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· One min read

Changes compared to 22.9.9

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with the "Add Protected Item" button not working in the Comet Backup desktop app
  • Fix an issue with Disk Image backups seeking past the end of the partition

· One min read

Changes compared to 22.9.8

New Features

  • Added an API to create a self-backup export for a single tenant

Enhancements

  • Improve performance of Disk Image backup on drives with large amounts of free space sectors

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 22.9.7

Notice: The Authenticode certificate used by Comet has been renewed. When installing the Windows version of Comet Server or Comet Backup, you may see Windows Defender Smartscreen prompts for approximately one week as the replacement certificate builds reputation.

New Features

  • Support Comet Backup on Apple silicon

· One min read

Changes compared to 22.9.5

New Features

  • Feature: Support Gradient MSP as a PSA platform. Gradient MSP is an external service that allows you to sync user account data and backup job error alerts into many RMM/PSA systems including ConnectWise, Autotask, Kaseya, Syncro, Pulseway RMM, HaloPSA and more. For more information, please see https://support.meetgradient.com/comet-backup

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with the backup-tool crashing during a single file restore from a Windows Disk Image snapshot.
  • Fix an issue with S3 Storage Templates crashing during the first Storage Vault creation.

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 22.9.4

New Features

  • Added a top-level download button to the navigation bar on the Comet Server web interface.

Enhancements

  • Enhancement: Support the 'hide files instead of deleting them' option for Backblaze B2 in Constellation, to hide unused customer buckets and rely on B2 lifecycle policies for delayed cleanup
  • Enhancement: Cosmetic add icons to the Storage Template configuration settings in the Comet Server web interface
  • Enhancement: Various improvements to the Comet Server web interface's UI

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with codesigning custom installers for macOS when Comet Server is installed on ARM64 Linux
  • Fix an issue with outdated Daylight Saving timezone rules on Windows
  • Fix an issue with the Comet Server web interface crashing when trying to restore data for a Protected Item that has been deleted from the live configuration
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with showing streaming MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server restore options for devices running older, ineligible versions of Comet Backup
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with missing loading animation on the Settings page in the Comet Server web interface
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with unclear labels when configuring Backblaze B2 Master Application Keys as a Storage Template in the Comet Server web interface
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with an unexpected border-radius on the main navigation bar in the Comet Server web interface
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with crushed spacing and padding in the FTP Storage Vault configuration and in the Storage Templates dialog in the Comet Server web interface
  • Fix an issue with MySQL streaming restore raising packet size errors when restoring large blobs

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 22.9.3

New Features

  • Added the ability to duplicate Protected Items in the Comet Backup desktop app

Enhancements

  • Reduce maximum concurrent installer generations to one less than the number of CPU cores, to prevent large Bulk Update Campaigns from slowing down the Comet Server
  • Reduce memory usage requirements for Comet Server Storage Role when processing a large file upload
  • Support SVG logo images in Comet Backup and in Comet Server

· One min read

Changes compared to 22.9.2

New Features

  • User can now be transferred between tenants via API or web interface. Main organization's default Organization Name will be Comet Server Operator Organization unless overridden by Company Name under Branding

Enhancements

  • Added separate port dialog for SFTP destination

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 22.9.1

New Features

  • Allow direct streaming restore of Microsoft SQL Server backups

Enhancements

  • 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

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 22.9.0

Notice

  • 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

New Features

  • Add Backup Now for self-backup targets, in the Comet Server web interface

Enhancements

  • Improve performance when deleting an entire Tenant via the Comet Server API
  • Reduce filesize for downloading the Comet Backup installer for Windows
  • Option to filter live event event messages when constructing a Websocket, by using query parameters (e.g. ?allowList=4100)

· One min read

Changes compared to 22.8.0

New Features

  • New design for the dashboard screen in the Comet Backup desktop app

  • Support Storj.io as a Storage Vault location and as a Storage Template provider

  • Added ability to restore MySQL backups directly into a MySQL server, without spooling

  • Constellation Role is now supported for tenants

Enhancements

  • Webhooks can now be viewed, created, and edited through the Comet Server settings page, including as a Tenant admin

Previously this was only possible through API or hand editing the server config file.

  • Improve performance of compressing data during backup jobs

· One min read

Changes compared to 22.6.9

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with backup job scheduling if the system timezone is changed to not match the user device profile timezone while Comet is running
  • Fix an issue with using the Test Connections button for a Storage Vault in the Comet Server web interface

· One min read

Changes compared to 22.6.7

Bug Fixes

  • 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

· One min read

Changes compared to 22.6.5

New Features

  • Feature: IDrive e2 can now be used as a storage template and custom vault
  • Feature: Added 'Overwrite if newer' option to allow restore to only update backed up files which are newer than existing
  • Feature: Allow selecting which device is used for testing the connection of a Storage Vault in the Comet Server web interface

· One min read

Changes compared to 22.6.4

Enhancements

  • AdminDispatcherListActive API call now takes an optional UserNameFilter parameter to restrict fetched results

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with Office 365 license calculation
  • Fix an issue with unexpected job history search results when clicking on the "Last 24 hours" homepage widgets in the Comet Server web interface
  • Fix an issue with the DSM 7 Synology client package failing to start when the branded name contains an ampersand ('&')
  • Fix an issue with the RPM installer for Comet Server
  • Fix an issue with infinite EndTime / Duration values for incomplete jobs in the AdminGetJobsForDateRange API
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with branding images not displaying with their original aspect ratio
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with showing unbranded error messages from Wasabi in some cases
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with some Wasabi error messages being combined onto the same line

· One min read

Changes compared to 22.6.3

Bug Fixes

  • Fix a security issue with the Storage Vault Test Connections button in the web editor that might cause credential exposure
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with NaN appearing when clearing fields from scheduler input boxes in the Comet Server web interface

· One min read

Changes compared to 22.6.1

New Features

  • Option to download a prebuilt codesigned client installer (Comet branded)
  • New /SERVER= silent install parameter to the Comet Backup on Windows silent install, to override the default login URL

Enhancements

  • Renamed all references of 'Requestable storage' to 'Storage template'

  • Allow reading default URL from Windows installer filename if there is no embedded default URL
  • Show the server login URL field in the Comet Backup desktop app if a 192.168.x.x address is used
  • Tenants can now configure its own SMTP settings to override the default one

Bug Fixes

  • 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

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 22.5.1

Enhancements

  • 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.

