System Requirements and Installation instructions of SPX for windows - Safe Image

System Requirements and Installation instructions of SPX for windows - Safe Image

Windows Installation

You can install the SPX console and SPX agent together or separately.

System Requirements

ComponentSPX Requirement
CPU300 MHz or higher Pentium-compatible CPU
MemoryThe greater of 256 MB or the Operating System minimum
Hard drive space50 MB free disk space
CD-ROM or DVD driveRequired only for CD installs or for using the Recovery Environment
MonitorVGA or higher resolution
Internet ConnectionRequired for seamless upgrades from ShadowProtect 5.x.
PortSPX requires Port 443 open for activation.
Hyper-V PluginRequires a system running Windows Server 2012 R2, Server 2016, Server 2019, or Windows 10 Pro or Windows 10 Enterprise. The operating system must be able to operate in the server role.

Warning: SPX does not support taking backups from USB flash drives. It does support external drives connected via USB or internal SSD drives. Use ShadowProtect 5.x if a system requires backing up a flash drive.

32- and 64-bit Installers

SPX provides 32- and 64-bit Windows installers for Standard and GPO installs. (This is different from the Linux version which ships in a 64-bit version only.) Points to remember:

  • SPX requires the correct bit-level installer for the OS. If the OS is 32-bit, use the 32-bit SPX installer. If the OS is 64-bit, use the 64-bit installer.
  • The default installation path for 32-bit Windows is Program Files (x86)\StorageCraft\spx. The default for the 64-bit version is Program Files\StorageCraft\spx.
  • The standard installers work for manual and silent installs using scripts. The Windows GPO installers work when using a Group Policy to install SPX.
  • The Windows GPO installer filenames end with "GP" to distinguish them from the Standard installers.


    For example:

    ShadowProtect_SPX-6.5.0.win64_GP.msi
    ShadowProtect_SPX-6.5.0.win32_GP.msi 

Installation

Important: There is no direct upgrade path from SP 5 to SP 6.8.x or newer. You need to uninstall SP 5, then install 6.8 (or newer) and start a new chain.


To install SPX on a Windows system:

  1. Download and run the appropriate bit-level SPX Windows standard installer.
  2. Follow the onscreen prompts to complete the install.
  3. Log into a Local Session using credentials for a user who is a member of the Windows Local Admin group. (A user who has Administrator privileges.)
  4. If this is a new (and not upgrade) install, request a Trial key when asked.
  5. Copy the Trial key from the StorageCraft trial response page (or email) into the activation dialog.
  6. Click Done.
  7. Configure a destination and a backup job.

Recovery Environment

The 64-bit Recovery Environment CrossPlatform supports restorations of both Windows and Linux boot volumes. Use the REBuilder app to create the 64-bit Windows Recovery Environment if the restore requires additional driver support. (StorageCraft recommends using the 32-bit Recovery Environment only when required by the destination hardware.)

OS Upgrades

You need to deactivate the ShadowProtect SPX license and uninstall the software prior to upgrading an existing Windows system to a newer version. For example, do an uninstall of SPX when upgrading a Windows 7 system to Windows 8 or a Windows 8 to Windows 8 Pro or to Windows 10. After the OS upgrade, reinstall ShadowProtect and reactivate the license. While the system preserves backup job configurations and other ShadowProtect settings and could continue an existing back chain, a best practice is to always create a new backup job after the upgrade rather than continue the older, existing chain.

Supported Windows Versions

The minimum Windows version supported is Windows 7 for Storagecraft SPX.

Operating systemsDescription
Desktop
  • Windows 7 (Update 1 with KB4474419 and KB4490628 applied is the minimum supported version of Windows 7)
  • Windows 8
  • Windows 8 Pro
  • Windows 8.1 x86
  • Windows 8.1 x64
  • Windows 8.1 Enterprise x86
  • Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64
  • Windows 10 (x86, x64)
  • Windows 11
Server 
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 x86 and x64
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation (Limited support)
  • Windows Server 2012 family, including:
    • Windows Server 2012
    • Windows Server 2012 Core
    • Windows Server 2012 Foundation
    • Windows Server 2012 Essentials
    • Windows Server 2012 Standard
    • Windows Sever 2012 Datacenter Hyper-V
    • Windows Server 2012 R2 x64 Essentials
    • Windows Server 2012 R2 x64 Foundation
    • Windows Server 2012 R2 x64 Storage Server
    • Windows Server 2012 R2 x64 Data Center
    • Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Server 2016 (this applies to Server and Virtual licenses)
  • Windows Storage Server 2016 with a full server license (this applies to Server and Virtual licenses)
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2022
Small Business License
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Foundation (Limited support)
  • Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 x64 Essentials
  • Windows Small Business Server 2011 x64
  • Windows Server 2012 x64 Essentials
  • Windows Server 2012 R2 x64 Essentials
  • Windows Server 2016 x64 Essentials
Virtual 
  • Citrix XenServer
  • Linux KVM
  • VMware
  • Microsoft Hyper-V
  • Microsoft Virtual PC
  • Microsoft Virtual Server
  • Oracle VirtualBox
  • ProxMox
  • Red Hat KVM
  • Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV)
  • Stratos everRun
  • VMware ESX/ESXi (including the free version of ESXi)
  • VMware Workstation

Operating Systems Not Supported

  • Windows Vista.
  • Windows Small Business Server 2008 x86/x64.
  • Windows Server 2008 x86/x64 Foundation - Service Pack 2.
  • Windows Server 2003 is not supported - all iterations (use ShadowProtect 5 if you are still running on the Windows Server 2003 operating system).
  • Windows XP Family (use ShadowProtect 5 if you are still running on the Windows XP operating system) including:
    • XP Home Service Pack 3
    • XP Professional Service Pack 3
  • Windows Storage Spaces storage pools
  • Windows Server Cluster Shared Volumes

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