Installing an Old Client on a New CommServe for Simpana

There may be a time that you will need to install a backup client on an old client that is no longer supported by the current CommVault Simpana clients.  By default, the CommServe will only accept clients from its own version of the software.  This creates an issue when your client, either it be a legacy client, needed to be protected for legal reasons, or just flat out can not be upgraded, needs to be protected.  With some simple configuration changes, your new Simpana environment will be able to accept new clients with older client software.

The first step is to configure the CommServe to allow older clients.  This is done by opening the console, and performing the following steps.

  1. Right click on your CommServe in the CommServe Browser.
  2. Select Properties
  3. Click Additional Settings Tab
  4. Click Add
  5. In the new dialogue box, in the name field, type "nAllowOlderClients". Once you do this, the rest of the fields will auto-populate.
  6. In the value field, change this to 1.  
  7. Click Ok to accept the changes in the Add Settings dialogue box, and then ok again to save the changes in the CommServe Properties box.
If you are running Simpana 10 SP5A or earlier, you will need to restart Simpana services for this to take effect.

You will then need to make a change on the client to allow it to connect to newer CommServe versions.

For Windows, you will need to make a registry change to allow the client to use a newer CommServe.
  1. Start regedit
  2. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\
  3. Right click and select New -> Key
  4. Name the key, "GalaxyInstallerFlags"
  5. Right click the newly created key and select New -> DWORD.  Name this key bIgnoreCommServeVersion.
  6. Modify this key's value and change it to 1.
  7. Exit regedit and install the client as normal.
For Unix machines, you just need to launch the installer with the following command.

./cvpkgadd -allow-newer-commserve

This will allow your clients to work with a newer version of Simpana than itself.  For further assistance with your backup and data protection environment, feel free to reach out to an Anexinet Consultant.