· 3 min read

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

New Features

  • Feature: Add Chinese (Traditional) language translation for client-facing text

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 22.3.5

New Features

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

· One min read

Changes compared to 22.3.4

Enhancements

  • Hourly schedule configuration could be run on specific days and within a specified time

  • Individual paths for Files and Folders Protected Items can now be edited in the Comet Backup desktop app

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with the time zone of Synology devices being detected by Comet as UTC even when the device is set to another time zone

  • Fix an issue with email reporting table allowing duplicate email entries

  • Fix an issue with Office 365 where Comet could crash due to incorrect parsing of error response
  • Fix an issue with Office 365 when OneDrive files or folders are restored to filesystem
  • Fix an issue with 'Once Only' schedule type which displays 'Invalid Date' when default values are kept

  • Fix an issue with tab order of the Schedule editor dialog in the Desktop client which now runs from top to bottom, left to right

· One min read

Changes compared to 22.3.3

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with the new macOS codesigning toolchain on Comet Server for Linux if the cometd user account has no writeable home directory
  • Fix an issue with panics occurring if there is a network error during the initial login process when installing the Comet Backup desktop application
  • Fix an issue causing the Comet Server web interface to crash when clicking "Restore" on the final page of the Restore wizard
  • Fix an issue with inaccurate subprocess exit codes returned from the backup.elevator service
  • Fix an issue with Utimesnano warnings when restoring the timestamp of the /Users directory on macOS

· One min read

Changes compared to 22.3.2

New Features

  • 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.

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with generating an uncompressed package when signing the macOS client installer by SSH
  • Fix an issue with malformed folder entries inside *.xar archives when creating an unsigned macOS client installer
  • Fix an cosmetic issue with logo positioning on the Comet Server web interface navigation bar
  • Fix an issue with the cancel button on macOS not working due to a missing tmp file
  • Fix a crash that can occur if Comet encounters an error while performing an Office 365 backup

· One min read

This version contains an important security bugfix. Please upgrade as soon as possible.

Changes compared to 22.3.1

Bug Fixes

  • Fix a security issue with cross-Tenant information disclosure
  • Fix an issue where enabling and disabling SSH access on a DSM 6 Synology NAS is necessary to allow the Synology SPK to install correctly

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 22.2.0

New Features

  • Support sending a bulk upgrade to a custom query of users
  • Option to choose whether a bulk upgrade campaign overrides/interrupts any running backup jobs or not
  • Support separate 'Find' and 'Find and Replace' modes on the advanced 'Bulk Replace Addresses' page in the Comet Server web interface
  • Some job and device metadata is now available as environment variables in Before/After commands
  • New backup-tool command to output the unique device ID

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.12.7

New Features

  • Feature: Support to restore single file and folder from VMDK snapshot as archive (zip, tar, tar.gz, and sqfs) and download only

Disk Image snapshots can now restore individual files as a compressed archive.

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.12.6

New Features

  • 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.

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.12.4

New Features

  • 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.

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.12.3

Enhancements

  • Use more descriptive explanations for special entries in the Storage Vault analysis dialog in the Comet Server web interface
  • Add Storage Vault size as a hidden column on the Job Search page in the Comet Server web interface

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.12.2

New Features

  • 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.

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.12.1

New Features

  • Added three new S3-compatible storage providers: Digital Ocean, Catalyst Cloud, and Cynny Space
  • Added Test Connection button to verify Storage Role credentials in the Comet Server web interface settings screen

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.12.0

  • 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.

New Features

  • 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

· 3 min read

Changes compared to 21.11.1

  • Terminology: 'Organisations' are now 'Tenants'

New Features

  • Replaced the Comet Server web interface Setup Wizard with a Settings page
  • Add option to create ISO file as the recovery media in the Comet Backup desktop app

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.9.11

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.

New Features

  • New API endpoints added for listing the Office 365 account resources that are available for backup
  • New and improved user interface for the Office365 Protected Item
  • Support the granular Office365 service backup

· One min read

Changes compared to 21.9.8

Bug Fixes

  • 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

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.9.5

New Features

  • Support certain new upcoming Wasabi cloud storage regions upon their upcoming availability date
  • Add optional 'Registered' column to the Devices table on a User's profile page in the Comet Server web interface

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.9.4

Enhancements

  • Mark job as abandoned if remote device cancellation fails to find a matching process
  • Improve the accuracy of Files and Directories statistic for the Office365 booster

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.9.3

New Features

  • Support running Comet Server on Linux ARM64
  • Option to hide files instead of deleting them on Backblaze B2, for extra ransomware protection
  • Support running backup jobs and retention passes simultaneously

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.9.0

New Features

  • 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

· One min read

Changes compared to 21.6.16

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with not generating Missed backup job entries if "Keep Job logs for" was set to Unlimited
  • Fix an issue with excessive job report size when failing to optimize a backup job snapshot

