Features and enhancements that we want to highlight in this feature release are listed here, with a link to full documentation for the feature.
For your convenience, the Newsletter for New Features in Feature Release 21 is also available in PDF format, New Features in Feature Release 11.21.
For a comprehensive list of all new features, see New Features.
Note: If you are upgrading from a previous feature release, also review the following pages:
Complete Backup and Recovery
Back Up and Restore SAP HANA Databases with SSL Connections
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Configure Commvault VTL for IBM i from the Command Center
Key Features
- Commvault VTL improves backup-restore throughput by going over a fibre channel.
- Commvault VTL simplifies disaster recovery of IBM i servers.
Applicable Agents
Setup Requirements
- Install Commvault VTL for the IBM i File System Agent on the Linux access node.
- Configure Fibre Channel (FC) network zoning to allow access to the Linux access node FC target from the IBM i server.
More Information
View the DB2 Version Upgrade History
Applicable Agents
Identify Crucial CommCell Settings Using the CommCell Configuration Audit Report
Key Features
- Disk and tape library settings
- Storage policy and storage policy copy settings
- Media management settings
- Data aging settings
Setup Requirements
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Back Up and Restore HCL Domino Version 11
Key Features
IntelliSnap for Instances on Google Cloud Platform
Applicable Agents
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Reduce the RPO to Minutes with Streamlined Log Backups Using Disk Caching for Informix Databases
Applicable Agents
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Microsoft SharePoint Server Agent Supports Modern Authentication
Key Features
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Complete: Manage New Workloads
Back Up and Restore MongoDB Sharded Clusters or Replica Sets in the Command Center
Key Features
- Uses Commvault IntelliSnap technology to protect the cluster
- Protects both replica set topologies and sharded cluster topologies
- Protects the MongoDB databases from the secondary node, without using the primary node resources
- Allows recovery of the entire cluster
- Allows recovery to the original cluster or to a different cluster with the same number of shards, on-premises or within the cloud
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VSA Support for MEDITECH on Nutanix AHV
- Back up MEDITECH VMs
- Restore full MEDITECH VMs (in place and out-of-place)
Applicable Agents
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Seamless Restores of Copy-Only Full Backups for SQL Always-On Availability Groups
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Complete: Protect Virtual Environments
Cross-Account Copying of Amazon Snapshots for RDS and EC2
Key Features
- You can restore data from the copied snapshot even if the source snapshot or the source RDS or EC2 instance is deleted, thereby providing an additional layer of security or air gap.
Applicable Agents
- Amazon RDS
- VSA for Amazon
Setup Requirements
For Azure Managed Disks, Back Up and Restore Azure Availability Zones Information
Applicable Agents
More Information
- Backups for Azure (Command Center)
- Backups (CommCell Console)
Deploy Commvault to Protect Workloads Running in the Azure VMware Solution
Key Features
- Backups and restores using vStorage APIs for Data Protection (VADP)
- Changed block tracking (CBT)
- Full, incremental, differential, and synthetic full backups
- Restores of full VMs, VMDKs (alone or attaching to a VM), and guest files and folders
- Agentless file recovery
- Application-aware backups
- VM conversion from VMware to Microsoft Azure
- VM conversion from Microsoft Azure to VMware
- Live Sync replication and Live Sync Direct for snapshot-based replication
- Replication from VMware to Microsoft Azure
Applicable Agents
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Journey to the Cloud
Back Up and Restore Regional Persistent Disks for Google Cloud Platform
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Back Up and Restore Nutanix Files in the Command Center
Key Features
- Quickly configure file servers, storage, and subclients to back up
- Back up subclients immediately or on a schedule
- Restore CIFS shares and NFS exports to the source Nutanix Files file server or any other file location
- Monitor jobs, events, and alerts
Applicable Agents
- Windows File System Agent
- Linux File System Agent
Applicable Arrays
More Information
File System Restores to Cloud Storage Accounts
- Alibaba Cloud
- Amazon S3
- Azure Blob Storage
- Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2
- Azure File Storage
- Google Cloud
- IBM Cloud Object Storage (COS)
Applicable Agents
More Information
Convert Virtual Machines from Hyper-V to Azure Stack Hub
Applicable Agents
More Information
Replicate SAP HANA Databases in Cloud
More Information
Azure NetApp Files for SAP HANA
Applicable Agents
Applicable Arrays
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Incremental Snapshots for Applications in Azure Infrastructure with Managed Disks
- Create incremental snapshots for Azure managed disks, by default. Incremental snapshots are cost effective point-in-time backups that store only the changes on the disks since the most recent snapshot.
- Optimize the snap operation performance by reducing the time taken to mount and unmount from multiple Azure disks.
More Information
Creating VM Disk Filters for Google Cloud Platform
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IntelliSnap for Google Cloud Platform
Applicable Agents
- Oracle
- SAP HANA
- UNIX File System
- Windows File System
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Authenticate Azure SQL Databases Using Managed Identities
Key Features
Applicable Agents
Setup Requirements
- The user must have Service Administrator role privileges.
- The access nodes must be in the Azure cloud.
More Information
Cross-Account Data Management By Using Security Token Service (STS) AssumeRole API and Amazon IAM Roles
Key Features
- Use STS:AssumeRole to centralize backup operations, while assuming the role of each protected sub-account during backup activities.
- Remove the requirement to provision Amazon Access Nodes per account, by using a single pool of Access Nodes to protect many accounts.
- Remove the use of Access Key/Secret Key configurations which require manual key rotation to stay secure over time.
