Quadric Software

Alike Backup v7.1 (SP1): Enhancements, Bug Fixes, and Improved Stability

We are thrilled to announce the release of Alike Backup v7.1 [build 9167] (ie. SP1), a major update that brings numerous enhancements, bug fixes, and improved stability to our powerful data protection solution. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the notable changes, improvements, and known issues in this release. We highly recommend all users to update to this latest version to take advantage of the enhanced features and improved performance.

Important Information for Users: Before we delve into the details, please take note of the following important information:

1. Reinstallation of Q-Hybrid, Physical, and Hyper-V Agents: As part of the major refactoring, Q-Hybrid, Physical, and Hyper-V agents must be reinstalled. To ensure a seamless transition, we provide a link to the latest agent binary for your convenience.
2. Check Replication Jobs Carefully: Due to significant changes to all replication pathways, we urge users to carefully check their replication jobs after the upgrade. These changes are designed to streamline and optimize the replication process, but it’s essential to verify the settings to ensure they align with your backup strategy.
3. Potential Rebaselining of CBT Jobs: After upgrading, it’s likely that CBT jobs will need to be rebaselined. Prepare for longer-than-usual backup times during the first backup after the upgrade. This step ensures the integrity and efficiency of your future backups.
4. Xen VM Licensing Update: With this release, Alike will no longer protect unhomed Xen VMs unless the entire pool is licensed. To protect a powered-off VM, simply home it to a licensed host.

Major Changes:

Alike Backup v7.1.0 brings significant improvements and modernization to our core components. Here are the major changes you can expect:

• Refactored Backup and Replication Code Paths: We have eliminated legacy code, modernized core component technology, and streamlined the backup and replication processes for enhanced performance.
• Hyper-V Backup Issue Resolution: All active issues with Hyper-V Backup have been addressed, ensuring a smoother and more reliable backup experience.
• Improved Xen CBT Codepath: We have made significant enhancements to the Xen CBT codepath, making it more scalable and eliminating the need for temporary disks.
• Enhanced ABD and Q-Hybrid Replication: Alike Backup introduces a new non-CBT approach to ABD and Q-Hybrid replication, leveraging the proven Quadric backup pathway for improved reliability.
• Linux Filesystem Support in File-Level Restore: Our file-level restore feature now offers improved support for Linux filesystems, including disks without any partition table.
• Migration to Robust Codebases: All Q-Hybrid, Physical, and ABD components have been migrated off Quadric legacy codebases, ensuring code robustness and paving the way for future advancements.

UI Fixes: In addition to major changes, we have addressed several user interface (UI) issues to enhance your experience:

• Introduces Startup Loading/Splash Screen
• Resolves missing GFS Profile editor button in settings
• Fixes UI Percentage display going out of bounds
• Adds A3 name in UI and emails for better identification
• Prevents backup delete action from causing UI “crashes”
• Displays VM power state as blue when it is not determinable
• Sorts vault history page by latest first, improving usability
• Introduces Xen Pool Management and ABD interface improvements
• Various CSS fixes for improved UI consistency

Bug Fixes and Stabilizations:

Alike Backup v7.1.0 includes numerous bug fixes and stabilizations to ensure a seamless backup experience. Some notable fixes include:

• Corrects host A3 issue where ODS doesn’t mount correctly on A3 after reboot
• Resolves out-of-order VM job processing issue
• Fixes issue where physical systems can’t be relicensed if licensing is removed or lost
• Fixes UI crash on the schedules page when a deleted host is present in a job
• Resolves race condition where scheduled jobs could start before docker is fully ready
• If A3 services must stop for a serious issue, A3 UI will now also shut down to prevent user confusion
• Resolves a condition where after a backup failure, the A3 would nevertheless attempt to commit the backup to storage
• Newly added hosts now automatically enumerate
• Clarification on rebuild notices (jads.status)
• Improved instaboot error handling and reporting
• Resolves issue where large webserver responses overrun nginx’s buffers, causing WebUI to fail

Xen-Specific Fixes:

• Resolves bug where ABD provision did not check if a template was deployed, causing misleading errors
• Fixes issue in ABD DHCP assignment, that mistakenly had a limit on number of leases
• Now correctly halt on ABD provision failure
• A new background task now cleans up instaboot area automatically
• Instaboot area permissions are corrected to avoid spurious Xen errors
• Prevents enumeration from aborting prematurely if any Xen host is unreachable
• Logging Enables log rotation on A3 logging assets
• Prevents web UI from crashing when attempting to load very large log files
• Cleanup of spurious errors from ws_error log

Known Issues:

Users upgrading from A2/v6 may experience browser session issues during initial setup that require login/logout to resolve

Alike Backup v7.1 (SP1) marks a significant milestone in the evolution of our data protection solution. With major changes, UI fixes, bug fixes, and stabilizations, this release offers enhanced performance, improved reliability, and a more intuitive user experience. We encourage all users to update to this latest version to take advantage of the advanced features, streamlined code paths, and bug resolutions. At Alike Backup, we are committed to providing you with a robust and efficient solution that keeps your data safe, protected, and easily recoverable. Upgrade to Alike Backup v7.1.0 today and experience the next level of data protection.