· One min read

Changes compared to 21.6.14

Bug Fixes

  • 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

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.6.11

New Features

  • Support restoring SharePoint lists back to Office 365
  • Option to select non-Public regions for Office 365 backup (including China, Germany, US Government, and US DOD)

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.6.10

New Features

  • Allow to test connection for storage vaults
  • Support two new s3-compatible storage providers "Filebase" and "Storadera"
  • Support to restore Office365 to cloud location from web interface

· One min read

Changes compared to 21.6.9

Enhancements

  • Prompt more specific error messages while testing connection for Office 365 Protected Item
  • Improve the usability of the Automatic authentication for an Office 365 Protected Item
  • Improve the Office 365 Protected Item memory performance of backing up large OneDrive files

· One min read

Changes compared to 21.6.8

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with running out of memory when backing up large files from OneDrive in a Microsoft Office 365 backup job
  • Fix an issue with sending scheduled summary-table email reports with the top-level Organization's From address
  • Fix an issue with applying incorrect Organization for user profiles received by replication
  • Fix an issue with not loading the default port for MySQL when using the 'Test Connections' feature
  • Fix an issue with high CPU load when generating many custom branded installers, by restricting the total simultaneous processing level
  • Fix an issue with very large job logs, by restricting to reporting a maximum of 15000 file-based errors
  • Fix an issue with using special characters in password when installing Comet Backup for Linux
  • Fix an issue with Comet Backup crashing when trying to display certain contact- or calendar- related errors from Microsoft Office 365
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with stating both "Error for..." and "Warning for..." the same file in backup job logs
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with 'context cancelled' error messages hiding the real error message in retry attempts

· One min read

Changes compared to 21.6.7

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with generating too many Missed backup job report emails
  • Fix an issue with Office 365 snapshot create if one or more accounts has error
  • Fix an issue with example text when configuring Pattern/Regex include paths in the Comet Server web interface
  • Fix an issue with loading SMTP sending details for scheduled email reports as an Organization

· One min read

Changes compared to 21.6.6

Enhancements

  • Minor performance increase for job database files in Comet Server by increasing page cache size
  • Faster cleanup of temporary files when generating a Comet Server Self-Backup

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.6.5

Enhancements

  • 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

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.6.4

Enhancements

  • 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

· One min read

Changes compared to 21.6.3

New Features

  • Support 'Advanced Filter' to include all files matching pattern or regular expression
  • Allow specifying target operating system when configuring a Default Protected Item in a Policy in the Comet Server web interface

· One min read

Changes compared to 21.6.2

  • Move Comet Backup for Windows' saved username/password for auto-logon from AppData into the registry

Enhancements

  • Allow specifying custom Office 365 application credentials for restore in the RestoreJobAdvancedOptions API

· One min read

Changes compared to 21.6.1

Enhancements

  • Add version number information to more Windows exe files
  • Minor performance improvement for loading very large number of Office 365 mailboxes in the Comet Backup desktop app

· One min read

Changes compared to 21.5.0

New Features

  • Support backing up Microsoft Office 365
  • Use two-pane widget when choosing files to restore in the Comet Server web interface, improving performance and allowing sort and search filters

· One min read

Changes compared to 21.3.7

Enhancements

  • Allow sorting columns in the Restore dialog in the Comet Backup desktop app
  • Minor performance improvement when loading any data-driven view in the Comet Backup desktop app

· One min read

Changes compared to 21.3.6

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with the Comet Server API when setting policies as a top-level administrator on behalf of a different Organization
  • Fix an issue with Comet Server if there are missed email reports due to be generated for Organization user accounts
  • Fix an issue with uninstalling the backup application on macOS if --also-removed-saved-passwords was supplied but no saved passwords were found

· One min read

Changes compared to 21.3.4

Enhancements

  • 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.

· One min read

Changes compared to 21.3.2

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with web browser compatibility for the Comet Server web interface
  • Fix an issue with top-level administrators modifying policies belonging to other Organizations
  • Fix an issue with failing to register a new device from some very old (17.2.x) versions of Comet Backup

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.3.1

New Features

  • Redesign restore dialog and job report's 'File' tab to use two panes, improving performance for very large numbers of files
  • Redesign Protected Item configuration to separate 'Authentication' and 'Items' tab (in the Comet Backup desktop app)
  • Allow supplying a custom *.icns branding image to use for the Menu Bar icon for the Comet Backup desktop app on macOS
  • Show the status of last/current Self-Backup jobs on the About This Server page in the Comet Server web interface

· One min read

Changes compared to 21.3.0

Enhancements

  • Improve performance of authenticating a large number of admin API requests
  • Prevent creating blank paths in the Mandatory File and Folder Exclusion policy section in the Comet Server web interface

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 21.2.1

  • The top-level administrator user accounts can now only log in to the Comet Server web interface at a non-Organization URL

New Features

  • Support suspending an Organization
  • Support advanced search queries when restoring files in the Comet Backup desktop app
  • Allow multiple admin users to have the same username if they belong to different Organizations

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 20.11.3 and 20.12.2

New Features

  • Support editing advanced email settings from the Comet Backup desktop app
  • Support Static Locations for new Spanned targets, improving performance in limited situations
  • Support requesting a "Custom Remote Bucket" from an API endpoint

