Upgrading Veeam Agent - Which edition

[remko.de.koning]

I am currently upgrading the Veeam Endpoint Backup software (version 1.1.1.212) on a bunch of physical workstation and servers.
I will be installing version 2.0.0.700 and will use our Veeam B&R backup repository.
The Veeam B&R software 9.5 software is also updated to release 2.

Veeam Agent now comes in three editions and I am a bit in doubt what version would be sufficient.
I found the comparison chart https://www.veeam.com/veeam_agent_windo ... _en_ds.pdf

These are all static systems that do not go off-site. There is no cloud repository (just local) and no need to alter backup schedules. Once a day is just fine.
I noticed that appplication item recovery is partially supported. Unfortunately I was not able to find what is supported and what is not.
There are a two domain controllers and some systems with a "simple" SQL database.

A couple of questions that come to mind.

Would the free version in our case be sufficient?
Do I need to recreate the Veeam Recovery CD? I noticed that when I upgrade a system, this questions pops up.
Is there an easy way to see what Veeam Agent version is running on which system? I did notice that there is some extra information now in je Jobs-->Agent screen but not the Agent version.

Thanks,

Remko
Thanks for any feedback

[ortoscale]

Free version will not work with SQL and Active Directory servers/machines. You need server version to backup them properly. For the rest - file level backup - you can go with free version.

[Mike Resseler]

Remko,

Even in the free version we will truncate logs and such just like it was with VEB 1.1 and 1.5. The difference is application-specific backup and restore logic (as opposed to simply calling the VSS writer). As far as I can understand your setup, free would be enough.

Since you are storing the backup in a VBR repository, you will be able to use the Veeam explorers, however, not everything will work. Best is that you start with FREE version, take a backup and then see with the explorers if the restore capabilities are sufficient enough for your environment and requirements

Please do recreate the recovery CD. Some changes there and the recovery CD from 1.5 might not be able to do BMR (and you don't want to find that out when there is an issue )

Cheers
Mike

[remko.de.koning]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your reply.
I installed the Trial license yesterday and the agents automatically notice this.
They become licensed clients automatically.
It appears however that it is not as easy to remove the license. Once installed I am having a hard time to remove it.
Would revoking the license for each individual agent be the way to do this?
Does this also mean that each new client is automatically registered as either workstation/server and then need to be revoked.

Is there an easier way to "uninstall" the license?

[Mike Resseler]

A trial license is a full license. If you install the solution without license, it should be a free edition. But I assume that you installed the license on a VBR server?

Mike

[remko.de.koning]

Yes, the trial license is installed via the enterprise manager.
All agents are now licensed automatically.
No clue however how to get rid of it

[Dima P.]

This KB article should help - Removing a License from Veeam Backup and Replication or Enterprise Manager

[Gostev]

Free version will not work with SQL and Active Directory servers/machines. You need server version to backup them properly.

Well, technically it will work, but free version gives you basic VSS quiescence only (same as what Veeam Endpoint Backup did). This is sufficient for desktops and unsophisticated server workloads such as file servers, but not for the enterprise apps. Well, may be except SQL Server with simple recovery model, this one is hard to screw up even restoring from crash-consistent backup... but I would not risk other apps like domain controllers or Exchange, as these require application-specific backup steps to set the backed up image up to perform VSS restore of those apps upon the first boot (after the entire computer restore).

As far as I can understand your setup, free would be enough.

Enough to get in trouble performing the entire computer restore, that is for sure and then you're left with no support from Veeam (because it is a free version) and no support from Microsoft (due to the absence of VSS restore events in the Event Log). So, it's a question if the business is willing to take this risk.

[CorbinD]

Not to hijack this thread at all, but my shop is in a similar situation and with the release of the 2.0 agent we were wondering if the free version of the agent will continue to exist moving forward? Are there any plans for this version to be removed? The free version works for us in our rather simple environment for few workstations. We run fully licensed VBR 9.5 release 2.

Regards,

Terry

[Mike Resseler]

Hi Terry,

At this moment we certainly don't have plans to remove the free version. Veeam always had and has a long history of having free versions. Even our VBR solution has a free edition and we have other tools also that are free.

Mike