• EN
Question

B&R Community Edition upgrade to v12.1 hangs on Powershell 5.1

E
Userlevel 3

I am trying to upgrade Veeam B&R Community Edition from v10 to v12.1 on a Windows Server 2012 R2 physical server. During the upgrade process System Configuration Check the result shows that Microsoft Powershell v5.1 requires a reboot, and the installation process will continue after reboot. After I reboot the installation process begins again from the beginning, resulting in the same message. So this has created a loop.

 

I manually installed Powershell 7.1 but it appears the OS considers this a separate version from the original Powershell 4 version. So it doesn’t appear that the B&R installer realizes PS 7.1 is installed.

 

How do I get around this installation loop? I have tried uninstalling B&R and starting from scratch, but the same issue appears.

 

TIA

19 comments

Chris.Childerhose
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

You must ensure you are on the right build to upgrade from v10 to v12.1.

Please reference this KB for path upgrades - KB2053: Veeam Backup & Replication Upgrade Paths

Chris Childerhose - VMCA2022 | VMCE2023 | Veeam Vanguard 7* | Veeam Legend 3* | vExpert 5* | VCAP-DCV/VCP-DCV | Object First Ace | Cisco Champion | Twitter: @cchilderhose | Blog Site – https://just-virtualization.tech
E
Userlevel 3

Sorry, failed to mention that. I did check that and we are on the right build, 10.0.1.4854.

dips
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

Open PowerShell on the Server and run 

$PSVersionTable
 

It should display a version number. Are you on the right version?

Dipen N. K. | IT Security Specialist | Veeam Legend 2022 - 2023 | www.dipen.co.uk
E
Userlevel 3

No, it still shows PSVersion 4.0. However, when I click the Start menu and type “powershell” it gives me the option to run “PowerShell 7 (x86)”. When I select that and run the command it shows PSVersion as 7.2.1.

 

I realize the problem is that the default PS version is still 4.0. I can’t figure out how to upgrade that to 5.1. It seems the Veeam B&R installer wants to do that, but it can’t because of the “reboot required” loop. I found a post in the Veeam R&D forum online where the poster had the same issue. But his resolution was to delete the VM and start from scratch. I don’t have that option because this is a physical server.

Chris.Childerhose
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

This will help to install 5.1 for PS - Download and install Windows PowerShell 5.1 - Skype for Business Online | Microsoft Learn

**Ignore the title of the link name**

Chris Childerhose - VMCA2022 | VMCE2023 | Veeam Vanguard 7* | Veeam Legend 3* | vExpert 5* | VCAP-DCV/VCP-DCV | Object First Ace | Cisco Champion | Twitter: @cchilderhose | Blog Site – https://just-virtualization.tech
E
Userlevel 3

Thank you. I also tried that previously, and while WMF 5.1 installed successfully, it doesn’t seem to have updated PS to 5.1. I’m giving it a shot again now.

dips
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

PowerShell relies on WMF so you may need install each component in turn and reboot in between.

Also, have a look at Event Viewer. Might give a clue why it is failing. 

 

Dipen N. K. | IT Security Specialist | Veeam Legend 2022 - 2023 | www.dipen.co.uk
E
Userlevel 3

Does not appear to have worked. $PSVersionTable still shows PSVersion 4.0. Good grief, would be nice if there were a standalone PS 5.1 installer somewhere. In that R&D forum post i referenced the poster indicated that he found a 5.1 installer in the package, but did not indicate where in the package. Since that WMF 5.1 second attempt completed successfully I’m going to proceed with trying the Veeam installation again. I don’t expect success but am crossing fingers and toes.

dips
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

Direct download links for WMF

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=54616

Dipen N. K. | IT Security Specialist | Veeam Legend 2022 - 2023 | www.dipen.co.uk
E
Userlevel 3

Thank you, dips, that was the first one I tried yesterday and it succeeds installation but does not upgrade PS for some reason.