· One min read

Changes compared to 20.12.1

Bug Fixes

  • 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

· One min read

Changes compared to 20.11.2 and 20.12.0

Enhancements

  • Reduce memory usage in the Comet Backup desktop app when communicating with the background service
  • Reduce memory usage when uploading replacement index files during a Retention Pass
  • Reduce memory usage when loading index files from a Storage Vault
  • Improve performance when deleting single files from large directories within a past backup job snapshot
  • Improve performance when processing Storage Vaults containing a large number of snapshots
  • Improve performance of user profile operations if a Storage Vault contains a lot of shared data, by truncating deduplication analysis data
  • Reduce peak server load in Comet Server by extending the reconnection time window for live device connections
  • Automatically clean up packindex files if a consistency issue is detected, and during reindex operations

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 20.11.1

New Features

  • 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

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 20.9.10

New Features

  • 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

· One min read

Changes compared to 20.9.9

New Features

  • Support adding custom files, directories, and startup commands when creating USB Recovery Media
  • Add a "Run" dialog to the USB Recovery Media boot environment

· One min read

Changes compared to 20.9.7

New Features

  • 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

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 20.9.5

New Features

  • Prompt for Full Disk Access permission on macOS
  • 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

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 20.9.4

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.

Enhancements

  • 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

· One min read

Changes compared to 20.8.4 and 20.9.3

Enhancements

  • Add new AdminStorageBucketProperties API for individual properties and re-measuring bucket size
  • Minor performance improvement for restoring only selected items from a backup job snapshot containing large directories

· One min read

Changes compared to 20.9.1

Enhancements

  • Add Properties tab on the Live Connected device dialog in the Comet Server web interface
  • Reduce Comet Server's peak memory requirements for producing large user/device lists, large job search results and large job reports
  • Minor performance improvement for generating backup job email reports
  • Store Comet's generated device ID in the Windows registry, for correlation with other software such as an RMM agent

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 20.8.3 and 20.9.0

New Features

  • Support new "Rebrand Storage" option on individual Storage Vaults, to prevent users from viewing the actual storage type
  • Support preconfiguring the Rebrand Storage option for new Storage Vaults created via the Request system

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 20.8.2

  • Change some Windows Event Log event IDs used by the background service manager (56, 57)

New Features

  • 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)

· One min read

Changes compared to 20.6.7

Enhancements

  • Reduce memory usage required for Storage Role replication in Comet Server
  • Reduce memory usage for generating email job reports in Comet Server
  • New Comet Server API to retrieve job reports as JSON format instead of plaintext
  • Use more specific Comet Server API error code when trying to create a user with an existing username
  • Cosmetic rename 'Account' to 'Settings' in the Comet Backup desktop app
  • Cosmetic hide unavailable Protected Item types on macOS in the Comet Backup desktop app

· One min read

Changes compared to 20.6.2

Enhancements

  • Show exact size tooltip when restoring files in the Comet Backup desktop app
  • Show "advanced options" on login screen by default if the Comet Server address is localhost or 127.0.0.1 in the Comet Backup desktop app
  • Try to use Microsoft Edge (Chromium) instead of IE as the rendering engine for the embedded Help page in the Comet Backup desktop app

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 20.6.0

New Features

  • Updated Italian translation
  • New webhook API for live change notifications in Comet Server
  • Support viewing and basic editing of Hyper-V and Application-Aware Writer Protected Items in the Comet Server web interface

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 20.5.0

New Features

  • 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

· One min read

Changes compared to 20.3.5

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with saving the "hide cloud storage branding" policy option when in group context
  • Fix an issue with direct-to-Wasabi bucket requesting outside of the default us-east-1 region
  • Fix an issue with direct-to-Wasabi bucket requesting after the first subfolder is already created

· One min read

Changes compared to 20.3.4

New Features

  • Option to automatically request new buckets on Wasabi Cloud Storage
  • Add a new policy to hide all cloud storage branding from client-side interfaces
  • Add a live-connection action to remotely uninstall Comet Backup software
  • Add a new Command-line option to remove saved credentials when using the Comet Backup silent uninstaller
  • Offer to remotely uninstall the Comet Backup software when deleting an account or revoking a device from the Comet Server web interface

· One min read

Changes compared to 20.3.3

New Features

  • Option to require user account to change password on next login
  • Option to generate a random password when creating a new user account in the Comet Server web interface
  • Policy option to enforce that password entry is required into the Comet Backup desktop app

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 20.3.2

PLEASE NOTE: For privacy reasons, these features may be disabled by the customer using the "Allow administrator to view file names" option.

New Features

  • Support remote browsing a customer's PC when selecting files for backup
  • Support remote browsing a customer's PC when selecting a restore path in the Comet Server web interface

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 20.3.1

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.

New Features

  • Support TOTP 2FA for customer accounts
  • Support an end user changing their own password, language, account-name, TOTP when logged in to the Comet Server web interface
  • Support an admin changing customer's password without recovery code, if they otherwise know the customer's password
  • Prompt for one valid TOTP code before enforcing it for future logins in the Comet Server web interface

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 19.12.7

  • The Comet Backup uninstaller on macOS was moved to the Resources subdirectory of the .app package, to comply with Apple TN2206.

Enhancements

  • Improve performance of logging large job reports
  • Improve detection of Synology DSM operating systems on the Connected Devices page in the Comet Server web interface
  • Cosmetic display Linux distribution icon on the Connected Devices page in the Comet Server web interface

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 19.12.6

Bug Fixes

  • 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

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 19.12.5

  • Comet Server now requires TLS1.2 for HTTPS connections, for improved PCI compliance. Windows Server 2008 users may be required to install KB4019276.

