Overview - IBM Spectrum Protect Supported Operating Systems

Question & Answer

Question

Which operating system levels are supported by the IBM Spectrum Protect™ server and IBM Spectrum Protect backup-archive client?

Answer

Tip: The product now known as IBM Spectrum Protect™ was named IBM Tivoli® Storage Manager in releases earlier than Version 7.1.3. To learn more about the rebranding transition, see techdoc 1963634.

The following tables provide an overview. For the most current details about each component's operating system support, including hardware requirements, click on the operating system name in the Operating system column.

For system requirements for previous product versions, see techdoc 1994042. It provides information about the following releases:

Tivoli Storage Manager server V6 and V7 releases
Tivoli Storage Manager backup-archive client V6 and V7 releases

Server operating systems	Backup-archive client operating systems
AIX Linux x86_64 Linux on Power Systems (little endian) Linux zSeries Windows	AIX HP-UX Itanium Linux on POWER Linux on POWER LE Linux x86_64 Linux zSeries Macintosh Solaris SPARC Solaris x86_64 Windows
Storage agent requirements	Operations Center requirements
For IBM Spectrum Protect storage agent requirements, click here	For IBM Spectrum Protect Operations Center requirements, click here

Operating system Click on the name in the table for detailed requirements	IBM Spectrum Protect server Version 8.1 and later supported operating systems
AIX	AIX V7.1 (64-bit): TL 5 and SP5, starting with 8.1.11 AIX V7.2 (64-bit): TL 3 and SP3, starting with 8.1.11 AIX V7.2 (64-bit): TL 0 and SP2 AIX V7.1 (64-bit): TL 4 and SP2 These are the minimum technology levels (TLs) and service packs (SPs) supported by the server. Later TLs and SPs are also supported.
Linux on POWER LE	Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6 or later, starting with IBM Spectrum Protect™ server V8.1.11 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 up to, and including, 7.6 (64-bit)* Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, starting with IBM Spectrum Protect™ server V8.1.5 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15.1 or later, starting with IBM Spectrum Protect™ server V8.1.11 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12.4 or later, starting with IBM Spectrum Protect™ server V8.1.11 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12.3 or later, starting with IBM Spectrum Protect™ server V8.1.6 * IBM Spectrum Protect™ server support for Linux on Power (little endian) started with RHEL 7.3 on V8.1.1. Certain hardware requires minimal RHEL levels. For details click here. ** Does not support tape
Linux x86_64	Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.1, starting with 8.1.11. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6 or later, is the new minimum level introduced in 8.1.11. Earlier fix packs are supported through 8.1.10. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.7 or later, is supported only through 8.1.10. Support ends starting with 8.1.11. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15.1 or later, starting with 8.1.11. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12.4 or later, is the new minimum level introduced in 8.1.11. Earlier fix packs are supported through 8.1.10. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11.4 or later, is supported only through 8.1.10. Support ends starting with 8.1.11. Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS and all updates are supported starting with IBM Spectrum Protect 8.1.3.
Linux zSeries	Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6, starting with 8.1.11 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, all updates are supported. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12.4, starting with 8.1.11 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12, all updates are supported.
Windows	Server Microsoft Windows Server 2019, starting with 8.1.11. Microsoft Windows Server 2016, starting with 8.1.1. Restriction: Clustered environments are not supported in 8.1.1. Clustered environments are supported in 8.1.2.000 and later. Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2: all x64 editions Microsoft Windows Server 2012: Standard, Enterprise, or Datacenter editions Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2012 R2: all x64 editions Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2012: all x64 editions Storage agent Microsoft Windows Server 2019, starting with 8.1.11. Microsoft Windows Server 2016, starting with 8.1.1. Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2: all x64 editions Microsoft Windows Server 2012: all x64 editions Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2012 R2: all x64 editions Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2012: all x64 editions Note: All SPs are supported.

