Note: Before publishing the article, a new version VBR 13.0.1 Patch 1 (13.0.1.1071) was released, fixing critical vulnerabilities. Description Veeam Backup & Replication - installing patch 13.0.1 P1.
Introduction
Veeam Backup & Replication, running on Microsoft Windows, supports automatic in-place upgrade (on the same server) from version 12.3.1.1139 and newer versions. The upgrade preserves all data, product settings, and configuration.
Note: Here we address VBR 12.3 upgrade, which could only run on Windows. We do not cover the transition to Linux Veeam Software Appliance 13.
Documentation
- Upgrading to Veeam Backup & Replication 13 on Windows - official upgrade description
- Build Numbers and Versions of Veeam Backup & Replication - list of versions and builds with links to Release Notes / Information
- Release Information for Veeam Backup & Replication 13 - information about VBR 13 version and available updates (download links)
- Veeam Data Platform v13 Upgrade Center - information about the new version on Community Hub
- Veeam Backup and Replication v13 What's New - description of version 13 new features
Installation Files
We can download from the portal My Veeam - Products, where installation files according to our license are located. It is available as part of Veeam Data Platform, where we can download the ISO Veeam Backup & Replication VeeamBackup&Replication_13.0.1.180_20251101.iso with a size of 16 GB.
Other places for downloading the installation:
- Veeam Latest Updates
- Release Information for Veeam Backup & Replication 13
- Veeam Data Platform - Trial Download
- Veeam Software Download
- DOWNLOAD latest 13.0.1 ISO
License
The license file remains the same since version 10. VUL licenses (Veeam Universal License) or Socket-Based licenses are used (these are not available for Veeam Software Appliance, where Community Edition cannot be used either).
During the upgrade, the current license is automatically used. We can also upload the existing file or log in with a Veeam account and the license will be automatically downloaded.
Some New Features of VBR Version 13
- Veeam Software Appliance (VSA) and Veeam Infrastructure Appliance (VIA) offer the option to run VBR and infrastructure roles on Linux using a prepared secure Appliance
- when using VSA and Veeam Data Platform Premium license, we can set up High Availability, i.e., VBR server cluster
- on VSA, Security Officer is available for approving sensitive (destructive) operations, we have had Four-Eyes Authorization available for some time
- VBR Web UI is a web interface for VBR management
- improved Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), we can define custom roles
- Single Sign-On (SSO) with SAML allows using federated authentication (external identity providers) through SAML 2.0 (Security Assertion Markup Language)
- extended Veeam Intelligence (AI), options disabled, enhanced Basic mode, Advanced mode
- Microsoft RPC and WMI protocols are no longer used, but the multiplatform protocol gRPC
- NTLM authentication is deprecated and Kerberos is preferred
- Veeam Deployment Kit can be installed on Windows OS and provides certificate-based authentication
- Hardened repository is hidden from the Files view and is not available for File Copy jobs - this is quite an unpleasant change for me, it may increase security somewhat, but I appreciated that I didn't have to access VHR at all and could handle everything directly from VBR
- Veeam Agents version numbers are aligned with Veeam Backup & Replication version, for example Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 13.0.1
- support for encryption and object storage for backing up Enterprise Applications
- redesigned Immutability architecture for direct backup to object storage
- overall performance and scalability improvements of all components and hundreds of other new features
VBR 13 Management Tools
- Veeam Backup & Replication Console - traditional thick client for managing VBR from Windows, version 13 comes with an updated interface and extended support for new features, port
443(previously 9392)
- Veeam Backup & Replication Web UI - newly available web interface for managing VBR, which initially offers only limited functionality, but it will be expanded, port
443
- Veeam Host Management - web interface designed for managing the Appliance itself (Veeam Software Appliance / Veeam Infrastructure Appliance, not available for VBR on Windows), provides tools for monitoring and basic system management (without Linux knowledge), port
10443
Note: I can't say that I like the modified appearance of VBR Console more. Maybe I'm just used to the original one. What strikes me as a disadvantage is larger spacing between lines and larger buttons for switching views, so much less fits on the screen. The positive thing is that the console is faster.
Preparation Before Upgrade
My deployment, which was upgraded in the described way, is Simple Deployment (all in one). VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, Windows using an agent, Oracle DB using a Plug-in are backed up, Snapshots are created on arrays. Veeam Hardened Repository (VHR) and Cloud Object Storage are used for storing backups. Backup verification runs using SureBackup. Veeam Backup & Replication Console is installed on administrator computers.
Requirements and Prerequisites
It's definitely good to check system requirements (System Requirements) and supported platforms (Supported Platforms, Applications and Workloads, Veeam Backup & Replication support for VMware vSphere). That is, that a supported operating system is running on the Backup Server and all infrastructure components, and the entire architecture is now fully 64-bit. And the entire environment we want to protect (back up) meets the requirements for supported versions.
For example, Windows Server 2012, SQL Server 2012 and 2014, VMware vSphere 6.x and Windows Server Hyper-V 2012 are no longer supported. On the other hand, new versions are supported. The same overview is also found in Veeam Backup & Replication 13 Release Notes. Veeam also has an article listing Linux distributions and versions that are no longer supported in VBR 13 Veeam Backup & Replication 13: Changes to Supported Linux Platforms.