Bug Fixes

  • 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

· One min read

Changes compared to 19.12.4

  • Remove IE8 support for the Comet Server web interface

Enhancements

  • Minor reduction in web browser memory usage when browsing the Comet Server web interface
  • Include the total retry duration in retried error messages
  • Add warning message when removing a Spanned storage target

· One min read

Changes compared to 19.12.3

New Features

  • Support deleting files/folders from inside a past backup job snapshot
  • Support custom codesigning and notarising of the Comet Backup for macOS installer, by configuring a Mac SSH server
  • Retrieve detailed operating system version, show on the Connected Devices page in the Comet Server web interface
  • Show free disk space and Spanned balancing information for Comet Server Storage Role on the About This Server page

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 19.12.1

  • Comet Backup for macOS now requires OS X 10.10 Yosemite or higher (increased from 10.9 Mavericks)

New Features

  • Support remotely deleting historic backup snapshots from the Comet Server web interface
  • Periodic schedule type
  • Show upcoming schedule times when configuring a new schedule time, in Comet Backup and in the Comet Server web interface
  • Option to allow backup jobs to have Success status even if they didn't back up any files

· One min read

Changes compared to 19.12.0

Enhancements

  • Update Croatian translation
  • Add banner warning to the Vault Analysis dialog in the Comet Server web interface if the information is definitely outdated
  • Support preserving any customized LOCAL SYSTEM user account for Delegate service when upgrading from 19.12.1 or later
  • Add Version column to job history tables in the Comet Backup desktop app
  • Add hover tooltip to "outdated" badge showing outdated version number, on the Recent Activity page in the Comet Server web interface

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 19.9.6

  • Renew our company's codesigning certificate for Windows. This may cause temporary SmartScreen popups for 1-2 weeks while reputation is rebuilt

  • Hide Android 'coming soon' message in the Comet Server web interface, as this doesn't need to be customer-facing at this stage

New Features

  • Support custom Windows authentication credentials for Microsoft SQL Server backups
  • Support importing "Windows Server System State" and "Windows System Backup" Protected Items from Ahsay v6

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 19.9.4

New Features

  • Update Croatian translation
  • Option to send test email in the Comet Server setup wizard
  • Support copy/paste of policies in the Comet Server web interface

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 19.9.3

  • Comet Server no longer includes a copy of the "help translate Comet" files - please see the latest copy on github.com/CometBackup/translations

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with stuck loading animation when attempting to login to the Comet Server web interface with two-factor authentication enabled
  • Fix an issue with determining the global location of a Wasabi bucket if their us-east-1 region is inaccessible
  • Fix an issue with using client SSL certificates to connect to a MongoDB server
  • Fix an issue with delayed freeing of user web session IDs in Comet Server
  • Fix an issue with not correctly applying Authenticode signing if certificates were uploaded via the Comet Server web interface
  • Fix an issue with "database is locked" error messages on some busy Comet Server Auth Role servers
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with non-integral numbers in port fields in the Comet Server web interface
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with tab stops when configuring MongoDB settings in the Comet Backup desktop app
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with row spacing when configuring FTP settings in the Comet Server web interface
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with changing dialog widths when switching tabs in the Comet Server web interface
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with inconsistent style of reset buttons in the Setup Wizard in the Comet Server web interface
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with some missing translated strings when configuring MongoDB settings
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with unclear explanation text in the policy settings for retention

· 3 min read

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.

Changes compared to 19.9.2

New Features

  • MongoDB Protected Item type

· One min read

Changes compared to 19.9.1 and 19.8.2

Enhancements

  • Improve performance of writing to comet-xx.db files in Comet Server, especially large and/or fragmented files
  • Improve performance of the "prefer temporary files instead of RAM" option by up to 20%

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 19.9.0

New Features

  • Support FTPS storage
  • Support customising the Comet Server web interface session timeout
  • Option to set maximum number of connections to the FTP server (default 5)
  • Option to skip invalid SSL certificates for LDAP integration

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 19.8.1

  • Reinstate additional warnings from the automatic retention system, as part of the Voyager release transition

Enhancements

  • Include upload resources in Server Self-Backup archives
  • Clean up temporary upload files inside Storage Vault during retention pass
  • Clean up temporary upload files inside Server Self-Backup storage directory during Server Self-Backup retention pass
  • Cosmetic add message to suggest using Master keys for B2 requestable storage vaults in the Comet Server setup wizard

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 19.6.3

New Features

  • Support requesting new direct-to-cloud credentials for Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage
  • Support Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage as a Constellation target, to clean up directly requested credentials

· 3 min read

Changes compared to 19.5.1

New Features

  • Option to choose whether to overwrite files when restoring
  • Option to specify SSL intermediate certificate file, instead of having to manually create a combined file
  • Option to perform a download-only restore, without saving restored files, for test purposes
  • Option to restore to Program Input
  • Option to restore multiple files as a streaming tar file
  • Allow uploading SSL certificate files in the Setup Wizard in the Comet Server web interface
  • Support direct hotlinks to client software downloads
  • Display available network interfaces as dropdown in the Setup Wizard in the Comet Server web interface

· 3 min read

Changes compared to 19.3.12

New Features

  • Display the device's online/offline status in Missed backup job reports
  • Optimize backup performance if Windows Defender is installed
  • Support editing Authenticode codesigning settings in the Setup Wizard in the Comet Server web interface

· One min read

Changes compared to 19.3.10

  • Support fallback method for software upgrades from 19.3.9 / 19.3.10 with "stuck" upgrade path

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with not reporting software platform, affecting the Connected Devices page and the software updater
  • Fix an issue with occasional crashes when opening the Protected Item dialog pane in the Comet Backup app since 19.3.8
  • Fix an issue with binary differences in the Comet Server RPM installer package

· One min read

Changes compared to 19.3.9

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with the Save button when editing user accounts in the Comet Server web interface
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with not redirecting to new user account page after creation in the Comet Server web interface
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with form field alignment when creating a new user account