Operating system Click on the name in the table for detailed requirements	IBM Spectrum Protect backup-archive client Version 8.1 supported operating systems
AIX	AIX 7.2 or later fix-pack levels (64-bit kernel) AIX 7.1 TL0-TL3 (Backup-archive client V8.1.0 - V8.1.10) AIX 7.1 TL4 or later fix pack levels As in APAR IT35286: Because of security fixes, the operating levels AIX 7.1 TL0-TL3 (xlc.rte < 13.0) are not longer supported by IBM Spectrum Protect backup-archive client V8.1.11 and later levels.
HP-UX Itanium	HP-UX 11i V3 for Itanium 2 64-bit Note: For V8.1, only the HP-UX IA-64 Itanium API is delivered.
Linux on POWER	SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 (64 bit) Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (64 bit) Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (64 bit) Note: For V8.1, only the Linux on Power big endian API is delivered. These are the minimum levels of RHEL and SLES supported by the backup-archive client. Later maintenance levels and service packs are also supported.
Linux on POWER LE	SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 (64 bit) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 (64-bit) (Beginning with backup-archive client V8.1.6) Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (64 bit)* Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (64 bit) (Beginning with backup-archive client V8.1.9) Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Beginning with backup-archive client V8.1.6) Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Beginning with backup-archive client V8.1.10) Note: IBM Spectrum Protect backup-archive client support for Linux on Power LE started with RHEL 7.1. These are the minimum levels of RHEL and SLES supported by the backup-archive client. Later maintenance levels and service packs are also supported. Attention:* The operating system kernel in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) versions 7.8 and 8.2 is incompatible with the IBM Spectrum Protect backup-archive client journal- based backup kernel extension. If you are running an earlier version of RHEL with journal-based backups, and then you upgrade to RHEL 7.8 or later, or 8.2 or later, then journal-based backup no longer works. Until a compatible journal-based backup kernel extension is available, you can either defer your operating system upgrade, or change to regular incremental backup after the operating system upgrade. This issue is described by APAR IT33132
Linux x86_64	SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 (64-bit) SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 (64-bit) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 (64-bit) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 (64-bit) (Beginning with backup-archive client V8.1.6) Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (64-bit) Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (64-bit) Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (64-bit) (Beginning with backup-archive client V8.1.9) Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Beginning with backup-archive client V8.1.6) Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Beginning with backup-archive client V8.1.10) Note: These are the minimum levels of RHEL and SLES supported by the backup-archive client. Later maintenance levels and service packs are also supported. Attention: The operating system kernel in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) versions 7.8 and 8.2 is incompatible with the IBM Spectrum Protect backup-archive client journal- based backup kernel extension. If you are running an earlier version of RHEL with journal-based backups, and then you upgrade to RHEL 7.8 or later, or 8.2 or later, then journal-based backup no longer works. Until a compatible journal-based backup kernel extension is available, you can either defer your operating system upgrade, or change to regular incremental backup after the operating system upgrade. This issue is described by APAR IT33132
Linux zSeries	SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 (64-bit) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 (64-bit) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 (64-bit) (Beginning with backup-archive client V8.1.6) Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (64-bit) Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (64-bit) Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (64-bit) (Beginning with backup-archive client V8.1.9) Note: These are the minimum levels of RHEL and SLES supported by the backup-archive client. Later maintenance levels and service packs are also supported. Attention: The operating system kernel in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) versions 7.8 and 8.2 is incompatible with the IBM Spectrum Protect backup-archive client journal- based backup kernel extension. If you are running an earlier version of RHEL with journal-based backups, and then you upgrade to RHEL 7.8 or later, or 8.2 or later, then journal-based backup no longer works. Until a compatible journal-based backup kernel extension is available, you can either defer your operating system upgrade, or change to regular incremental backup after the operating system upgrade. This issue is described by APAR IT33132
Macintosh	Note: Apple changes their Macintosh security model and requires that any software, which is running on their operating systems, is signed and notarized by Apple. Due of these changes, IBM Spectrum Protect backup-archive client supports following operating systems. The following operating systems are supported by IBM Spectrum Protect backup-archive client V8.1.10 and later: Macintosh OS X 10.14 (Beginning with backup-archive client V8.1.6) Macintosh OS X 10.15 (Beginning with backup-archive client V8.1.9.1) If you are using the following operating systems, use IBM Spectrum Protect backup-archive client V8.1.9: Macintosh OS X 10.11 (Beginning with backup-archive client V8.1.0) Macintosh OS X 10.12 (Beginning with backup-archive client V8.1.0) Macintosh OS X 10.13 (Beginning with backup-archive client V8.1.2)
Solaris SPARC	Solaris 10 (64 bit) update 1 or later updates Solaris 11 (64 bit) or later updates Note: For V8.1, only the Oracle Solaris SPARC API is delivered.
Solaris x86_64	Solaris 10 (64 bit) Solaris 11 (64 bit)
Windows	For all x64 editions (with Automated System Recovery (ASR) for Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) and non-EFI systems), see the limitations on the detailed requirements page. Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2012 R2 Windows 2016 Server^() Windows 2019 Server^()(Beginning with backup-archive client V8.1.7) Windows 8.1 Windows 10^() (except Mobile edition) Note:* (*) only Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) product's are supported.

Related Information

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IBM Spectrum Protect Downloads - Latest Fix Packs and Interim Fixes

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IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Administration Center Requirements

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IBM Spectrum Protect Operations Center Software and Hardware Requirements

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IBM Spectrum Protect™ guest support for Virtual Machines and Virtualization

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Featured Documents for IBM Spectrum Protect™

Links to IBM Spectrum Protect Family Featured Documents

IBM Spectrum Protect Cloud Object Storage Support

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Document Information

Modified date:
22 February 2021

UID

swg21243309

IBM Support

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