SCS KB 1001: Installing Backup 12.5 In Standalone Windows Environments

Applies to:

• Acronis Backup 12.5

Use Case

This article covers the scenario of installing Acronis Backup 12.5 within a standalone environment, specifically an air-gapped system that lacks any sort of network connectivity.

Symptoms

Backup 12.5 generates the following error during the installation process:

Root Cause

Backup 12.5 requires a network adapter with a usable IP address in order to successfully register the Agent and Management Server components during installation, without this the process will fail.

Air-gapped systems by design lack any sort of network connectivity as they are machines that have been isolated from any sort of external connection.  As such, any network adapter on the machine will default to a "Media Disconnected" state as seen below.  This state overrides any preset designation the adapter may have such as a static IP address.

While in this state, if you attempt to install Backup 12.5 it will fail as it is unable to register the Agent with the Management Server due to the lack of an IP address.

Solution

Backup 12.5 does not officially support this type of environment, due to the nature of its design Backup 12.5 was designed to function as a centralized backup product, not as a standalone piece of software.

Workaround

There are two possible solutions:

1. Utilize a "dummy" switch to physically connect to the machine in question in order to trick Windows into believing there is network activity on the adapter and thus display whatever IP address is assigned to the adapter.
   • Once this is done the installation can be completed for Backup 12.5
   • Afterwards the switch can be removed and the Management Console can be accessed and used as normal (Be advised that accessing the Console make take longer than usual as the system has to actually time out first since it no longer has the IP)
     • Backup functionality and license assignment has been verified in this configuration
     • Any additional functionality that requires external connectivity is NOT supported in this configuration
   • Additionally the Edge and Firefox browsers are NOT supported under this configuration
   • Internet Explorer is verified in this configuration.
2. Install the Microsoft Loopback Adapter included in Windows installations prior to running the Acronis Backup Installer. 
   • From Device Manager, Select Action > Add legacy hardware. This will launch the Add New Hardware Wizard.
   • In the Add Hardware Wizard select "Install the hardware that I manually select from a list(Advanced)
   • In the list select "Network Adapters" then Manufacturer: "Microsoft" and in the Model list: "Microsoft KM-TEST Loopback Adapter"
   • After installation proceed with running the Acronis Backup Installation or perform a manual agent registration via command line to add the machine to the management server.