· One min read

Changes compared to 19.3.5

New Features

  • Support starting backup jobs from the Comet Server web interface when logged in as an end-user
  • Support specifying advanced options when running a custom backup job via the Comet Server web interface

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 19.3.3

Bug Fixes

  • 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

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 19.2.2 and 19.3.1

New Features

  • Support LDAP login for administrator accounts
  • Support previewing custom email reports in the Comet Server web interface
  • Option to delete remote user accounts as part of Auth Role replication

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 19.2.0

  • Exclude ".dropbox.cache/placeholder.***" reparse points

  • Downgrade-incompatible on Linux

New Features

  • Support browsing files in job reports in the Comet Server web interface and in the Comet Backup app
  • Support selecting files to restore in the Comet Server web interface
  • Option to indicate whether the customer has consented to the MSP browsing their files (+ Policy control)
  • Option to set MySQL isolation mode
  • Add new backup-daemon-start-background helper script in Comet Backup for Linux

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 18.12.1 and 18.11.4

New Features

  • Option to keep deduplication indexes in on-disk temporary files instead of RAM
  • API to list all available software platforms
  • API to download more platform-specific variants of Comet Backup installer, for smaller filesize
  • Unbranded registry option for mixing in additional entropy for differentiating device IDs
  • Optional new Device ID column on the Connected Devices page

· One min read

Changes compared to 18.12.0 and 18.11.3

New Features

  • New "Recent Activity" page in the Comet Server web interface
  • New "Account Name" field for users
  • Policy option to set default retention policy
  • Policy options to enforce retention policies in Storage Vaults, and to prevent overriding retention policies in Protected Items

· One min read

Changes compared to 18.11.2

  • Change Event IDs used by Comet's service manager process

New Features

  • Portuguese (Europe) translation
  • Add Last Job column to the Protected Items table in the Comet Server web interface

· 3 min read

Changes compared to 18.9.8

New Features

  • Allow administrators to change their own security settings, passwords, and U2F registrations on the My Account page in the Comet Server web interface
  • Support configuring default email reports via Policy
  • Diagnostic option to separate devices that were incorrectly identified as the same on Windows

· One min read

Changes compared to 18.9.7

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with Policy groups created via API containing null arrays
  • Fix an issue with Constellation not canonicalizing default http/https ports in URLs
  • Fix an issue with calculating timezones in Brazil and elsewhere, by updating timezone library from 2018e to 2018g
  • Fix an issue with installing Comet Backup packages on macOS 10.14 Mojave
  • Fix an issue with wrong directory permissions in the Linux (generic) installer for Comet Server
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with non-smooth upload/download progress information for FTP Storage Vaults
  • Fix a cosmetic issue with disabling "default settings" policies when a policy group is enforced in the Comet Server web interface

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 18.9.5

New Features

  • Allow editing existing Mandatory Exclusions in policies in the Comet Server web interface
  • Allow uploading branding files directly in the Setup Wizard in the Comet Server web interface

· One min read

Changes compared to 18.9.2

New Features

  • New custom email report system
  • Allow defining a job filter for email reports
  • Allow defining multiple email reports per recipient email address in a single user account

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 18.9.0

New Features

  • Allow browsing snapshots for restore in the Comet Server web interface
  • Display email queue length and success/failure statistics on the About this Server page in the Comet Server web interface
  • Add optional "simple" mode to Comet Server stats API endpoint, to coalesce some redundant data points

· One min read

Changes compared to 18.8.3

  • Remove support for Internet Explorer 8 (IE 9 or later is now required; IE 9 can be installed on Server 2008 via Windows Update)

  • Remove support for replacing CSS in the Comet Server web interface (may be reinstated in a better way in the future)

  • Remove support for TOTP-only logins with no supplied administrator password

New Features

  • Support FIDO U2F keys for two-factor login to the Comet Server web interface as administrator

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 18.6.8

New Features

  • Support Comet Backup on Linux ARMv8 (Aarch64) and ARMv6kl, no glibc required. Best compatible ARM build will be autodetected at install
  • Policy option to set the "Skip if already running" option on backup schedules
  • Advanced diagnostic option to regenerate index directory in Storage Vault

· One min read

Changes compared to 18.5.8 and 18.6.7

Enhancements

  • Reduce class B transactions needed for Backblaze B2
  • Improve performance when backing up to Backblaze B2, Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Wasabi, and other S3-compatible destinations

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 18.6.5

  • Display more detailed explanation when Let's Encrypt refuses to provide you an SSL certificate

  • Display more detailed explanation when the Delegate service fails to launch from saved credentials

Enhancements

  • Enable the "Take filesystem snapshot" (VSS) option by default for new "File and Folder"-type Protected Items
  • Auto-detect bucket region for Wasabi storage
  • Support maximising the report dialog window in Comet Backup
  • Improve backup performance on Windows by supplying more accurate hints to the OS disk cache
  • Improve performance of compressing new data chunks for backup

· One min read

Changes compared to 18.5.7 and 18.6.4

New Features

  • Support setting Windows Network Authentication credentials for "File and Folder" Protected Items
  • Support copying multiple selected rows from the Comet Backup report dialog, including timestamps

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 18.6.3

New Features

  • Support setting Windows Network Authentication credentials for Comet Backup Storage Vaults and for Comet Server Storage Role storage
  • Built-in support for Wasabi Cloud Storage (S3-Compatible)

· One min read

Changes compared to 18.5.6 and 18.6.2

  • Display original error message in addition to fallback error message on Backup Operators-mode read failure

Bug Fixes

  • Fix an issue with upgrading installed Pre-Logon Service to the new Delegate service

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 18.5.5 and 18.6.1

  • 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.)

