Version 11.0, a hardware and software release of PlateSpin Forge, provides new features, enhancements, and bug fixes.
For Release Notes documents that accompanied previous Forge releases, visit the PlateSpin Forge 11 Documentation Web Site and go to Previous Releases in the Table of Contents at the bottom of the main page.
This section includes cross references to content in this document that has been newly added, deleted, or modified. Changes are dated for convenience.
The following updates have been made to these Release Notes:
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Update |
Description |
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New bullet item included in Known Issues. |
Provided instructions for German, French, Japanese, Chinese Traditional, and Chinese Simplified users who unsuccessfully try to access product Help from the menubar. |
The following updates have been made to these Release Notes:
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Update |
Description |
|---|---|
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Bug 892202 in Known Issues. |
Newly-identified Known Issue regarding a false validator warning displayed while protecting a Linux workload. |
A new Forge Management VM licensed on vSphere 5.5 and running the Windows 2012 R2 operating system, while utilizing the Microsoft SQL Server 2014.
Support for Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows 8.1 workloads.
UEFI and GPT support for Windows workloads.
Support for Windows 2008 R2 clusters.
New PlateSpin Forge Appliance hardware:
PlateSpin Forge 710 (10-workload model)
PlateSpin Forge 725 (25-workload model)
PlateSpin Forge 740 (40-workload model),
Each hardware model features:
dual 8-core CPUs
128 GB of RAM
greater than 20 TB of RAID-protected usable storage for workload replication
You can add additional workload licenses (in increments of 5) to all PlateSpin Forge Series 700 models, with no upper limit.
Each PlateSpin Forge 700 Series appliance includes a PlateSpin Recon project license. Using the licensed Recon product, you can determine the ideal number and performance of workloads in your environment, up to 100 production server workloads (for 30 days only). With the monitoring data, you can then decide how to balance recovery performance against the number of workloads you want to protect with Forge.
For more information about PlateSpin Forge, see the NetIQ PlateSpin Forge 11 documentation Web site.
This release addresses the following bugs:
857253 - No warning/info message given for 64-bit MSSQL server regarding shutting down SQL services. The product failed to display a warning message to users to shut down a Windows 2003 workload running a 64-bit SQL Server when a file-based transfer was selected for the replication method. The product now properly detects the SQL Server version and prompts for shutting down related services or configuring services to stop appropriately.
862462 - Windows hostname fails to change when configured to do so at test failover. The product formerly had a problem with changing the Windows hostname at Test Failover. Changes to the process for creating the configuration tasks lists have corrected the problem.
863853 - Non-translation in Ready for Failback Window. Some strings in the Failback Window in localized versions of the product were appearing in English. The strings in question have now been properly localized.
869036 - The PlateSpin Server fails to install on Windows 2008 R2. The product now uses the .NET 4 framework for installation launcher prerequisites. As a result, the server installation on Windows 2008 R2 is now successful.
873789 - When installing Forge on Windows 2012, the .NET framework is not correctly detected. New changes for .NET detection have been added to the product so that no warnings come from the validator.
874359 - The https://forgeVM_IP:8098 page needs to be merged into the Forge Appliance Configuration Console. Formerly, there were some visual details on the https://forgeVM_IP:8098 page of the PlateSpin Server that were redundant with the Forge Appliance Configuration Console. This :8098 page has now been rendered inaccessible.
874861 - Forge installation validator doesn't halt the install. Formerly, the Forge installation would continue in spite of any error, and then report it in the installation log. Currently, the installation is halted after script failure and an error message is displayed on the terminal (ttyll: Ctrl+F11).
878344 - Forge Appliance Configuration Console triggered refresh container is failing or timing out. Because OFX and PlateSpin Management Services were not updated with new user passwords, they were unable to start when using the Forge ACC to make changes to the Forge Host or Forge VM. These services were updated with the new passwords and now function correctly.
880179 - Add container failed. After installing Forge 11 VM and changing the appropriate network information, the Container object in the Forge Web Client displayed an “Add failed” status. We added a starter license in the new Windows 2012 Forge Management VM, which corrected the problem.
880379 - Forge VM - VMware Tools - Out-of-date. Upon startup of the Forge 11 VM and inspecting the summary tab of the VM in the vSphere Client, the VMware tools status showed as “out of date.” New VMware tools have been added to this release.