Applicable Agents
- Virtual Server Agent (VSA) for Amazon
- Virtual Server Agent for Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)
- Cloud Apps agent for Amazon S3
Setup Requirements
- At least two distinct Amazon accounts or IAM Roles must exist.
- The sub-account must explicitly trust the organizational service account to permit request of temporary credentials from the STS service.
- Both the service account and the sub-account must have the permissions to perform backup via either amazon_permission_backup_restore.json or amazon_restricted_role_permissions.json.
- The service account must be granted permission to call the STS:AssumeRole() API call.
- The Amazon Access Node must have layer 3 connectivity to https://sts.amazonaws.com either directly or via HTTP PROXY.
More Information
- Configuring STS Role Authentication
- Creating a Role with Restricted Access
- Creating a vmimport role
- Amazon Web Services Permission Usage
- Guided Setup for Amazon
- Adding an Amazon Hypervisor
- Creating an Amazon RDS Client
- Enabling Cross-Account Sharing of an Amazon RDS Snapshot Copy
- Using an IAM Role to Grant Permissions to Applications Running on Amazon EC2 Instances
- AWS Security Token Service
- AssumeRole
Back Up and Restore Amazon EC2, RDS, and EKS Workloads, and MySQL and PostgreSQL Databases, on AWS Outposts
Key Features
- Back up and recover AWS Outposts-hosted workloads.
- Cloud native snapshot orchestration and back up to Commvault cloud libraries.
- Ensure data residency needs are met for AWS Outposts backup data with plans.
- Migrate data between AWS region and AWS Outposts with Commvault automation.
- Extend your Disaster Recovery landscape with failover/failback between AWS region and AWS Outposts, and vice versa.
Applicable Agents
- Virtual Server Agent (VSA) for Amazon.
- Virtual Server Agent (VSA) for Amazon Web Services (EC2, RDS, EKS).
- MySQL Agent (if performing MySQL dump/export backup)
- PostgreSQL Agent (if performing PostgreSQL dump/export backup).
Applicable Arrays
Setup Requirements
- At least one AWS access node is required to perform EC2, RDS, and EKS backups.
- The access node for EC2 and RDS backups must be located in the AWS region.
- The access node for EKS and RDS dump/export backups must be located within AWS Outposts.
- AWS Outposts workloads are identified by subnet only. Commvault recommends the use of AWS tagging to identify AWS Outposts applications for backup and restores.
- AWS Outposts does not currently provide Amazon S3 storage. All EBS snapshots are stored in the region.
- If localized backup copies are required (within AWS Outposts), the EBS volumes can be provisioned as a Commvault disk library.
- Commvault can be directed to write to local storage devices outside your AWS Outposts via an Amazon Local Gateway (LGW).
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Modern Infrastructures
Allow Override Restrictions for Retention Settings in Laptop Plans
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Enable a Passkey for Browsing and Restoring Backup Data
Key Features
- After enabling a passkey, the Authorize for restore option appears. Enable the Authorize for restore option to allow an end-user that entered the correct passkey to browse and restore backup data for a period of thirty minutes.
- An MSP administrator and tenant administrator can enable and require the passkey feature, using the Command Center.
- A client owner can create and require the passkey feature using the Command Center, Web Console, and CommCell Console.
- All users (the MSP administrator, tenant administrators, and client owners) can use REST API requests to create and require a passkey for a client computer.
- If passkeys are defined at multiple levels, the lowest level passkey takes precedence. For example, a passkey that is configured for a client computer takes precedence over a passkey that is configured for a company, and a user who is performing a restore for the client computer must use the passkey that is configured by the client owner.
More Information
- Requiring a Passkey as an MSP Administrator
- Enabling CommCell environment Client Owners to Require a Passkey
- Requiring a Passkey in the Command Center as a Tenant Administrator
- Configuring a Passkey in the CommCell Console as a Tenant Administrator
- Enabling Company Client Owners to Require a Passkey
- Requiring a Passkey in the Command Center as a Laptop Device Owner
- Configuring a Passkey in the Commcell Console as a Client Owner
- Requiring a Passkey as a Client Owner in the Web Console
- Creating a Passkey for Virtual Machine Restores
- REST API - POST Passkey (Company Level)
- REST API - POST Authorize for Restore (Company Level)
- REST API - POST Passkey (Client Level)
- REST API - POST Authorize for Restore (Client level)
Configure an Identity Provider CommCell to Manage Multiple CommCells
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Configure Ransomware Protection for Disk Libraries on a Linux MediaAgent
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Orchestration and Automation
Validate Backups of VMware Virtual Machines
You can validate streaming backups of VMware guest virtual machines, including VMs that run applications. Validation performs a live mount operation for the VM, and can also run a script to verify that the VM and application are usable.
You can use validation to verify that backups are available in the event that you need to restore application data from a backup, or to replicate VMs and applications for use in the event of a disaster.
You can configure validation for a VM group in the Command Center, and monitor validation from the Virtualization dashboard.
Applicable Agents
Virtual Server Agent
Setup Requirements
- To specify a standard location where VMs are mounted, or to enable non-admin users to configure backup validation, create a recovery target.
- Create a VM group for each set of guest VMs that run an application. For example, you can create one VM group for VMs that run SQL Server, and a separate VM group for VMs that run Exchange.
- Obtain credentials for guest VMs that run applications.
- Use a Windows access node (VSA proxy) for application validation.
- If necessary, create custom validation scripts for applications. A script for SQL Server is included with the Virtual Server Agent package.