Cosmetic redesign the New Storage Vault dialog in the Comet Backup desktop app to use a wizard
This brings the behavior in line with creating new Protected Items in the Comet Backup desktop app: a wizard is used for initial creation, to help guide you through the process, but after initial creation a tabbed dialog is used, for quickly jumping to any setting.
Cosmetic redesign the Search dialog in the Comet Backup desktop app to use a wizard, allowing easier back navigation
Remove support for running the Comet Backup client on Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and macOS 10.10 "Yosemite". The new minimum version is Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and macOS 10.11 "El Capitan"
Webhook and websocket events for the top-level Tenant will now include events from tenants
Fix an issue with Office 365 where a message folder could potentially be resynced every time backup is run. This might increase incremental backup time
Fix an issue with selected files or folders not being restored when one selected file name was a prefix of another selected file name during restores initiated from the Comet Server web interface
Fix a cosmetic issue where 'Job execution delay' is renamed to 'Random job delay'
Fix an issue with when IDrive e2 fails key authentication
Fix an issue with Comet Backup on Windows not respecting the 'Require password to open the application' Policy option for a single time after it receives credentials from the Silent Install feature
Fix an issue with missed backups generated when the client's time run a earlier than the server
Fix an issue with jobs running soon after they are finished
Support fallback domain controllers when configuring LDAP connection for administrators
Comet Server supports using external authentication sources for admin accounts. If you have a highly-available LDAP server infrastructure using multiple servers, such as an Active Directory failover cluster with primary/fallback domain controllers, you are now able to configure multiple LDAP server addresses in Comet Server. When an admin user tries to authenticate at the Comet Server login screen, if a connection to the first entry on the list fails, Comet will try the remaining entries on the list before denying the authentication attempt.
Update Thai translation
Improve handling of temporary files on Synology devices using the SPK client installer
During backup jobs, Comet saves some temporary files in the system temporary directory. In the Synology DSM operating system, the default directory for temporary files (/tmp) is a RAM disk. With this change, Comet switches to use a custom temporary directory. This reduces the RAM requirements for running Comet Backup on Synology devices, meaning that large backup jobs on RAM-constrained Synology devices will no longer cause slowdown or freezes due to running out of RAM.
Thank you to our partners for getting the Chinese (Traditional) localization started! The best-quality translations come from our customers, who better understand the software and the backup industry. We appreciate any translation assistance that is offered.
If you want to correct a translation in Comet, or if you want to translate Comet into a new language, further information is available via CometBackup/translations at GitHub.
This release comes with two key improvements to server self backup. Using the new slider component you can select 'faster' or 'smaller' to optimize the compression levels for the backup.
A new option has been added to exclude the job database from the Comet Server self backup. It is best practice to keep regular backups of your comet server. Some very large databases can cause this to be a high cpu operation.
In this case, we recommend having two backup schedules, one very regular backup that excludes the job database and another less regular backup that includes all databases.
We have also improved the onboarding experience for DSM-7. There is added guidance on how to configure permissions in the DSM 7 Synology SPK for the Comet client
Comet Backup supports many different cloud storage providers (e.g. SFTP or S3-compatible) if you bring your own storage credentials. If you have configured Comet Backup to back up directly to a cloud storage provider, you should avoid reusing storage credentials across customers. For each customer, you should either create new cloud storage credentials manually; or proxy the data through Comet Server Storage Role; or ideally, have Comet Server allocate new cloud storage credentials automatically. Previous versions of Comet Server supported this "Requestable" provisioning for Backblaze B2, Wasabi Cloud Storage, and custom HTTP integrations. The latest version of Comet Server extends this support to Amazon AWS and to custom IAM-compatible cloud services.
Feature: Allow selecting Amazon AWS as a Requestable storage target
Feature: Allow selecting "Custom IAM-Compatible" as a Requestable storage target
Option to codesign macOS client software installer directly. When this option is enabled, Comet Server will perform macOS codesigning locally, without requiring SSH access to a macOS system.
Added a new Getting Started guide which walks new Comet Server admins through the first steps of running a Comet Server, from adding their first user to downloading and installing the Comet Backup desktop client to running a backup job. This guide appears the first time an admin logs into a new server and can be dismissed at any time.
Support for generating Synology SPKs for DSM 6 and DSM 7 for the Comet command line client, which can be used instead of the generic .tar.gz installer for Synology NAS devices. SPKs integrate with the Synology package center and are not removed by DSM upgrades.
Add a quick search component to the admin web interface. Storage Vaults, Protected Items and User Profiles can be searched for
Allow configuring how often a retention pass runs after a backup job
You can get started with Synology by downloading your .spk package from the Comet Server downloads page. For more details, check out the documentation.
The quick search component is now available in the header bar of your Comet Server. You can search for Storage Vaults, Protected Items and User Profiles.
Support to restore single files and folders from Disk Image backup on both Comet Backup desktop app and Comet Server web interface (current only support for NTFS)
You can browse and restore single files and/or folders from Disk Image backup by selecting "Restore files and folders" from the restore method wizard. The feature currently only supports for NTFS.
