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VDDK Support for the Virtual Server Agent with VMware

The Virtual Server Agent (VSA) for Commvault includes the certified VDDK version(s) that can be used for backups, including backups for ESXi versions that are no longer supported by VMware.

Note

  • For the new installation of VSA on access nodes, only the most recent certified VDDK version 8.x will be available.

  • On the VSA access nodes where the Commvault software is upgraded to latest version, the most recent certified VDDK version and earlier versions will be available. The appropriate VDDK version will be loaded based on the vSphere version on the vCenter.

  • If you upgrade vCenter to vSphere 7.0 Update 3, then the VSA for Windows VMs uses VDDK 7.0.2 as the VDDK 7.0.3 version has issues with NAS transport mode backups. However, you can use VDDK 8.0.0 or higher versions.

  • VDDK 8.0.1: Will be loaded for vCenters running vSphere 6.5 or later (Leveraged with priority as of CPR2024).

  • VDDK 8.0.0: Will be loaded for vCenters running vSphere 6.5 or later (Leveraged with priority as of CPR2024).

  • VDDK 7.0.3: Will be loaded for vCenters running vSphere 7.0 Update 3 or later.

  • VDDK 7.0.2: Will be loaded for vCenters running vSphere 7.0 Update 2 or later.

  • VDDK 7.0.1: Will be loaded for vCenters running vSphere 7.0 Update 1 or later.

  • VDDK 7.0: Will be loaded for vCenters running vSphere 7.0 or later.

  • VDDK 6.7.3: Will be loaded for vCenters running vSphere 6.7 Update 3 or later.

  • VDDK 6.5.2: Will be loaded for vCenters running vSphere 6.5 or later.

  • VDDK 6.0.2: Will be loaded by default for vCenters that do not require VDDK 6.5 or later.

The VSA package includes VDDKs in the following folder structure:

\Base\VMware\VDDK\VDDK801\bin
\Base\VMware\VDDK\VDDK800\bin
\Base\Vmware\VDDK\VDDK703\bin
\Base\Vmware\VDDK\VDDK702\bin
\Base\Vmware\VDDK\VDDK701\bin
\Base\Vmware\VDDK\VDDK700\bin
\Base\Vmware\VDDK\VDDK673\bin
\Base\Vmware\VDDK\VDDK652\bin
\Base\Vmware\VDDK\VDDK602\bin

The VDDK is not loaded until the VDDK is needed for a backup or restore operation. Once a VSA proxy has loaded a more recent VDDK version, it cannot revert to using an older version.

Use separate VSA proxies to support different VDDK versions

A single physical or virtual machine can only support one active VDDK version, and different VSA proxies must be configured to support different VDDK versions. If VSA proxies are deployed as virtual machines, the VSA proxy VMs supporting different VDDK versions must be hosted on different ESX servers.

In environments that include vSphere 6.5 or 6.7, as well as ESX hosts that are not supported by vSphere 6.5 or 6.7, configure separate VSA subclients and assign different VSA proxies to each of the subclients:

  • Configure one subclient and VSA proxy to support older hosts with proxies using VDDK 6.0.2.

  • Configure a separate subclient and VSA proxy to support vSphere 6.5, 6.7, or 7.0.

    The version of the VDDK that is loaded automatically matches the highest level of vSphere in the deployment. For example, if the deployment includes vSphere 6.5 and vSphere 6.7 Update 3, VDDK 6.7.3 is loaded automatically.

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