Chat now with support
Chat with Support

Rapid Recovery 6.7 - Installation and Upgrade Guide

Overview and System Requirements Installing Rapid Recovery Upgrading Rapid Recovery Managing Rapid Recovery licenses

Consider localization before upgrading

Rapid Recovery release 6.7 is an international release. In addition to availability in English, this release is localized into simplified Chinese, French, Korean, German, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, and international Spanish. When a localized version is installed, you can see or change the current display language set for the Core Console in the general settings for the Core.

To change these settings, see "Configuring Core general settings" in the Rapid Recovery User Guide.

Upgrading AppAssure 5.x Core to Rapid Recovery Core

To install the latest version of Rapid Recovery, download the installers as described in the topic Obtaining Rapid Recovery software.

NOTE: Quest recommends retaining the binary installer file for any currently installed Rapid Recovery software product. You can use this file in the future to reinstall, repair, or remove the software.

Quest Software Inc. policy for Rapid Recovery is to support the current release, plus the latest maintenance release of the two prior major or minor software releases. For specific information on full, limited, or discontinued support, see the Product Life Cycle and Policies tab from our Support website at https://support.quest.com/rapid-recovery/.

If upgrading from any version of AppAssure, also read the next subsection, Upgrading from AppAssure.

When upgrading from any version of Rapid Recovery to release 6.5, you can perform an in-place upgrade. Always upgrade the Core before upgrading protected machines. If using replication, upgrade target Cores before source Cores.

When upgrading the Core (or when upgrading the Agent software on Windows machines) from AppAssure Agent 5.4.3 or Rapid Recovery Agent release 6.x, you can install the new version without removing the old version. If you want to upgrade a version older than 5.4.3, best practice is to first upgrade to release 5.4.3. You can then run the installer for the new Agent software.

Upgrading from AppAssure Core

Before upgrading the AppAssure Core to Rapid Recovery Core, verify if you have any custom binary patches applied, and note the patches used. On the Core machine, access the Programs and Features control panel, and take note of any custom binaries (identified by the letter P, a dash and six digits; for example, P-000678). Having this list accessible can increase the ability of Quest Data Protection Support to assist you in the event of upgrading difficulties.

Keep in mind the following:

  • If upgrading from AppAssure Core 5.2.x to Rapid Recovery Core, you must use a three-step process. First, upgrade to AppAssure Core 5.3.7. Then upgrade to AppAssure Core release 5.4.3. Finally, upgrade to Rapid Recovery Core release 6.7.
  • If you want to upgrade from AppAssure Core 5.3.x, 5.4.1, or 5.4.2, best practice is to perform a two-step upgrade process. The first step is to upgrade to AppAssure Core 5.4.3. As the second step, run the Rapid Recovery release 6.7 installer as in-place upgrade for the Core and Agent components, respectively.
  • If upgrading from AppAssure Core 5.4.3 to Rapid Recovery Core release 6.7, you can obtain the new Rapid Recovery Core release 6.7 installer, and run it on your 5.4.3 Core as an in-place upgrade. You can also perform in-place upgrades from AppAssure Agent release 5.4.3 to Rapid Recovery Agent on Windows machines.

NOTE: Due to legal divestiture agreements between Dell and Quest, only rebranded versions of Rapid Recovery documentation and software (release 6.1.2 and later) can be downloaded from the technical documentation website and the Quest support website, respectively. If you have not retained the installer, Quest cannot provide it. In such cases, uninstall the earlier software version.

 

Caution: Before uninstalling AppAssure Agent, make sure the protected machine backs up to the Core. When you see the option to Uninstall the configuration settings and data, including all backup images and change logs, clear the option. You must retain settings and data. Then, perform a clean install of a supported Rapid Recovery version on the same machine.

In all cases, before upgrading the version of the Agent software on protected machines, verify that the operating system on each relevant machine is still supported. For supported operating systems, refer to the relevant matching edition of the Rapid Recovery System Requirements Guide.

When upgrading the Agent software on Linux machines from any AppAssure release to Rapid Recovery Agent, first remove the old Agent software version. When removing AppAssure Agent on Linux machines, the preferred process is to use the shell script in the original installer. However, a process is included to manually remove the Agent if necessary. For more information, see Uninstalling the AppAssure Agent software from a Linux machine.

Then, perform a clean install of Rapid Recovery Agent. When upgrading the Agent software on Linux machines from Rapid Recovery Agent release 6.0.1 or later, you can use the appropriate package manager for your distribution of Linux. For more information, see Uninstalling the Rapid Recovery Agent software from a Linux machine. You may need to remove the local software repository. This requirement is included in upgrading steps.

