Upgrade Steps for Recovery Manager for AD Forest Edition from 10.2.1 to 10.3 (4371180)

Upgrade Steps for Recovery Manager for AD Forest Edition from 10.2.1 to 10.3

To successfully upgrade from Recovery Manager for AD Forest Edition 10.2.1 to 10.3 requires consideration and planning and this F.A.Q. aims to provide the major points to be considered ahead of any upgrade as part of the planning process.

The basic upgrade steps required along with important links to the Quest Support Portal and some individual links to some of the sections of the documentation that you will need to review prior to embarking upon your upgrade.

At a high level:
1. Direct Upgrade from 10.2.1 is supported to 10.3
2. Upgrade Recovery Manager for AD before the Backup and Forest Recovery agents.
3. Upgrade the backup agents from the Recovery Manager for AD console under the "Backup Agents" node.
4. Create a manual backup and a scheduled backup to verify connectivity and successful functioning of process
5. Open any Forest Recovery projects created in 10.2.1 and they will automatically upgrade once opened.
6. It is recommended to create and complete a successful backup using the Recovery Manager for AD console prior to upgrading the Forest Recovery Agents, especially if you have the option enabled within your computer collections to ensure the Forest Recovery Agent is installed for backup.
7. In a replicated console environment, upgrade the Master console before the replicant console.
8. To begin the upgrade navigate to the Setup.exe in the media setup folder and "right-click" to "Run as Administrator" to launch the Setup Wizard.

Note: Depending upon how the backup and forest recovery agents have been deployed in your environment, these can either be upgraded or reinstalled from Recovery Manager for AD console, Forest Recovery console or by whichever means you may be managing them.

From release 10.2.2.37488 the .Net 4.8 Framework is included with the setup media and must be installed prior to installing Recovery for AD Forest Edition.

Quest Support Portal - Product Support - Recovery Manager for AD Forest Edition

Quest Support Portal - Recovery Manager for AD Forest Edition - System Requirements

Quest Support Portal - Recovery Manager for AD Forest Edition - Quick Start Guide

Quest Support Portal - Recovery Manager for AD Forest Edition - User Guide

Quest Support Portal - Recovery Manager for AD Forest Edition - Management Shell Guide

Before beginning the upgrade take the following actions to provide a means of rollback to version 10.2.1 of Recovery Manager for AD Forest Edition

1. Close all Recovery Manager for AD Forest Edition Edition and Forest Recovery consoles and stop Quest Recovery Manager for AD services which may be attempting to write to the local or remote SQL database
2. Backup the files below to a different folder
C:\ProgramData\Quest Software\RMAD\Backups.mdb
C:\ProgramData\Quest Software\RMAD\RMAD.db3

"RMAD.db3"  Contains the Recovery Manager Console configuration data, such as computer collections and backup creation sessions
"Backups.mdb"  Contains the backup registration database that stores information about created Active Directory and ADAM backups.

3. Export the scheduled tasks from the Task Scheduler or make note of the current backup schedule for the collections
4. Backup the forest recovery project files (copy them to a different folder location
5. Backup SQL Databases used by Recovery Manager for AD
6. Copy all config files to a different folder location

Default Location for Console config files: "C:\Program Files\Quest\Recovery Manager for Active Directory Forest Edition"
Config Files:

• ADVL.exe.config
• ConfigurePWRestore.exe.config
• ForestRecovery.CloudStorage.Uploader.exe.config
• FRConsole.exe.config
• QuestSoftware.RecoveryManager.AD.Enterprise.Server.exe.config
• QuestSoftware.RecoveryManager.AD.PowerShell.dll-Help.xml
• QuestSoftware.RecoveryManager.AD.PowerShellFE.dll-Help.xml

RMAD Reports Config Files
Default Location for install: C:\Program Files\Quest\Recovery Manager for Active Directory Forest 
Edition\RMADReports\BRReportsViewer
Config Files:

• BRReportsViewer.exe.config
• SSRServiceUtils.dll.config

ROLLBACK
The rollback plan would largely depend upon where you got to in the upgrade process and of course any other local factors you may have to consider for your environment.

At a high level, if you have a VM backup and a SQL Server backup:

1. Restore the SQL Backup (if the SQL instance used by RMAD is installed on the same VM, this step can be skipped)
2. Restore the VM
3. Verify that restored console can connect to SQL database and functions correctly.
4. If you have upgraded the agents across your estate, you will need to uninstall and reinstall the agents to match the console version ie 10.2.1.
5. A VMWare snapshot should be fine providing the Guest OS is powered off so that the VM is in a consistent state for the backup.

During the upgrade you will be asked to install SQL or use an existing SQL server.
Keep in mind no actual backup data is stored within the SQL server, it is only used to create the differential report during object restores, and the persistence database required with forest restores.

Whilst Recovery Manager for AD v10.3 supports Microsoft SQL Server® 2019, 2017, 2016, 2014 and 2012, it would be advisable to upgrade to at least SQL Server Express 2016 which is included with Recovery Manager for AD v10.3.

NOTE:
The Machine that hosts the Recovery Manager for Active Directory console must have same or higher version of Windows operating system than the processed domain controllers. Otherwise, the online compare and object search in a backup during the online restore operation may fail. 32-bit operating systems are not supported.

IMPORTANT:
Recovery Manager for AD version 10.3 does not support windows authentication on remote SQL Servers. If the SQL Server that hosts your existing Recovery Manager for AD database is a remote server, then you would have to specify an SQL Account during setup. Windows authentication to access a SQL server only works as long as the SQL Server is installed local in the RMAD Server.

The following KB article explains a possible issue that you may have during installation if you select windows authentication to connect to a remote sql server:
SQL Error when trying to upgrade to 10.2.2.36571 (4223805)

Upgrade of any Secure Storage Agents (if using Secure Storage server) must be manually undertaken on the server with physical access (console or serial)

As of Recovery Manager for AD 10.2.2, the Web Portal is being deprecated therefore there is no web portal option to upgrade with the 10.3 installer.

It is recommended to test this process in an offline test environment with your own configuration to provide confidence of a successful outcome when moving on to your production environment.

NOTE: The information above is presented as a guide to assist in the planning process in advance of the upgrade. As each customer environment is unique it is possible that some scenarios for upgrade have not been either captured or detailed. It is the customer responsibility to ensure that sufficient research and familiarity with the Recovery Manager for AD Forest Edition is undertaken and that a robust backout/rollback plan is in place to ensure the risk associated with the upgrade is mitigated as appropriate.