Symantec

Ever run into this error? You may see it when attempting to install or upgrade the Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager. I ran across it recently when upgrading to SEPM 12.1.5, but I’ve seen it on previous versions as well.

Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager has detected that there are pending system changes that require a reboot. Please reboot the system and rerun the installation.

This may seem like an easy fix. Just reboot the server right? But oddly it never works. Regardless of how many times you reboot this message will always crop up.

When the installer runs it checks for a key in the registry. It’s this key that can cause this error. Thankfully this is an easy fix. For this, we need to modify the registry.

Symantec has announced Backup Exec 15. This product will go into beta in the first quarter of 2015. Although no date has been specified.

One of the biggest changes is that Symantec has dropped 32-bit support for its Media Server. This means that your media server can only run on a 64-bit operating system.

This won’t be a big shock for the Microsoft Exchange community. Exchange Server has required a 64-bit media server for some time.

Whether Symantec will support a media server on Windows 2003 is left to be seen. My guess, sometime between the beta and general release, Symantec will make 2008 a minimum requirement. Especially with Server 2003 going end-of-life in less than 8 months.

The other big news—Cumulative Update 6—this version will officially add support for the latest release of Exchange 2013. Although by the time this goes beta, I expect CU7 to be released.

Symantec Backup Exec 2012 was received with mixed reviews when it launched.

Many complained about the new GUI. Others did not like the new server-centric mindset that had replaced the traditional job-centric method. The list was extensive.

The good news was that Symantec listened very closely to their user base. And kudos to Symantec for doing this! They realized they had made a mistake and promised to bring back everything users had loved about previous versions.

They dubbed this project Backup Exec 2012 Release 2.

Release 2 would also include added support for Exchange 2013 and SharePoint 2013, such as allowing granular restores. At present, only full database restores can be performed on these two products. It would also add support for Server 2012 as a Media Server.

Release 2 went into beta late last year. It had a proposed release date of June 2014.

‘So, what’s all this ditching Release 2?’ you may ask.

So, I ran into this issue today where a customer running Backup Exec 12.5 could not perform an Inventory Job against a single-loader tape drive. They had performed all the usual steps, such as power-cycling the library and then power-cycling the server, but still no dice. What made matters even more strange was that they could actually perform regular backups. They just couldn’t perform any tape operations. After a quick check with HP Tape Tools, confirming that everything hardware-wise was good, we quickly set our sights back on the software side. The fix was very simple. See below:

The beta program for Backup Exec 2012 Release 2 has been announced. ‘Okay, but what is changing in Release 2?’ you might say. Well, quite a lot actually. And, from what I can see its all good!

As many of you are already aware Symantec Backup Exec 2012 was received with mixed reviews. Some loved all the new features, others liked or disliked the new GUI, and lastly, some didn’t care about the new Server-Centric model that had replaced the Job-Centric model from previous versions. Personally, I quite liked the product but I did see some oversights that I had described in some previous articles. But those were never a deal-breaker for me. I recommend reading these posts for a fuller picture.

• Backup Exec To Include Job-Based Backups Maybe
• Backup Exec To Include Job-Based Backups Maybe: PART DEUX

In retrospect I guess I could have called this article ‘Backup Exec To Include Job-Based Backups Maybe: PART TROIS’, but hey call me a rebel (and that is a lot of words to write). Blog headings aside here is the list of cool features changing in Release 2.

On January 5th, 2014, Symantec Endpoint Protection 11.0.x will reach the second stage of its end-of-life process. This is the official end of limited support. What this means is that there will be no further development or patches for this product. SEP 11.0.7 MP3 will be the final release update and maintenance patch for SEP 11. Technical Support, however, will continue until January 5th, 2015. Symantec is issuing letters to all customers regarding this product lifecycle.