Symantec NetBackup 7.5.0.4 now (partially) supports vSphere 5.1

Update December 20 2012: Also read VMware’s blog article on the issue!
Update February 12 2013: NetBackup 7.5.0.5. is available, more info here.

Despite earlier postings (here and here) about Symantec NetBackup not supporting vSphere 5.1 because of a possible bug in the VMware VDDK, Symantec recently changed their support statement regarding NetBackup on vSphere 5.1. NetBackup 7.5.0.4 now supports vSphere 5.1, but there are some (minor?) issues. The support statement now says:

“NetBackup 7.5.0.4 supports backup and recovery of vSphere 5.1.

The following issues will be resolved in a future release:

• VM hardware version 9 In vSphere 5.1, the latest virtual machine hardware version is 9. NetBackup 7.5.0.4 does not recognize version 9, as follows:
  • When restoring to vCenter 5.1, virtual machines with hardware version 9 are restored with hardware version 8. To restore to version 9, use a VMware interface after recovery to upgrade the virtual machine to version 9.
  • When restoring to vCenter 5.1, virtual machines with hardware version 7 or earlier are restored with hardware version 8 if you do not select the NetBackup Retain original hardware version option. To restore to version 9, use a VMware interface after recovery to upgrade the virtual machine to version 9.
  • When building a query for automatic selection of virtual machines in the NetBackup VMware policy, the virtual machine version “vmx-09” is not recognized. As a workaround, use a query that specifies vmx-08, such as VMVersion Greater “vmx-08”.
• For a description of VMware version numbers, see the section on virtual machine compatibility in the following VMware document: What’s New in VMware vSphere 5.1 – Platform
  The VMware document explains how to set a default virtual machine compatibility level (for a hardware version other than 9).
• Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 guest operating systems vSphere 5.1 adds guest operating system support for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. At this time, NetBackup supports recovery of the entire virtual machine for those guest operating systems. File-level and application-level recovery will be supported in a future release.”

Although it’s a good thing Symantec is now supporting vSphere 5.1, I was a bit surprised support for vSphere 5.1 changed so fast. This is not what I expected after reading this article dated november 21st (and not updated at this moment).

Also check this blogposting by Veeam on the issue.

Kudos to my colleague Martijn Moret for pointing me on this update.