NAME

       amanda-compatibility - Compatibility between Amanda versions

NETWORK COMPATIBILITY

       Amanda has used several on-the-wire protocols to communicate between the server and backup
       clients, and not all of them have been compatible.

       Versions of Amanda prior to about 2.3 used a different protocol which is not compatible.
       2.3 is very old so this is not of general interest.

       The Amanda 2.4 series all use the same protocol. This protocol has support for
       extensibility. Generally upgrading clients or servers along the 2.4 branch does not cause
       difficulty.

       Amanda 2.5.0 uses the same protocol as 2.4. One can use a 2.5.0 server with 2.4 clients
       and a 2.4 server with 2.5.0 clients.

       Kerberos4 authentication in 2.5 is compatible with 2.4. In 2.5, kerberos4 encryption is
       broken, at least for the server.

       Amanda 2.5.1 introduced a new recover protocol. Backup communication works with any
       combination of versions, but 2.5.1's amrecover cannot communicate with an older server.
       Use oldamrecover on 2.5.1 and higher clients when communicating with an older server.

       Amanda 2.6.0 and later are completely compatible with 2.5.1.

       To restore a dump created with the tapesplit_size option using amrecover, you need at
       least a 2.5 server and late-2.4 client. (Extracting that backup using only shell, mt and
       dd is also possible.)

UPGRADES

       The recommended course for Amanda upgrades is to upgrade the server first, and test
       backups and restores before upgrading clients. Consult the changes described below for the
       relevant span of versions to determine what adjustments, if any, are required. Also see
       the NEWS file shipped with each Amanda release for more detailed information.

   Amanda 3.2
       The following configuration configration keywords are deprecated. This is currently a
       warning, but will become an error soon.

       •   amrecover-do-fsf - amrecover always seeks to files when recovering

       •   amrecover-check-label - amrecover always checks the volume label when recovering

       •   Dumptype parameters tape-splitsize, split-diskbuffer, and fallback-splitsize - see
           allow-split and tapetype parameters part-size, part-cache-type, part-cache-dir, and
           part-cache-max-size. See amanda.conf(5) for more information on these new parameters,
           noting particularly that all but the first are tapetype parameters, not dumptype
           parameters.

           To convert most cases to the new parameters, set part-size to the old value of
           tape-splitsize and part-cache-dir to the old value of split-diskbuffer, if present. If
           split-diskbuffer was set, then set part-cache-type to disk, otherwise memory. Finally,
           if using memory caching, set part-cache-max-size to the previous value of
           fallback-splitsize. Be sure to remove all of the old keywords from your configuration.

   Amanda 3.1
       Although it is a significant rewrite, there are no incompatible changes in this release.

       Old-style changer scripts are deprecated in this release. While they remain available,
       they may be removed in a future release. Consider upgrading to one of the new changer
       scripts. Users of chg-zd-mtx are particularly encouraged to consider the much more
       intelligent chg-robot. See amanda-changers(7) for more information.

       The following configuration configration keywords are deprecated. This is currently a
       warning, but will become an error in a future version.

       •   label_new_tapes - use autolabel

   Amanda 2.6.1
       There are no incompatible changes in this release, but consider switching to some of the
       new applications instead of the old GNUTAR and DUMP programs.

       The following configuration configration keywords are deprecated. This is currently a
       warning, but will become an error soon.

       •   tapebufs - use device-output-buffer-size instead

       •   rawtapedev - use tapedev instead

       •   file-pad - this is no longer optional, and all files are padded

   Amanda 2.6.0
       amverify and amverifyrun are removed and replaced with amcheckdump(8). Both amdd and ammt
       are removed.

       Some Amanda files are now installed in new amanda/ subdirectories: libraries are now
       installed in $libdir/amanda and internal programs are now installed in $libexecdir/amanda.

       The amandates file, previously at /etc/amandates, is now at
       $localstatedir/amanda/amandates. You may want to move your existing /etc/amandates when
       you upgrade Amanda.

       GLib is now required to build and run Amanda.

SEE ALSO

       amanda(8), amanda.conf(5)

       The Amanda Wiki: : http://wiki.zmanda.com/

AUTHOR

       Dustin J. Mitchell <dustin@zmanda.com>
           Zmanda, Inc. (http://www.zmanda.com)