880616 - Appliance Version Missing in Forge user interface. Formerly, if you selected About from the Forge menu, an Appliance Version Unknown message was displayed. Now, the appliance version 3 is registered and correlated with ESXi version 5.5 and is displayed as such in the interface.
880841 - Container IP address and name doesn’t get updated in Forge user interface. After changing ESXi host IP address to an IP address already in use, the container IP address and name were not being updated in the Forge UI. Now, assuming that the Confirm Changes option is selected, Forge detects the problem and rolls back changes.
881197 - Unable to manage target VM settings with VIC; target created as VM version 10. The version for the target VM for failover was being incorrectly set. We added a config setting to control the maximum allowed hardware version when creating the failover VM. It now defaults the created target VM as version vmx-09.
No software RAID support for Linux workloads: PlateSpin Forge does not support Linux workloads with volumes on software RAID.
558937 - Failure of block-level replications that use VSS (Windows): If you are using third-party VSS-based backup software, block-level replications might occasionally fail.
Workaround: Use blackout windows (see Protection Tiers
in your User Guide).
581860 - Browser exception in the Chinese edition of the product: Attempting to connect to the PlateSpin Forge Server with a browser that does not have a specific version of Chinese added might result in Web server errors. For correct operation, use your browser’s configuration settings to add a specific Chinese language (for example, Chinese [zh-cn] or Chinese [zh-tw]). Do not use the culture-neutral Chinese [zh] language.
590635 - Inconsistent failover results after upgrading: Following an upgrade to PlateSpin Forge, a failover operation might fail to complete or might not apply the correct failover parameters, such as the proper hostname and workgroup settings.
Workaround: Before performing a failover, run a replication.
595490 - Preserving boot partition on failback causes failback to stall: In some failback scenarios, the system improperly allows you to preserve an active (or boot) partition on the target, preventing the target from booting properly. This issue is under investigation.
Workaround: In Failback Details, do not opt to preserve any boot partitions on the target.
610918 - Unresponsive Expand and Collapse icons in integrated help: On some systems with enhanced browser security settings (such as Internet Explorer 11 on Windows Server 2008), the Expand and Collapse icons (+ and -) in the Table of Contents might fail to work. To fix the issue, enable JavaScript in your browser:
Chrome: Click From the Chrome menu, select Settings, scroll to and select Show advanced settings..., select Content Settings > Allow all sites to run JavaScript.
Internet Explorer: Click Tools > Internet Options > Security tab > Internet zone > Custom level, then select the Enable option for the Active Scripting feature.
Firefox: Click Tools > Options > Content tab, then select the Enable JavaScript option.
611105 - Missing protection contracts after upgrade: After upgrading your Forge appliance to version 3, protection contracts with workloads in a or a state might be missing from the user interface. This issue is under consideration for an upcoming fix.
655828 - Failure to mount NSS volumes: Upon failover or test failover, NSS volumes with snapshots enabled are not automatically mounted as expected.
See KB Article 7008773.
686911 - Problems with file downloads from or uploads to datastore: Under certain conditions, where the protection target is a VMware DRS Cluster, the system might fail to upload or download a file, such as a boot ISO image. This negatively impacts a protection contract.
See KB Article 7008408 and KB Article 7008306.
698611 - Full cluster replication failure under certain circumstances: If a Windows 2008 R2 Cluster protection contract is set up through the sync to an existing VM method, and if the active cluster node flips prior to the full replication, the full replication job fails.
See KB Article 7008771.
860917 - Cannot prepare OES workload for incremental replication: If you create a VM or modify an existing VM in the VMware Virtual Infrastructure Client (VIC) and select as the Guest Operating System, the VM appears in the PlateSpin Browser (as an unknown OS type), but it is not listed at all in the drop down list in the Prepare for Incremental Replication page of the Protect Web UI.
Workaround: To make this VM available as a target for X2V replication, in the VIC, change the operating system type to and refresh the container. The VM is then listed in the Protect UI.
862269 - Full replication of a Windows 2012 R2 block-based disk with complex partitioning might fail: Testing has shown that a full replication of a Windows 2012 64-bit workload with complex disks (that is, more than 57 partitions) fails in PlateSpin Protect. Make sure the workload you attempt to replicate has no more than 57 partitions or volumes.