Additionally, be aware of the following information when upgrading from AppAssure 5.3.x and later:

  • Recovery points are represented differently in AppAssure release 5.4.x and later, as part of the changes made to improve application performance. When upgrading from AppAssure 5.3.x to AppAssure 5.4.x, existing recovery points are converted to the new representation, which is not backward-compatible. You cannot downgrade an AppAssure release 5.4.x installation to 5.3 (or a Rapid Recovery release) unless you recreate your repository.
  • When launching the Core for the first time after upgrading from versions prior to Rapid Recovery 5.4.1, the conversion of existing recovery points will take approximately twice as long as loading the same recovery points under previous versions. After this initial conversion, however, loading recovery points will be significantly faster than with previous versions.

    NOTE: When upgrading from AppAssure 5.3.x to 5.4.x, ensure that you factor extra time for converting recovery points into your planning before your upgraded environment is ready for use.

  • After upgrading from versions prior to Rapid Recovery 5.4.1, if you attempt to set up a retention policy on a replicated target Core that differs from the replication policy on the source Core, you will first be prompted to perform a repository Integrity Check Job. The same requirement applies if you want to set up a custom retention policy for a replicated agent. Running this job can preemptively identify inconsistencies in replicated recovery points, providing the opportunity to replace those with error-free recovery points.

    Caution: Running the Integrity Check Job is expected to take an extended period of time. The time required differs for each environment, based on the quantity and type of data in your repository and also based on the underlying storage system. While the job is running, no other transactions can be performed in that repository, including transfers (snapshot and base image backups, and replication), nightly jobs, and so on. Ensure that you factor extra time for completing a lengthy Integrity Check Job into your planning if these situations apply to you.

Preparing the Core server to upgrade

Perform the following steps on the Core server to prepare the server for an upgrade of Rapid Recovery Core . These steps are not applicable to new Core installations.

  1. Suspend future jobs by pausing protection, replication, scheduled archive, and virtual standby.

    For more information about pausing each of these functions, see the Rapid Recovery User Guide topics "Pausing and resuming protection," "Pausing and resuming replication," "Pausing or resuming a scheduled archive," and "Managing exports," respectively.

  2. Allow all active jobs to complete, or cancel running jobs.

    For more information about viewing and canceling active tasks from the Core Console, see "Viewing running tasks from any Core Console" in the Rapid Recovery User Guide.

  3. Stop the Core service gracefully as follows:
    1. Navigate to the [Settings] Settings page for the Core.
    2. At the top of the page, click [Shut Down]Shut Down Core Service.
  4. Close all instances of related Rapid Recovery applications.

    These applications include AAInfo or the Information Gathering Tool, Local Mount Utility, Mailbox Restore, and DocRetriever.

  5. Close all open instances of PowerShell and any browser running the Core Console.
  6. Download the appropriate installer. For more information, see Obtaining Rapid Recovery software.
  7. Remember to run the Core installer with administrative privileges.

    If the logged-in user is not an administrator, right-click on the installer file and select Run as administrator, providing administrative credentials if prompted.

Upgrading the Rapid Recovery Core

Before upgrading your Core, note the following:

  • You must close all Microsoft Management Console (MMC) windows before you begin upgrading the Core.

    Caution: Due to a Microsoft defect, if any MMC window is open when running the Core Installer, even after a successful installation, the Core service may be deleted after restart.

  • You must first pause any existing protection and replication, and cancel or finish any running jobs. You can accomplish this by temporarily stopping the Core service. In release 6.2 and later, you can do this from the Settings page of the Core Console. For details, see "Restarting or shutting down the Core service" in the Rapid Recovery User Guide.

    NOTE: If upgrading from Rapid Recovery Core versions earlier than 6.2, see knowledge base article 119400, How to Stop the Core Service.

  • When upgrading, you only see a limited number of steps in the installation wizard. The steps differ based on your configuration, including whether you use replication, if you are using the automatic update feature, if you have already agreed to share data with Quest, if prerequisites are installed, and so on.
  • If replicating in your Core, always upgrade the target Core before the source Core.
  • A license is required to run all versions of Rapid Recovery Core. If you are installing a trial version with an embedded temporary license key, your trial license will expire in 14 days. At that time, new snapshots or other scheduled data transfers are paused until an active license is registered. For more information, see Understanding Rapid Recovery licenses.
  • Understand your privacy settings before installing Rapid Recovery Core. Typically, Rapid Recovery requires access to a limited set of your personally identifiable information (PII) to run a standard license. When installing Core version 6.2 or later, you are asked whether to share personal data with Quest or whether you want to decline. If you decline (which is your right), you cannot use the Core until you obtain and register a non-phone-home license from the Rapid Recovery licensing team.

    NOTE: For more information about managing your PII, the GDPR, the functions you cannot perform if you do not accept the use of personal data, and how to obtain a non-phone-home license, see the topic "Managing privacy" in the Rapid Recovery User Guide.

  • After upgrading an existing Core, remember to resume any protection and replication. To resume Agent-based protection in an upgraded release 6.7 Core, your protected machines must be running a supported version of Rapid Recovery Agent.

For step-by-step instructions for installing or upgrading the Rapid Recovery Core software, see the topic Installing the Rapid Recovery Core.

Related Documents

The document was helpful.

Select Rating

I easily found the information I needed.

Select Rating