 5.4.3 cannot agentlessly protect any VMs. Users of Core version 6.0 cannot protect VMs on Hyper-V without installing the Agent software. And Cores earlier than release 6.2 have limited agentless support for Exchange and SQL Server, as detailed in the user guide topic "Understanding Rapid Snap for Virtual agentless protection" or "Understanding agentless protection" for each relevant release.

For more information about the differences between service levels supported for Rapid Recovery versus support levels generally for Quest products, see "Differentiation between standard Quest and Rapid Recovery service levels" in Rapid Recovery 6.3 Release Notes.

Quest recommends users carefully read and understand the Rapid Recovery 6.3 Installation and Upgrade Guide before installing or upgrading. See the section "Installing Rapid Recovery" for a step-by-step general installation approach. The approach includes requirements for a software license and for an account on the Rapid Recovery License Portal; adherence to the system requirements; installing a Core; creating a repository; and protecting machines with the Agent software or agentlessly. It also suggests use of the QorePortal.

All existing users should read the section "Upgrading to Rapid Recovery." This content describes upgrading factors, provides an overview of upgrading, and includes procedures upgrading Core, and upgrading Agent on Windows and Linux machines.

Additionally, Quest requires users to carefully review the release notes for each release, and the Rapid Recovery system requirements for that release, prior to upgrading. This process helps to identify and preclude potential issues. System requirements are found exclusively in the Rapid Recovery 6.3 System Requirements Guide.

When planning an implementation of Rapid Recovery, for guidance with sizing your hardware, software, memory, storage, and network requirements, see knowledge base article 185962, “Sizing Rapid Recovery Deployments".

If upgrading from a currently supported major and minor version of Rapid Recovery Core (6.1x or 6.2x), then run the latest Core installer software on your Core server. If upgrading from a version of AppAssure or Rapid Recovery Core that is not currently supported, use a two-step upgrade process. First, upgrade using a supported Core installer such as 6.2.1; then run the latest Core installer software.

If using replication, always upgrade the target Core before the source Core.

To protect machines running supported operating systems with the latest Rapid Recovery Agent features, upgrade or install Rapid Recovery Agent on each.

You can use the same installer executable program (standard, or web installer) to perform a clean installation or to upgrade an existing version of Rapid Recovery Core, Rapid Recovery Agent, or the Local Mount Utility. If upgrading from versions earlier than release 5.4.3, you must first upgrade to 5.4.3 and then run a more recent installer on the same machine. For more information, see the Rapid Recovery 6.3 Installation and Upgrade Guide.

When upgrading a protected Linux machine from AppAssure Agent to Rapid Recovery Agent version 6.x, you must first uninstall AppAssure Agent. For more information and specific instructions, see the topic "Installing or upgrading Rapid Recovery Agent on a Linux machine" in the Rapid Recovery 6.3 Installation and Upgrade Guide.

You can also use the Rapid Snap for Virtual feature to protect virtual machines on supported hypervisor platforms agentlessly. Important restrictions apply. For more information on benefits or restrictions for agentless protection, see the topic "Understanding Rapid Snap for Virtual" in the Rapid Recovery 6.3 User Guide.

For information on downloading Rapid Recovery software, see Obtaining Rapid Recovery software.

License requirements

New Core users must purchase a long-term subscription or perpetual license to use Rapid Recovery.

Some Rapid Recovery Core users start with a trial license, which uses a temporary license key for the duration of the trial. After the trial period expires, you can continue to restore from existing backups, but cannot perform new backups or replication until you purchase a long-term subscription or perpetual license. You must then activate the license on the Rapid Recovery License Portal, download Rapid Recovery license files, and associate them with your Core.

For more information about licensing, see the following resources:

• For information about activating your new license and obtaining Rapid Recovery license files for your Core, see Product licensing in these release notes.
• For information about managing licenses from the Rapid Recovery Core, including uploading license files to associate them with the Core, see the topic "Managing licenses" in the Rapid Recovery 6.3 Installation and Upgrade Guide.
• For information about managing license subscriptions and license groups on the license portal, see the latest edition of the Rapid Recovery License Portal User Guide.

You can obtain Rapid Recovery software using the following methods:

• Download from the QorePortal. If you have an active maintenance agreement, you can log into the QorePortal at https://qoreportal.quest.com. From the top menu, click Settings, and from the left navigation menu, select Downloads. Here you will have access to installers for various Rapid Recovery components, including Core, Agent, LMU, DR, and more.
• Download from the License Portal. If you have already registered Rapid Recovery in the Rapid Recovery License Portal, you can log into that portal at https://licenseportal.com. From the left navigation menu, click Downloads, and download the appropriate software.
• Download trial software from the Support website. To download trial software, navigate to the Rapid Recovery Rapid Recovery website at https://support.quest.com/rapid-recovery and from the left navigation menu, click Software Downloads. Here you can access trial versions of Rapid Recovery Core, Agent (for Windows or Linux), tools and utilities, and more. Trial versions function for 14 days, after which time you must purchase and register a subscription or perpetual license to continue using Rapid Recovery. To purchase a license, fill out the web form at https://support.quest.com/contact-us/licensing and select Obtain a license for my product.
• Download trial software from the Support website. To download trial software, navigate to the Rapid Recovery Rapid Recovery website at https://support.quest.com/rapid-recovery and from the left navigation menu, click Software Downloads. Here you can access trial versions of Rapid Recovery Core, Agent (for Windows or Linux), tools and utilities, and more. Trial versions function for 14 days, after which time you must purchase and register a subscription or perpetual license to continue using Rapid Recovery. To purchase a license, fill out the web form at https://support.quest.com/contact-us/licensing and select Obtain a license for my product.

You can also obtain the Rapid Recovery Agent software from within the Rapid Recovery Core Console using the following methods:

• Protecting machines with the wizard. If the Rapid Recovery Core is installed, you can deploy the Agent software to the machine you want to protect from the Protect Machine Wizard or the Protect Multiple Machines Wizard. Using these wizards, you can also choose to add machines to protection using an older installed version of Agent. For more information about these wizards, see the topics "Protecting a Machine" and "About protecting multiple machines" in the Rapid Recovery 6.3 User Guide.
• Use the Deploy Agent Software feature. If the Rapid Recovery Core is installed, you can deploy the Agent software from the Core to one or multiple machines. This is useful for upgrading Agent to one or more machines simultaneously. From the Protect drop-down menu on the Rapid Recovery Core Console, select Deploy Agent Software and complete details in the resulting wizard. For more information about using this feature, see the topic "Deploying Agent to multiple machines simultaneously from the Core Console" in the Rapid Recovery 6.3 User Guide.
• Download Agent or LMU from the Rapid Recovery Core Console. From a network-accessible Windows machine you want to protect, you can log into the Rapid Recovery Core Console and download the Agent software. From the icon bar, click More and then select Downloads. From the Downloads page, you can download the web installer to install Agent or the Local Mount Utility on Windows machines.