CrashPlan Release 11.5.2009

VMware Users: We will be releasing a new PRO Server VMware Appliance soon!!! Do not upgrade or migrate to this version of PRO Server until the new release is available.

SSL Certificate Note: If you have installed or are planning to install a signed SSL certificate, please refer to the updated Installing a Signed SSL Certificate article.

We pushed out new installers on 12/01/2009. These installers updated the original 11.05.2009 installers to address:

• The issue described in the forum.
• Use of special characters in passwords, which prevented some users from logging in to the PRO Server admin console and API.
• The issue related to HTTPS ports used by PRO Server admin console and API.

• Flexible Version Retention - CrashPlan PRO now retains versions based on the age of the file.
• LAN/WAN Support for PRO Clients - PRO Server allows the administrator to control client connectivity using a primary and an optional secondary address.
• Remote File Selection - Administrators can now change the backup file selection for a connected client. Browse the file system of the remote computer and select files and directories for backup and restore.
• Text Only Backup Alerts - CrashPlan PRO allows administrators to send text-only alerts.
• Windows EFS Support - CrashPlan PRO support for encrypted files (such as BitLocker).
• Enhanced LDAP Functionality - Administrators can now find organizations / users by applying regex on LDAP query results. Use LDAP sync to move a user to the correct organization. CrashPlan PRO also facilitates LDAP integration by accepting passwords shorter than 5 characters.
• Username Login Support - Administrators can now specify whether to use either a username or email address as the login ID.
• Web Restore Cluster Support - In a Master/Slave clustered environment, Web Restore seamlessly redirects users to the server that contains the user's archive.
• JVM Security Upgrade - CrashPlan PRO has upgraded the JRE to the latest version to address misleading and non-applicable security warnings.
• Expanded Support for Mac Bundles - CrashPlan PRO now supports .graffle, .bnz, and .svxSite bundles.

With this release, CrashPlan PRO users have more flexibility in determining the number of versions files to keep. For example, you can now decide to keep more of your recent versions and less of the older ones.

Previously, you had only two choices: retain all versions forever (making your archive larger than it needed to be) or retain the most recent N number of versions (which was of limited value if you needed a version beyond the number you specified).

Now the versions you keep are based on the age of the file. For example, the new default version retention settings are:

• Retain one version per day for this last week
• Retain one version per day for the 90 days
• Retain one version per week for the last year
• Retain one version per month for previous years

• If you changed the # of versions to keep per file setting, that value is applied to the “last week” setting in this new CrashPlan release.

• The Remove Deleted Files After setting has been moved to the Backup Frequency and Versioning dialog box.

Read more about version retention here:

• Version Retention Options
• PRO Client Reference Guide - Version Retention and Backup Frequency
• PRO Server Reference Guide - Version Retention and Backup Frequency
• Setting Backup Frequency and Specifying Version Retention

The primary & secondary feature gives admins the ability to configure two different hostnames or addresses to a single server and to push changes down to clients. For example, you can use both internal and external DNS names. You can easily change how clients access the server, without having to touch the clients.

This capability allows an administrator to log into their CrashPlan account online and select in a browser window to back up and similarly restore on a client computer.

This feature can be especially useful when:

• a user is away from their computer, but wants verify or select specific files to back up.
• a user wants a copy of a file that isn't currently in the backup set restored to a new location.
• an administrator wants to quickly de-select specific files from the backup selection and as a result remove them immediately from the archive.

See these instructions to learn how to select / de-select files remotely.

CrashPlan now supports Windows Encrypting File System (EFS) which means you can back up and restore from encrypted drives.

Read these instructions to learn how to enable Windows EFS support in CrashPlan.

Additional LDAP functionality aids in LDAP integration.

Administrators can now use regex on LDAP query results to determine the organization a user belongs to.

On the nightly LDAP sync job, if a user is detected in a different org in LDAP, CrashPlan will move the user to the correct org on PRO Server side. Because this could be a potentially destructive action, the administrator is prompted to accept or reject / reverse this operation. More about this feature:

1. Administrator specifies the holding period (in hours) before operations are automatically accepted.
2. Admiistrator chooses to run synch job on demand or at a scheduled time.
3. Sync job creates / stores command objects.
4. The scheduled synch job sends a link to the admin console to the people on the system alert list.
5. Administrator logs into the admin console and views the command list generated from the previous run.
6. Listed commands are rejected or accepted as a whole.
7. Listed commands are accepted after the specified holding period.

In an LDAP environment CrashPlan PRO now accepts passwords shorter than 5 characters.

We are upgrading the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to Version 6 Update 16 for Windows users. This addresses security warnings when installing CrashPlan on Windows.

If you are running CrashPlan on Windows and want to use the newest JRE, you will need to:

1. Download the newest version of CrashPlan.
2. Uninstall CrashPlan.
3. Re-install CrashPlan.

Administrators can now specify whether to use either a username or email address as the login ID.

In a multi-server environment, users are automatically redirected to the server that contains their archive.

When you restore Banner projects (.bnz), Sandvox documents (.svxSite) or files created with OmniGraffle (.graffle), they will display as a single file as they do in Finder.

• Remove Destination - It is now easier to remove a client destination from the PRO Server admin console. See Removing a Client Destination for instructions.
• The location where PRO Server log files are stored is now: C:\Program Files\CrashPlan PRO Server\logs
• Linux users should use this release of CrashPlan for enhanced compatibility.
• More file selection exclusion options - Administrators can now use OS-specific file exclusions and hidden file patterns using the following prefix codes for OS specific values:
  • win - Windows
  • mac - Macintosh
  • solaris - Solaris
  • linux - Linux

• Windows 7, Vista - CrashPlan PRO now uses the system tray to properly interpret when the user is away or present. This means that the system tray needs to be running.
• Mac / Linux - Root designation ”/” is now being interpreted properly.
• If you change the Daily Scan setting to run later today, the daily scan will run again, even if the scan ran earlier today.
• Deleted files that were embedded in folders are now detected properly in real-time.
• You can restore from a local folder even if it is outside of the time period CrashPlan will run. For example, if you have specified that CrashPlan PRO can run between 11:00pm and 3am, you can still restore files in local folders at 4pm.
• Improved compatibility for Linux install scripts.