Neil this is really disturbing.

The excerpt is directly from the VMware document referenced by IBM.  Why
why WHY would I spend years building and supporting a SAN-backed solution
and get kicked-to-the-curb like this?

*"A fix is unlikely."*

Thanks a lot VMware!  The only option then, if I understand this correctly,
to continue doing SAN-based backups and restores using the 7.1.4 client is
to upgrade my entire VMware infrastructure to at least 6.0.1, is that
correct?

*Thank you for pointing this out, Neil,* I will sadly have to lock my
environment down at 7.1.2 or 7.1.3.

Known Issues and Workarounds

The following issue applies to VDDK 6.0.1 only.

   - *Backup and restore using SAN transport fails with VDDK 6.0.1 for VMs
   residing on ESXi 5.5 or earlier.*

   When VDDK 6.0.1 connects to an ESXi 5.5.x host using SAN transport, and
   tries to retrieve the virtual machine MoRef from the snapshot managed
   object, the operation fails with the vmodl.fault.InvalidRequest error. This
   backward compatibility failure is due to changes in the getVM method
   between vSphere 5.5, 6.0, and 6.0.1. A fix is unlikely. The workaround is
   to use non-SAN transport when connecting to ESXi 5.5 and earlier hosts.


Best regards,

Mike Ryder
RMD IT Client Services

On Tue, Jan 5, 2016 at 4:44 PM, Schofield, Neil (Storage & Middleware,
Backup & Restore) <Neil.Schofield AT lloydsbanking DOT com> wrote:

> A couple of gotchas that caught me out today might be useful info for
> somebody:
>
>
> -          The following document suggests TSM for VE 7.1.4 will work with
> vSphere 5.1, 5.5 and 6.0:
>
> http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21970882#Supported%20VMware%20vSphere%20versions
>
> As I discovered the hard way, this seems to be stretching things a little.
> The VDDK version that ships with the 7.1.4 client - v6.0.1 - has a rather
> nasty limitation which means you can't back up VMs on vShpere 5.1 or 5.5
> using the SAN transport. IBM don't seem to have gone out of their way to
> draw your attention to this, but details are in the VDDK 6.0.1 release
> notes embedded in the following:
> http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21672351
>
>
> -          In common I believe with TSM for VE 7.1.3, version 7.1.4 goes
> to almost absurd lengths to conceal the fact that it isn't going to install
> the Recovery Agent Device Driver. When presented with what is on the face
> of it a full set of features to be installed, you have to expand the
> Recovery Agent feature to realise that the Recovery Agent Device Driver
> sub-feature is now an option that must be manually selected for
> installation (even if upgrading from a version where the functionality was
> previously enabled.)
>
> Regards
> Neil Schofield
> Tivoli Storage Manager SME
> Backup & Recovery | Storage & Middleware | Central Infrastructure Services
> | Infrastructure & Service Delivery | Group IT
> LLOYDS BANKING GROUP
>
>
>
> Lloyds Banking Group plc. Registered Office: The Mound, Edinburgh EH1 1YZ.
> Registered in Scotland no. SC95000. Telephone: 0131 225 4555. Lloyds Bank
> plc. Registered Office: 25 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HN. Registered in
> England and Wales no. 2065. Telephone 0207626 1500. Bank of Scotland plc.
> Registered Office: The Mound, Edinburgh EH1 1YZ. Registered in Scotland no.
> SC327000. Telephone: 03457 801 801. Cheltenham & Gloucester plc. Registered
> Office: Barnett Way, Gloucester GL4 3RL. Registered in England and Wales
> 2299428. Telephone: 0345 603 1637
>
> Lloyds Bank plc, Bank of Scotland plc are authorised by the Prudential
> Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and
> Prudential Regulation Authority.
>
> Cheltenham & Gloucester plc is authorised and regulated by the Financial
> Conduct Authority.
>
> Halifax is a division of Bank of Scotland plc. Cheltenham & Gloucester
> Savings is a division of Lloyds Bank plc.
>
> HBOS plc. Registered Office: The Mound, Edinburgh EH1 1YZ. Registered in
> Scotland no. SC218813.
>
> This e-mail (including any attachments) is private and confidential and
> may contain privileged material. If you have received this e-mail in error,
> please notify the sender and delete it (including any attachments)
> immediately. You must not copy, distribute, disclose or use any of the
> information in it or any attachments. Telephone calls may be monitored or
> recorded.
>