New Features

  • Track bucket / user / device / booster numbers over time, for a new homepage widget in the Comet Server web interface
  • Redesign server log page - search, navigate between log days

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 18.5.4 and 18.6.0

New Features

  • Policy options to hide Import feature, software version and codename in Comet Backup
  • Easy weekday picker for backup job schedules
  • Support "log" and "other" VSS modes for Application-Aware Writer backups

· One min read

Changes compared to 18.5.3

  • Remove the "Pre-logon service" because the functionality is now automatic. Any installed services will be automatically upgraded to the new "delegate" system

New Features

  • Automatic service mode
  • Support pre-logon backup on macOS
  • Hebrew translation (BETA)

· One min read

Changes compared to 18.3.13

New Features

  • Support backing up "Access denied" files in Comet Backup for Windows if the user account is in the Backup Operators group
  • Updated Spanish translation
  • Allow configuring storage during the initial setup wizard in Comet Server Service Manager

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 18.3.12

  • 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

New Features

  • Client web interface
  • Allow importing settings from CrashPlan
  • Policy option to prevent users from logging in to the client web interface
  • Raw policy editor in the Comet Server web interface

· One min read

Changes compared to 18.3.11

New Features

  • Group Policy option for mandatory, OS-specific exclusions from "Files and Folders" Protected Items
  • Option to toggle whether the embedded Help page in Comet Backup is embedded, opens in a popup window, or is disabled (leave URL blank)

· One min read

Changes compared to 18.3.10

Enhancements

  • Improve page load performance of the Job History page in the Comet Server web interface by up to 10x
  • New workflow for managing multiple email addresses for users in the Comet Server web interface

· One min read

Changes compared to 18.3.7

New Features

  • Option to configure new Comet Server for Windows installations using your cometbackup.com credentials instead of a serial number
  • Write job report logs to Windows Event Log in Comet Backup for Windows

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 18.3.6 and 18.2.6

New Features

  • Support importing Microsoft SQL Server Protected Items from AhsayOBM 6.x
  • Option to display ID on job list page, advanced option to navigate directly to job report by ID in the Comet Server web interface

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 18.3.5 and 18.2.5

Enhancements

  • Improve responsiveness of cancelling some types of backup jobs
  • Improve webfont loading performance for the Comet Server web interface
  • Add tooltips for navigation bar icons in the Comet Server web interface
  • Cosmetic toggle extraneous columns in the Comet Server web interface, to better fit mobile devices
  • Display an explanation message when failing to take a VSS snapshot of a non-NTFS filesystem
  • Improve compatibility with some types of FTP server

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 18.3.4 and 18.2.4

  • Comet Server now always keeps a minimum of 10 days' of job history

New Features

  • Support cancelling a running job from the Comet Server web interface
  • Support Hyper-V backup on Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2, where Hyper-V module for Powershell is unavailable
  • Automatically clean up old "In Progress" job records that are no longer running

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 18.3.3 and 18.2.3

  • Remove the default "Unlimited" quota pie-chart in Comet Backup

New Features

  • Display pie-chart rings for Storage Vault quotas in Comet Backup
  • Support "Copy (as cURL)" / "Copy (as wget)" when downloading Comet Backup for Linux
  • Support renaming devices in the Comet Server web interface
  • Display user account creation time, and allow searching/sorting by user account creation time in the Comet Server web interface
  • Display Protected Item sizes on user detail pages in the Comet Server web interface, linking to job that produced the information
  • Display IP address of live-connected devices in the Comet Server web interface (column is hidden by default)
  • Automatically unlock Storage Vaults when safe to do so

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 18.3.2

Enhancements

  • Display (always-enabled) compression and deduplication status in Storage Vault property dialogs
  • Display number of databases and backup mode in Microsoft SQL Server backup job reports
  • Improve performance for loading the Comet Server web interface
  • Rename backup types for Microsoft SQL Server, to clarify the behaviour

· One min read

Changes compared to 18.2.1 and 18.3.1

  • In Comet Server's web interface, prevent closing dialogs when clicking the background, to avoid accidentally closing dialogs when only refocusing the window

Enhancements

  • Reduce idle memory consumption of Comet Server web interface
  • Allow configuring the option to reduce number of disk access threads in the Comet Server web interface
  • Write Comet Server log files in Notepad-compatible format on Windows
  • Add proactive defence layers against possible clickjacking and XSS attacks against the Comet Server web interface

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 18.3.0

New Features

  • Updated Croatian translation
  • Option to reduce number of disk access threads during backup
  • Auto-refresh button when viewing backup job reports in Comet Server web interface
  • Button to copy backup job report content in Comet Server web interface

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 17.12.7

Enhancements

  • Enable downloading Comet Backup for macOS
  • Support importing MySQL-type Protected Items from Ahsay v6
  • Word-wrap long lines in the report dialog in Comet Backup
  • Remove trust confirmation prompt when automatically logging in to Comet Server from a trusted website
  • Allow configuring ICNS and Package ID for Comet Backup for macOS in the Setup Wizard in Comet Server

· One min read

Changes compared to 17.11.3 and 17.12.2

Enhancements

  • New storage format for auto-login password in Comet Backup for Windows (downgrading to older versions of Comet Backup will require logging in again)
  • Basic exclusion patterns are now case-insensitive on Windows

· One min read

Changes compared to 17.8.7 and 17.9.6

Enhancements

  • Enable backup of system tables for MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL 'master' table is always backed up in FULL mode)
  • Improve startup performance of VSS-Aware Component backup jobs and of browsing VSS components in Comet Backup
  • Support Exchange EDB enumeration and backup operations in environments where powershell execution is blocked
  • Automatically select port 3306 if no MySQL port is configured