Add the new schedule option "If last job was Missed" to allow a backup job to run as soon as the Comet client is reconnected when there are missed jobs
You can now select "If last job was Missed" from the schedule dialog.
When a device re-connects to the server and detects that it has recently missed a backup, it will immediately start a new backup job.
This replaces the previous option "When PC starts, if last job was missed". The "If last job was Missed" option bypasses any issues with fast startup, hibernation or sudden power off interrupting a backup schedule.
Deprecation: Comet Server no longer supports Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008. Note that the Comet Backup desktop app continues to support Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008; this only affects Comet Server. Windows Server 2008 R2 is still supported for both Comet Server and the Comet Backup desktop app.
Deprecation: Removed support for U2F for two-factor authentication for admin users due to the impending removal of U2F from browsers (see !https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/g/blink-dev/c/xHC3AtU_65A). Existing U2F 2FA will be automatically migrated to use WebAuthn when the Comet Server instance is upgraded; this requires no action on an admin's part, and the same U2F devices can continue to be used.
Added support for WebAuthn for two-factor authentication for admin users, including support for Windows Hello Face / Fingerprint / PIN, Android Safetynet / Fingerprint and other Hardware Security Keys
Add new wizard for synchronizing time zone in the recovery environment
This release includes a change to the format of Comet Server's comet-jobs.db3 file. When upgrading to this version, there may be a one-time startup delay of around ~30 seconds as the database file format is migrated.
Fix an issue with running simultaneous backup and retention passes if deleted data is re-added with precise timing, that could cause the concurrent backup job to be unrestorable
Add three new retention rules. "Last [...] backups, at most once per day", "Last [...] backups, at most once per week", "Last [...] backups, at most once per month"
Add timezone to each device, schedules will now honour the device specific timezone instead of the User Profile timezone
Fix an issue with incomplete optimization coverage for past Office 365 backup job snapshots, that could cause unrestorable data. All past Office 365 backup job snapshots will be scanned and re-optimized
Fix an issue with very large job reports generated when failing to optimize a past backup job snapshot
Support restoring Office 365 Calendar events to Office 365 cloud
Show a different icon for Microsoft Teams folders when restoring data in the Comet Backup desktop app and in the Comet Server web interface
Update the style of Two-Factor Authentication configuration when configuring Admin user accounts in the Comet Server setup wizard, to match the user's own settings page
Improve performance of backup jobs by skipping the initial file scanning phase, if the information is not needed for quota enforcement nor for the Comet Backup desktop app interface
Uncover the error when the Wasabi bucket location is discovered
Add more detailed information about generating new custom serial numbers during the Comet Server install process on Windows and Linux (deb)
Add the new ap-northeast-1 Japan region URL into the searching list of Wasabi regions
On the server web interface add a new button for testing the connection of MySQL, MongoDB and Microsoft SQL Server protected item types.
On the server web interface Improve the protected item dialog to have a tab for authentication configuration of MySQL, MongoDB and Microsoft SQL Server protected item types.
Fix an issue with hanging when performing any operation on a Storage Vault with a large number of index files
Fix an issue with using the Setup Wizard to edit the Requestable Storage Vault configuration for an Organization when logged in as the top-level administrator
Allow configuring isolated Organizations in the Setup Wizard in the Comet Server web interface
Support new /ISLOCALSYSTEM="yes" silent installation flag to force the Comet Backup desktop app's background service to use LOCAL SYSTEM authentication
Support new TrustXForwardedFor option in cometd.cfg to support customer IP addresses behind a reverse proxy such as nginx
Support jpg/gif/png files when setting a custom application branding icon for the client software, by automatically converting to the required ico/icns format internally
Support /TRAYICON=disable command-line parameter and HKLM\Software\backup-tool\TrayIcon registry key, to prevent creating tray icon when installing Comet Backup on Windows
Support /SHORTCUT=disable command-line parameter and HKLM\Software\backup-tool\Shortcuts registry key, to prevent creating desktop and Start Menu shortcuts when installing Comet Backup on Windows
Switching to use the PAX format causes spurious "PaxHeaders.0" directories to appear in current (19.00) versions of 7-Zip. This should be resolved soon by a new 7-Zip update. There is no such problem using GNU Tar or bsdtar/libarchive.
Perform network time sync when booting the USB Recovery Media
Ensure more fidelity for restoring non-ASCII filenames, atime/ctime, and timestamps with sub-second precision inside TAR archives by switching to PAX format
Automatically select USB device if only one is available when generating USB Recovery Media
Support sub-organizations in Comet Server. Each organization has their own private set of users, policies, branding, news entries, and storage buckets
New boot experience for the USB Recovery Media, with cosmetic redesign and easy access Tools menu
Option to add additional custom drivers to the USB Recovery Media
Support a token system to silently install the Comet Backup desktop app without specifying the username/password in plaintext (AdminCreateInstallToken API used with /TOKEN= parameter)
Option to quickly select common backup source paths when creating new Protected Items in the Comet Backup desktop app. This currently includes Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, Videos, Favorites, Outlook, and Windows Mail
Allow restricting Comet Server admin accounts to access the branding and/or Requestable Storage parts of the Setup Wizard only
Allow restricted Comet Server admin accounts to change the branding and/or Requestable Storage server settings without requiring a full daemon restart
Allow preventing other Comet Server admin accounts from changing their own password via their My Account page. When coupled with the pre-existing ability to prevent access to the Setup Wizard, this can entirely prevent a Comet Server admin account from changing their own password
Option to reset a customer's 2FA from the Actions menu in the Comet Server web interface
Show the number of users using the corresponding policy in group policy page in the Comet Server web interface
PLEASE NOTE: this is a limited-security feature only, protecting only (A) registering new devices; (B) opening the desktop app; and (C) logging in to the Comet Server web interface as an end user. Because backup jobs need to run unattended without 2FA prompting, this feature does not provide full 2FA protection in all cases.
