Automatic Updates

[BackupBytesTim]

Am I missing something or does Veeam not have automatic updates? I haven't found anything so far, but it seems like a feature that any software should have these days.
We're a service provider managing a few hundred devices with various different configurations and environments, our current process of manually performing updates is highly inconvenient as it requires catching computers when they're online, which hopefully is during business hours.

If there's no setting to perform agent updates automatically, is there a way to queue the update to occur the next time the computer connects to the VSPC server?

[Dima P.]

Hello Tim,

Veeam Agent for Windows has autoupdate functionality but for unmanaged installation agent needs to be controlled by the user. Can you please clarify are those agents managed by Veeam B&R or by Veeam Service Provider Console?

[BackupBytesTim]

The agents are managed by the Veeam Service Provider Console.

[Dima P.]

Thanks! You can do that centrally via Veeam Service Provider Console, please take a look at this KB: Upgrading Veeam Backup Agents.

[jcandres]

I have the same Problem, managed by B&R. actual version of Windows Agents 6.0.0.960 but no update available

[Dima P.]

Hi jcandres,

For agents managed by B&R you need to update B&R to the latest patch first. This patch includes the v6.0.2 for Veeam Agent for Windows. Thank you!

[BackupBytesTim]

I see the instructions, they're quite detailed and I'm sure that's helpful for some cases. But that would seem to be a manual update process, not an automatic one. Is there an "automatic updates" setting or something that can be enabled so I don't have to manually initiate the update at a time when the computer is online? Or maybe a way I can queue an update to occur the next time the computer connects to the VSPC server?

My problem is performing updates right now seems to require a human to actually check for update status at the same time a computer is online, as a service provider managing numerous computers across numerous environments that's just not realistic for us.

As a side note, reading that documentation revealed to me the presence of "master agents". Do I understand correctly that updates for all computers at a company are processed by the master agent in that company, so updates do not get downloaded and installed directly by the computer that's being updated?

[Vitaliy S.]

Hi Tim,

But that would seem to be a manual update process, not an automatic one. Is there an "automatic updates" setting or something that can be enabled so I don't have to manually initiate the update at a time when the computer is online? Or maybe a way I can queue an update to occur the next time the computer connects to the VSPC server?

Currently, there is no way to initiate it for the offline agent, but we can think about how to queue it and not interrupt the backup job.

As a side note, reading that documentation revealed to me the presence of "master agents". Do I understand correctly that updates for all computers at a company are processed by the master agent in that company, so updates do not get downloaded and installed directly by the computer that's being updated?

It depends, you can do that via master agent in the offline mode, or all agents will download the required bits by themselves.

Thanks!

[BackupBytesTim]

Thanks for the information, I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to have the VSPC server send an update if one is available anytime a management agent reports a backup job as completed or when the computer reconnects after being offline. Since the VSPC server keeps track of installed agent versions, even if the agent is offline, I assume it would be simple enough to also have the VSPC server check for updates daily and then inform any agents of the available update the next time they connect. But I can also see benefits to having the agent itself check for the update directly, right now I assume the VSPC server is what checks for updates, but I could be mistaken.

[NickKulkarni]

@eSiloTim

I don't think you want an AutoUpdate feature sitting inside the Agents.

When I have responded to the message that an update is available from the Agent in the past I have regretted it.
Agent does not check what version of Repository you are connecting to and simply detects the update as being available.
It upgrades your Agent and the next backup fails because it is not compatible with an earlier version of Veeam.

e.g. Agent v6 is not compatible with Veeam B&R v11a upgrading Agents before the Server causes failure to backup.
The Agent needs to be intelligent and not offer an update without first checking the repository server version.

[Vitaliy S.]

Thanks for the information, I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to have the VSPC server send an update if one is available anytime a management agent reports a backup job as completed or when the computer reconnects after being offline.

Yes, this is what we are discussing with the RnD team now. We want to have a similar engine our management agents are using today.

Since the VSPC server keeps track of installed agent versions, even if the agent is offline, I assume it would be simple enough to also have the VSPC server check for updates daily and then inform any agents of the available update the next time they connect.

There is such a check today, however, no automatic installation after clicking the corresponding button in the VSPC UI.

But I can also see benefits to having the agent itself check for the update directly, right now I assume the VSPC server is what checks for updates, but I could be mistaken.

Yes, VSPC is now in charge, for the reasons Nick mentions above, I would not recommend enabling this option for agents in an automatic manner since there could be compatibility issues between different platforms and repos. The check must be done by the VSPC and only after you click the upgrade button, we can potentially queue the request and install an update once the backup agent is online.

[BackupBytesTim]

Unfortunately that last point regarding compatibility issues gets back to a couple other issues I have with Veeam compared to other software, Veeam seems to have a lot of issues with compatibility between different software versions, often also what I consider a Veeam created problem when support insists on installing a custom patch without publishing it as a proper update so all the software stays the same, and then also the lack of communication between the different Veeam components makes it seem like Veeam software is developed by a dozen different teams putting forth the bare minimum effort to make everything work together.

All that to say that having the various software components be more interoperable across versions and/or have the VSPC server check compatibility before automatically installing an update should be easy enough to implement. At the very least the compatibility check should just be a matter of comparing a list of compatible versions, which I imagine someone at Veeam already maintains for each published update.

Anyways, still a feature request, seems it's in your future plans already so that's good to know.

[Vitaliy S.]

Yes, if agents are managed by the Console, we will be able to avoid the platform compatibility issues.

[Vitaliy S.]

@eSiloTim, a quick update on this > looks like we have a good chance of including this functionality in our next release, as all required research has already been done on the dev side.

Or maybe a way I can queue an update to occur the next time the computer connects to the VSPC server?

[BackupBytesTim]

That sounds great!

I look forward to that, it would for sure simplify some things for us.

I understand you can't guarantee anything, but by "next release" can I assume you're referring to the V13 release? Or do you think it would happen in a minor update to V12?

Also, I know this is the Windows forum, but is it safe to assume the functionality would be available for other OS agents at the same time, whenever it gets added, particularly the macOS agent, which we also use some of for our customers?

[Vitaliy S.]

I'm referring to the next major VSPC release, which is going to be v8. Yes, this topic should have been posted in the service provider forums (ideally), but anyway, we are planning to do it for all three platforms that we support now (Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOs).

[BackupBytesTim]

Thanks!