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 17.8.6 and 17.9.5

  • Change identification that Comet reports to Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage

New Features

  • Bulk Update
  • Option to skip this scheduled backup if a job is already running for the same Protected Item and Storage Vault
  • Option to stop a scheduled backup if it runs for longer than a certain time limit
  • Browse and create new B2 buckets from within Comet Backup
  • Allow editing email addresses from within Comet Backup
  • New account policy option to prevent editing email addresses within Comet Backup
  • New account policy option to prevent end-users from opening the Comet Backup application interface
  • Options to display Protected Item count, Storage Vault count, Storage Vault quota, and online device count on the Users page in Comet Server
  • Display current/outdated software version status on the homepage online status widget in Comet Server

· One min read

Changes compared to 17.9.3

New Features

  • Change user account password in Comet Backup
  • Policy option to prevent changing user account passwords
  • Policy option to prevent viewing other device computer names
  • Advanced option to remotely unlock Storage Vault for a live-connected device

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 17.8.5 and 17.9.2

New Features

  • Start a restore on Comet Backup, remotely via Comet Server's web interface
  • Option to hide Comet logo in the top-right corner of the Comet Backup interface
  • Allow editing Before/After commands in Comet Backup

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 17.8.4 and 17.9.1

New Features

  • German translation
  • French translation
  • Support Comet Backup for Linux on ARM CPU (armv7l +vfp)
  • Display replication speed and ETA in Comet Server
  • Display change-direction indicator for the replication queue in Comet Server

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 17.9.0

New Features

  • New Spanish translation
  • Option to revoke a device from Comet Server
  • Policy option to prevent users from deleting single snapshots from a Storage Vault
  • Display live upload/download amounts in Comet Backup during backup and restore tasks
  • Display live progress status in Comet Server for user's backup and restore tasks

· One min read

Changes compared to 17.8.3

New Features

  • Italian translation
  • Copy and paste Protected Item configurations between devices and accounts in Comet Server
  • Support multiple SSL certificates on the same IP/port pair in Comet Server

· One min read

Changes compared to 17.6.10

Enhancements

  • Remember the rows-per-page setting for tables when navigating in Comet Server
  • Improve VSS reliability in Comet Backup for Windows by always using the system VSS provider
  • Additional instructions when using the Setup Wizard to configure custom branding in Comet Server
  • Include full installer log in Comet job log when updating Comet Backup on Linux

· One min read

Changes compared to 17.6.9

Bug Fixes

  • Fix a minor performance regression with API response latency, client software download throughput
  • Fix an issue with invalid Content-Length responses from Comet Server causing "unexpected EOF" errors during software update

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 17.5.5 and 17.6.8

New Features

  • Analyse content of storage vaults (scanned during retention pass; visible in Comet Server)
  • Remotely initiate a "Apply retention rules now" pass
  • Support Comet Backup on Linux x86_32 CPU architecture
  • Display the time at which a Storage Vault's size was measured in Comet Server

· One min read

Changes compared to 17.5.3 and 17.6.2

New Features

  • Support sending email via Gmail account in Comet Server
  • Add Device name, Protected Item name, Storage Vault name to the Job History page in Comet Server
  • Option to toggle displayed columns in Comet Server

· 2 min read

Changes compared to 17.6.0

  • Reduce scope of the Setup Wizard in Comet Server Service Manager - Use the full settings wizard in the web interface

New Features

  • New backup type "VSS-Aware Component"
  • Option to install pre-logon service in Comet Backup
  • Option to log out of Comet Backup
  • Display file sizes, total file size when selecting files in Comet Backup

· 2 min read

New Features

  • Support Comet Server on Ubuntu 12.04, 14.04, 16.04, Debian 6, Debian 7 in addition to current Debian 8 support
  • Allow restricting Comet Server administrators by whitelisting IP addresses

· One min read

New Features

  • New interface design for Comet Server
  • Filter tables in Comet Server
  • Export tables to clipboard, CSV, XLS in Comet Server
  • Display news and update information on the dashboard in Comet Server

· One min read

Changes compared to 17.3.9

  • Improve Amazon S3 support

Enhancements

  • Display both old and new software versions as part of upgrade log report
  • Reduce memory usage for some types of backup and restore operations
  • Attempt to apply remaining file attributes during restore even if some permissions are not held
  • Add new API properties allowing callers to identify cross-server replication topology

· One min read

Changes compared to 17.2.9 and 17.3.6

New Features

  • User policies to restrict Protected Item creation/edit/deletion or using specific types
  • Bundle translation files with Comet Server. Help Comet by supplying translations
  • Option to download 32/64-bit only version of Comet Backup, for smaller download size

· One min read

Changes compared to 17.2.7 and 17.3.4

New Features

  • Allow storing Comet Server Storage Role data on cloud and FTP locations
  • Support expanding existing disk-based storage in Comet Server to spread over cloud storage
  • Span Storage Vault data cross multiple location providers in Comet Backup
  • Allow sending email reports to customers
  • Send branded bulletin emails to all customers
  • Allow specifying a custom SMTP server for email delivery
  • MX Direct for sending email reports without an SMTP server
  • Option to remove all news items from Comet Server
  • Translation support for Comet Server's web interface

· One min read

Changes compared to 17.2.2

New Features

  • Support backing up to FTP servers
  • Support custom subdirectory paths in Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, and S3-compatible Storage Vaults
  • Support password and external authentication for SFTP Storage Vaults
  • Option to re-scan unchanged files (e.g. VeraCrypt containers with 'Preserve Modification Timestamp' enabled)