863173 - The X2P failback of Linux workloads causes failure of the X Server graphical interface: A protected Linux workload replicated to a target, failed over, and then failed back to a physical target loses functionality of its X Server interface.
Workaround: The issue is caused by a reconfiguration of the failed-over VM when VMware tools are installed. To correct this, use the following command to find the files with the string BeforeVMwareToolsInstall in the filename:
find / -iname '*BeforeVMwareToolsInstall'
After you identify all such files, move them back to their original locations, then reboot the workload to fix the workload's X Server interface.
864326 - Conversion fails while downgrading from UEFI to BIOS firmware: The conversion of a protected UEFI workload (Windows 6.2 and above kernel versions) to fail back to BIOS-based machine fails at the Preparing OS step because the active partition cannot be found to update boot parameters.
Workaround: To work around this problem, update the partition type of where the system volume is present in either the source workload or the image. Use Export and Import of UI options or OFX Browser to edit the XML. For a complete list of steps, see KB Article 7014637.
865570 - File Based Transfer breaks for Windows 2012 R2 UEFI workload: X2P File-based transfer of Windows 6.2 and above kernel versions fails during the sending and receiving files stage.
Workaround: To force file transfer to work in this X2P scenario, you need to disable the CPU advanced flags in the firmware: VT-d, VT-s, Execute Disable Bit. For more information, see KB Article 7014698.
884401 - Windows 2012 R2 workload is created with a variant disk controller type: Although Windows 2003/2008 target workloads created by PlateSpin Forge user the LSI Logic Parallel controller type (classified as “Best of Breed”), Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 workloads are created with the LSI Logic SAS controller type. This substitution is by design. VMware explains in its Knowledgebase that, by default, these operating systems do not do not ship with the parallel driver. For this reason, Forge uses the SAS driver for these targets.
889815 - [Windows Cluster] Heartbeat network is not configured properly at Failover: At Failover, the heartbeat NIC is not configured with its static address. As a result of this failure, the configuration process for that NIC fails and is set as DHCP instead.
This issue is currently being investigated.
Workaround: Manually configure the Heartbeat NIC with the correct static IP settings.
892202 - Validator warning on block-based kernel driver may not be always accurate. Currently, when you add a Linux workload for protection, the product interface might display a message informing you that the system is
Unable to find a compiled version of the block-based kernel driver to exactly match the kernel on this Linux workload....
The message advises further to build a block based driver upon the next replication.
This validator message is likely inaccurate, due to the addition of hundreds of newly- supported Linux distributions for which Forge has a pre-compiled version of the blkwatch driver (see Linux Distributions Supported by Forge
in the PlateSpin Forge 11.0 User Guide). If your workload (that is, the Linux distribution) matches an entry on the list, you can ignore the message and continue.
892206 - Incorrect link to Knowledgebase article with information about compiling a custom block-based driver: When you add a Linux workload to Forge or Protect, the product might not be able to find a block-based kernel driver to match the kernel of that workload. When this happens, a warning message is displayed with a link to a Knowledgebase article explaining how you can build a new custom driver for the workload.
Currently, the message inaccurately provides a link to a Novell site, http://www.novell.com/support/viewContent.do?exteralId=7005873. Please use the following NetIQ URL to navigate to the correct KB article: https://www.netiq.com/support/kb/doc.php?id=7005873.
Localized Help from Menu “Not Found”: The launch of localized versions of help files (German: de, French: fr, Japanese: ja, Chinese Traditional: zh-CHT, and Chinese Simplified: zh-CHS) available from the Help menu fails because of an error in packaging those files for the installation of the shipping version of the product.
To remedy the error:
Navigate to the following location on the PlateSpin Server:
...\PlateSpin Protect Server\PlateSpin Forge\web\doc\<language>\Help\protect-Help
Inside this folder, you will find 158 separate .html files, along with two subfolders:
\images
\ui
Copy these 160 items (copy the subfolders “as-is”) to the following location:
...\PlateSpin Protect Server\PlateSpin Forge\web\doc\<language>\Help\
In effect, you are moving the files up one directory in the file structure where they can be correctly called by the help system.
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