If we use integration with storage systems (Integration with Storage Systems), some minimum version of the storage operating system is supported System Requirements (Storage Systems).
Veeam Hardened Repository v2 (managed VHR installed from ISO 2.0) is supported, but upgrading to Veeam Infrastructure Appliance (VIA) after upgrading VBR is highly recommended. This is stated in the documentation, but during installation (Configuration Check) we get direct information that Managed Hardened Repository v2 is deprecated.
There is still a warning about the situation if we run ReFS Backup Repository on Windows Server 2019, it's good to read information on the forum.
Unsupported Features in Version 13
If we use these features, upgrade cannot be performed.
- Legacy Per-Machine Backup with Single Metadata File, i.e., format from version 11, we must perform Backup Chain format upgrade
- Legacy Backup Copy Job, we must rebuild to version 12 supported mode
- File Copy Job cannot have Backup Server as target
Deprecated features that are not available when creating new jobs in version 13.
- retention using restore points, we can only use days
- Reverse Incremental Backup Mode, Forward and Forever Forward Incremental remain
- Single-file backup format (backup job stores data in one file), we now only have Per-Machine Backup with Separate Metadata Files
Communication Ports
Backup Server needs to communicate with infrastructure components on a number of ports that must be open for incoming or outgoing connections. In version 13, Veeam is trying to reduce the number of required ports and will continue to do so in the future.
For management, we connect to Backup Server on several ports. Previously, the standard port for connecting from Veeam Backup & Replication Console was port 9392, newly communication is on port 443. The new web interface Veeam Backup & Replication Web UI also runs on port 443. And on port 10443 we find the new Veeam Host Management console, which however only concerns Veeam Software Appliance.
Configuration Database
In version VBR 11, Veeam used only Microsoft SQL Server for the configuration database. In version VBR 12, the option to use PostgreSQL was added. In VBR 13, PostgreSQL is preferred (version 17.6 is included in the installation), but we can still use Microsoft SQL Server 2016 through 2025. The database can be installed locally on the Backup server or remotely.
If we perform an upgrade and SQL Server was installed by a previous version, VBR will connect to the existing configuration database and use it (or update it).
Product Upgrade Order
If we also use Veeam ONE and/or Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager, it is necessary to follow the upgrade order:
- Veeam ONE
- Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager
- if we also have Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 on the VBR server, we upgrade it first
- Veeam Backup & Replication
- remote components, agents and Plug-ins
Preparatory Steps
- we check that the Backup server has enough free space on disk (100 GB or more is recommended)
- we verify that we have the Veeam Agents used in the latest version (corresponding to VBR), Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows and Veeam Agent for Linux must be at least version 6.3.1 (current for VBR 12.3.2.4165 is 6.3.2.1205, 6.3.2.1207), to work with VBR 13 (after upgrading VBR it's good to upgrade agents to version 13.0.1)
- we check that all jobs completed without error and none are currently running
- we disable jobs that could start during the upgrade, we must stop all running jobs (that are not in Stopped state), otherwise the upgrade process will stop at the beginning
- we perform Configuration Backup or verify that we have a current backup and encryption password available
- (I also performed Windows Server Backup of the Veeam server, if we had VBR as a virtual machine, we could create a Snapshot)
Upgrading Veeam Backup & Replication to V13
Server Upgrade
We start the upgrade using setup.exe from the mounted installation ISO directly on the Veeam Backup Server. During the upgrade, we usually just go through the wizard and don't have to deal with anything (current server settings are used).
- we choose Upgrade - Upgrade Veeam Backup & Replication (I received information about missing Microsoft .NET 8.0.21 Windows Server Hosting and after confirmation the installation was performed)
- the Setup Wizard starts
- we accept the license terms
- in the license settings, the current license is automatically used, we have the option to upload a new license file or log in with a Veeam account, we can choose Update license automatically and Receive proactive support, in both cases diagnostic data sharing is enabled (usage reports)
- System Configuration Check is performed, if some required components are missing, it will try to install them automatically (does not uninstall old versions)
- Configuration Check is performed for possible compatibility issues
- if an error is detected, it is not possible to continue with the upgrade until it is resolved
- warnings and information may be displayed that do not prevent the upgrade, but are worth addressing (hovering over the line displays details)
- some information is general (such as canceled features and unsupported versions), even if we are not currently using them, others relate to our configuration
- information about components to upgrade and their versions is displayed, we can check Update remote components automatically
- we click the Upgrade button, which starts the update process
- 7 steps are completed, which took 20 minutes for me
- Installing PostgreSQL server 17.6-1
- Upgrading Veeam Backup & Replication Server
- Upgrading Veeam Backup & Replication Console
- Upgrading Veeam Explorers
- Upgrading Veeam Agents Redistributables
- Upgrading Plug-ins for Veeam Backup & Replication
- Finalizing installation and starting services
Note: The wizard does not include the Service Account and Database steps that were present during upgrades within version 12.x.
The continuation is in article Veeam Backup & Replication - upgrade to version 13 - part 2.
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