E
Userlevel 3

What confuses me is the Veeam installer says “Please wait … Enabling missing features”. After that completes (runs forever) it brings up the list of System Configuration requirements and that is where it says Powershell 5.1 requires a reboot and after reboot installation will proceed. After reboot installation never proceeds, it has to be restarted manually.

Chris.Childerhose
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

It seems .NET is tied to the WMF as well.  See this link and also ensure to reboot after WMF install - Updating PowerShell Version on Windows | Windows OS Hub (woshub.com)

Chris Childerhose - VMCA2022 | VMCE2023 | Veeam Vanguard 7* | Veeam Legend 3* | vExpert 5* | VCAP-DCV/VCP-DCV | Object First Ace | Cisco Champion | Twitter: @cchilderhose | Blog Site – https://just-virtualization.tech
E
Userlevel 3

Thank you, Chris. From that article … “(Get-ItemProperty ‘HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Full’ -Name Release).Release” shows 528049, which is .NET 4.8.

 

At this point I have exhausted all possibilities. Can’t get PS 5.1 to install through any means I can find online, even though the WMF 5.1 installations have all succeeded. Yes, I reboot after every WMF 5.1 installation. The Veeam installer doesn’t appear to be capable of installing it, either. It just endlessly gets stuck in this same “hey, you’re missing Powershell 5.1, let me install it for you, then you can reboot and I’ll continue the installation” loop. It never works.

 

I’m wondering if this has anything to do with the fact that MS has EOL’d Server 2012 R2 and barred it from Windows Update. If so then I guess I will just have to find another solution as I am not able to upgrade this server due to other antique applications required for our company.

 

Any other thoughts on possible solutions?

 

Please note that I am not physically at the physical server, I work from a remote location 1,000 miles away. But I am logging into the console session every time.

Chris.Childerhose
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

At this point there is something on that server that is just not working properly for Veeam.  If you have a newer server with 2016 or higher, I suggest installing there.

Chris Childerhose - VMCA2022 | VMCE2023 | Veeam Vanguard 7* | Veeam Legend 3* | vExpert 5* | VCAP-DCV/VCP-DCV | Object First Ace | Cisco Champion | Twitter: @cchilderhose | Blog Site – https://just-virtualization.tech
dips
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

@Edwards316 Are you able to see anything in the Windows Event Logs?

Dipen N. K. | IT Security Specialist | Veeam Legend 2022 - 2023 | www.dipen.co.uk
dloseke
Userlevel 7
Badge +6

Any reason you’re staying on Win 2012?  It’s out of support to start.  I’d suggest a fresh install on a newer OS and then migrate your configuration database to work around the issue.  I can say that I’ve had issues with older OS’s and applications not liking the newer versions of WMF/PowerShell.  Given that it’s an older OS, my suggestion would be to upgrade if at all possible.

Derek M. Loseke, Senior Systems Engineer | Veeam Legend 2022-2023 | VMSP/VMTSP | VCP6-DCV | VSP/VTSP | CCNA | https://technotesanddadjokes.com | @dloseke
coolsport00
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Hi @Edwards316 -

I’m just following up on your VBR upgrade post here. Were you able to resolve it, or come up with some kind of workaround? If possible, can you share what you did, or if one of the comments helped you, mark one as ‘Best Answer’ so others with a similar issue and come across your post may benefit?

Thank you.

Shane Williford - Veeam VMCA/VMCE | Veeam Legend | VUG Leader | VCP-DCV | Twitter: @coolsport00
E
Userlevel 3

I have not, but I haven’t had a chance to work on this for quite some time as I got pulled into a large project. The issue remains unresolved.

coolsport00
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Ok, thanks for the update. Let us know if something does work or what you do apart from what was suggested whenever you're able to revisit this. 

Thank you. 

Shane Williford - Veeam VMCA/VMCE | Veeam Legend | VUG Leader | VCP-DCV | Twitter: @coolsport00

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