Fix an issue with json unmarshalling error for files with invalid date.
Fix an issue with the fallback software upgrade system that could cause multiple job schedules to be created for the fallback Protected Item
Fix an issue with the fallback software upgrade system interacting incorrectly with the Protected Item type restrictions policy
Fix an issue with the fallback software upgrade system starting all jobs simultaneously as a thundering herd instead of staggering
Fix an issue with SSL connections to some Microsoft SQL Server databases using self-signed certificates
Fix an issue that could cause Comet Server to fail to start up randomly
Fix an issue with editing existing HTTPS network addresses in the Setup Wizard in the Comet Server web interface
Fix an issue with "Internal Error" messages if changing the type of existing Protected Item to File without configuring any File settings in the Comet Server web interface
Fix a cosmetic issue with left-click on an uninitialized Storage Vault in the Comet Backup desktop app still showing an (un-saveable) Vault settings dialog even if the Prevent Editing Storage Vaults policy was set
Fix a cosmetic issue with additional popup messages for outstanding network actions when logging out of the Comet Server web interface
Fix an issue with "failed parsing LIST entry" error messages when using an FTP storage connection to Microsoft IIS
Fix an issue with "Another device modified the settings at the same time" error messages that could occur during some internal operations in Comet Server
Fix an issue with checking explorer.exe status during software upgrades on 64-bit Windows
Fix an issue with Comet Server error messages not appearing in the Server Log if the server shuts down unexpectedly
Fix an issue with not preventing the Storage Role from using invalid location targets within the Setup Wizard in the Comet Server web interface, causing Comet Server to fail to restart
Fix an issue with not persisting detailed device operating system information
Fix an issue with the Comet Server self-backup system leaving files in the system temporary directory
Fix an issue with the fallback Powershell-based system for upgrading from Comet 19.12.4 requiring .NET Framework 3.5, by developing a replacement fallback upgrade system that does not require .NET/Powershell
Fix an issue with excessive Missed backup job reports being generated for virtual Protected Items created by the fallback software upgrade system
Fix an issue with the Comet Server web interface hanging when viewing the next upcoming schedule time for a Periodic schedule with zero offset
Fix a cosmetic issue with layout of custom backup job advanced option checkboxes at small screen widths and in CloudView
Fix a cosmetic issue with extra '>' characters in the Comet Server web interface
Fix a cosmetic issue with 'NaN:NaN:NaN' dates appearing when viewing a job report with no log entries in the Comet Server web interface
This update introduces a new file storage format for Comet Server's jobs database file. The previous file format will be upgraded on first run. Older versions of Comet Server cannot read the new format; if you want to roll back the Comet Server version, you will lose job history unless you first recover the comet-jobs.db file from either the .old file (produced by the upgrade process) or from your Server Self-Backup archives.
Fix an issue with backing up and restoring paths containing trailing spaces
Fix an issue with listening on an IPv6 literal address on Comet Server on Linux
Fix an issue with forgetting changes to the Protected Item dropdown in the Run Backup wizard in the Comet Backup app
Fix an issue with unresponsive backup job cancellation in some specific situations
Fix a cosmetic issue with error messages when attempting to restore from an uninitialised Storage Vault
Fix a cosmetic issue with Backblaze B2 storage instructions being below the visible fold in the Comet Server web interface
Fix a cosmetic issue with obscuring text entered into the Subdirectory field when editing a Wasabi, S3-Compatible, or Google Cloud Storage location in the Comet Server web interface
Fix a cosmetic issue with inconsistent "Blob Prefix" naming scheme for Azure, OpenStack Swift, and Backblaze B2 storage locations, by standardising on "Subdirectory" for all types
Fix a cosmetic issue with nonspecific error messages when Comet Server fails to parse an IP address to listen on
Fix a cosmetic issue with editing IPv6 listen addresses in the Setup Wizard in the Comet Server web interface
Remove "Run in popup" from Comet Server Service Manager (it can be misleading as it runs as a different Windows user account; better to check the log files.)
Remove the "Pre-logon service" because the functionality is now automatic. Any installed services will be automatically upgraded to the new "delegate" system
Rename the Protected Item type "VSS-Aware Component" to "Application-Aware Writer", to more clearly indicate that VSS is a base feature of "Files and Folders" Protected Items
In Comet Server's web interface, prevent closing dialogs when clicking the background, to avoid accidentally closing dialogs when only refocusing the window
