Backup Exec 12.5

I was slightly hesitant when I got the upgrade emails from Symantec but I went ahead and downloaded it. The upgrade installation went through without a hitch, all my settings were retained, and the jobs are running properly. I'm not being sarcastic when I say that this is probably the best Backup Exec upgrade I've had in the past 4 years.

One of the reasons I wanted to roll this out is that I'm looking at rolling out a 2008 Hyper-V box next year and they've added a new agent specifically for Microsoft Virtual Servers. Now I'm not a licensing expert but it looks like they're going to focus more on licensing the Host Virtual server and not worry as much about how many virtual machines are on it. An Agent for VMWARE ESX is now available as well.

On top of that, they've released a new version of their System Recovery product (8.5) which like the previous version allows you to convert your backups into virtual machines. The new 8.5 version adds support for Hyper-V and scheduled conversions.
http://www.symantec.com/business/backup-exec-system-recovery-server-edition

So far so good with the new version. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it lasts...

vmware 2 install - system administrator has set policies to prevent this installation error

Whilst trying to upgrade my VMWare server 1.0 to the new 2.0 version, I ran into a fun error.



So I tried a few resolutions I had found on the web which led me to this patch:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925336

Now granted, the title of that KB seems misleading but apparently it applies here too. Since VMWare made this big huge install file (500+ MB), you have to install this patch and reboot. Afterwards, the installer worked fine for me.

VMWare Server 2.0 problem with disconnected network cable

I ran into an interesting problem with VMWare Server 2.0 this week on a laptop. When the network cable is not plugged in and you're not on a wireless network, you can't open a browser to connect to the console of currently running virtual machines. (I really miss the old Console app).

The workaround I use is to create a Loopback Adapter on the host machine:
2003 instructions:
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-5647584.html
XP instructions:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/839013

Once created, assign a static IP like 172.16.180.1 or something similar. The loopback adapter is always on and always appears connected. Reboot and then use the loopback adapter's address to get into the VMWare admin web console. https://172.16.180.1:8333 or whatever address you chose to assign your loopback adapter. (Keep in mind you want to choose an address that isn't likely to conflict with other networks when you travel. Using the loopback adapter is perfectly safe and won't affect how your virtual machines operate. This workaround just pertains to how the web console is bound to IIS.