Mandatory update for Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent: September 2017

This article describes new features, improvements, and fixes for Azure Backup for Microsoft Azure Recovery Services (MARS) Agent version 2.0.9085.0, which is used by Microsoft Azure Backup and Microsoft Azure Site Recovery (ASR) for transferring data to Azure.

Faster initial replication with improved integrity checks

We have made several enhancements to optimize integrity checks for MARS Agent backups. With this update applied, users will see up to 30-percent improvement in the speed of initial backup of large data sources and volumes.

System State backup available in all Azure regions (Public Preview)

System State backup with MARS Agent is now available in all Azure regions. With this availability update, users of Recovery Services Vaults or Backup Vaults in all Azure regions have the option to back up System State by default, as shown below.

With System State backup, you can protect your Active Directory servers, file servers, and IIS Web servers for comprehensive disaster recovery. If you're already backing up files and folders, you can easily add System State to your policy without much impact to the size of the backups that you send to Azure. Learn more about how you can get started with backing up and recovering system state by using MARS Agent.

• System State backups fail with the following error:

  Unable to trigger wbadmin cmdlet or WSB Powershell cmdlets. Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent requires Windows Server Backup for its operations. Ensure that Windows Server Backup and wbadmin command-line tool are installed and wbadmin service is running https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732081(v=ws.11).aspx

• Known issue related to previous update KB 4036510

• Failure to mount the recovery volume during the recovery of individual files and folders by using Instant Restore

To apply this update, install the latest version of the Microsoft Azure Recovery Services agent.

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center: PEEG

Download the Azure Recovery Services agent update package now.

Note The version number for this update of Microsoft Azure Recovery Services agent is 2.0.9085.0.

For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

119591 How to obtain Microsoft support files from online services

Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

Applying the update to multiple servers

If your servers are registered to one or more Recovery Services Vaults, you can update your servers directly from Azure Portal. Follow these steps to update multiple servers from the Azure portal

1. Download the installer package (see link above).

2. Navigate to the Recovery Services Vault where your servers are registered.

3. On the Settings blade, click Backup Infrastructure in the "Manage" section.

4. Click Protected Servers under "Management Servers" and select Azure Backup Agent as the Backup Management Type.

   

5. On the blade that appears, click on a server for which the agent version number is lower than 2.0.9082.0.

6. On the server’s detail blade, click Connect. This will download a Remote Desktop Connection file that you can use to connect to the server, copy the update installer, and then run the installer to update the MARS Agent on the server.
   
   

7. When you're done updating, you can select other servers that have agent versions that are earlier than 2.0.9085.0 and then update the agents on those servers in the same manner.

Restart information

If you are using Windows Server 2008 (SP2 and R2 SP1, any SKU), you must restart the computer after applying this update. Users who installed MARS Agent on other Windows Server versions don’t need to restart the computer after applying this update.

Replacement information

This update replaces the previously released update, KB 4036510.

Prerequisites

If you use System Center 2016 Data Protection Manager (SC DPM), Microsoft recommends that you apply Update Rollup 1 for System Center 2016 Data Protection Manager or a later version.

If you use System Center 2012 R2 Data Protection Manager (SC DPM), apply Update Rollup 12 for System Center 2012 R2 Data Protection Manager or a later version.

Learn about the terminology that Microsoft uses to describe software updates.