The Energy Policy Act of 2005 resulted in a change to the beginning and end of Daylight Savings Time (DST). These changes took effect starting in March of 2007. Daylight savings time began at 2 a.m. local time on the second Sunday in March and ended at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November.  

Workarounds for known DST issues:
There are two options for updating the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to properly handle the transition to and from daylight savings time. All NetBackup master servers, media servers,  and clients that use the NetBackup Java GUIs must be updated.

The NetBackup 6.0 Maintenance Pack 5 (MP5) release will contain an updated version of the JRE.  These workarounds will not be required once a system has been upgraded to NetBackup 6.0 MP5. The NetBackup 6.0 MP5 release will not be available until after the "spring forward" transition to DST has occurred.  Until this release is available,  use one of the workarounds listed below.

There are currently no plans to address this issue by way of a maintenance pack for the 5.x release.  For NetBackup 5.x systems, use one of the workarounds listed below.

Option1: Using tools to update the JRE Time Zone Database
There are tools available from Sun, IBM,  and HP to correct the time zone database for the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 1.4.0. Download and run this tool to update the NetBackup implementation of the JRE.  This option is available for systems running the NetBackup 4.5 Feature Pack (FP), NetBackup 5.x or NetBackup 6.0 releases.  These versions have the JRE 1.4.0 bundled with the software.  The NetBackup 4.5 Maintenance Pack (MP) and prior releases, see Option 2 below.

**NOTE** Some vendors have released newer versions of the tzupdater tool.  These newer versions contain fixes for known installation errors as well as updated time zone rules. (ex. "America/Indiana/Winamac")  For systems that have already run the tzupdater tool it will be necessary to check the vendor's Web site to determine if a newer version is available. If a newer version is available, and it contains any updates for your local time zone, then the newer version should be installed.

For Solaris, Linux,  and Windows systems go to:  http://java.sun.com/javase/tzupdater_README.html

a. Under the Installation section,  select the link to download the timezone update tool.

Or for the Sun Java SE download site go to:  http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp

On the downloads page, select the JDK US DST Timezone Update Tool from the list.

b. You must log in using a valid Sun Online account to download the tool.  There is an option to register and create a new account if needed.

c. Once you are logged in, review the license. This is required to download the tool.

d. Click on the Java(TM) 2 SDK, Standard Edition - US DST timezone tool to download the most recent version of the timezone update tool.

e. Extract the file to a temporary directory on the system. (e.g. /tmp/javatz on Solaris and Linux, C:\javatz on Windows)  

A <tz_dir> subdirectory will be created once the files are extracted.  Please note the directory name.  This will be needed in the next step.  

f. Update the NetBackup implementation of the JRE:

For Solaris and Linux systems:

Where <tz_dir> is the directory name that was extracted in Step e.

Note: Be sure to use the ./java instead of just java.  This will ensure the NetBackup Java binary is used.  Failure to this could result in the first Java binary in the path being updated instead of the NetBackup JRE.  The installation will list the JRE that is being updated.

To verify the installation was successful run:

The JRE time zone data version: and the Embedded time zone data version: must match.  If the JRE time zone data version: is an earlier release then the installation was not successful.

For Windows systems:

Where <tz_dir> is the directory name that was extracted in Step e.

To verify the installation was successful run:

The JRE time zone data version: and the Embedded time zone data version: must match.  If the JRE time zone data version: is an earlier release then the installation was not successful.

For AIX systems go to:  http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/java/jdk/dst/index.html

a. Click on the download link for the appropriate platform under the JTZU utility downloads section

b. Extract the files to a temporary directory on the system, e.g. /tmp/javatz

c. Edit the /tmp/javatz/runjtzuenv.sh file and set the configuration values:

d. Launch the IBM Time Zone Update Utility for Java.  This is a GUI utility and the system DISPLAY setting must point to a valid system:

e. Select Interactive Mode and click Start

f. Enter the location of the NetBackup implementation of the JRE (/usr/openv/java/jre) and click Update.  The shell window will display the status of the upgrade.  Check the output to ensure the installation is successful.

g. Wait until the upgrade is successful then select Exit once the upgrade is complete

For HP-UX systems go to:  http://www.hp.com/products1/unix/java/DST-US.html

a. Click on the tzupdater Tool link under the 1.4/5.0 tzupdater tool section

b. Review the license and fill in the required contact information,  then click Finish

c. Click on Download (1.4/5.0 tool)  to download the most recent version of the timezone update tool.

d. Extract the files to a temporary directory on the system. (e.g. /tmp/javatz)  

A <tz_dir> subdirectory will be created once the files are extracted.  Please note the directory name.  This will be needed in the next step.  

e. Update the NetBackup implementation of the JRE:

Where <tz_dir> is the directory name that was extracted in Step d.

Note: Be sure to use the ./java instead of just java.  This will ensure the NetBackup Java binary is used.  Failure to this could result in the first Java binary in the path being updated instead of the NetBackup JRE.  The installation will list the JRE that is being updated.

To verify the installation was successful run:

The JRE time zone data version: and the Embedded time zone data version: must match.  If the JRE time zone data version: is an earlier release then the installation was not successful.

For Tru64 systems go to:  http://h18012.www1.hp.com/java/alpha/DST-US.html

a. Click on the JDK - Tzupdater link for the Tru64 platform under the Tzupdater for Java 1.5.0-x, Java 1.4.2-x releases section

b. Review the license and fill in the required contact information, then click Submit

c. Download the tzupdater utility.

d. Extract the files to a temporary directory on the system, e.g. /tmp/javatz)

e. Update the NetBackup implementation of the JRE:

Note: Be sure to use the ./java instead of just java.  This will ensure the NetBackup Java binary is used.  Failure to this could result in the first Java binary in the path being updated instead of the NetBackup JRE.  The installation will list the JRE that is being updated.

To verify the installation was successful run:

The JRE time zone data version: and the Embedded time zone data version: must match.  If the JRE time zone data version: is an earlier release then the installation was not successful.

Option2: Manually changing the DST through the Java GUI
Symantec recommends that Option 1 be applied to ensure DST occurs at the correct date and time.  For environments running NetBackup 4.5 Maintenance Pack (MP) or prior releases, the following steps can be manually performed in the GUI to work around this issue.  

1. Launch the NetBackup Java Administration Console

2. Go to File > Adjust Application Time Zone...

3. Check the Use custom time zone box to set a custom time zone

4. Verify the base time zone and offset are set correctly.  These should be inherited from the existing time zone.

5. Under the Daylight savings time starts section,  select Absolute date from the Use method: pull down.  Then enter the correct Month, day,  and time that daylight savings time will begin (Figure 1)

6. Repeat these steps for the Daylight savings time ends section

7. Check the Save as default time zone box to make the change permanent

8. Repeat these steps for any other system running the NetBackup Java Administration console

Since the start dates for DST vary each year, these steps will need to be repeated each year to ensure DST occurs on the correct dates.

Figure 1 - Example of a custom time zone

 

For additional information on configuring the application time zone of the NetBackup Java Administration console, refer to the NetBackup System Administrator's Guide II for UNIX.  These guides can be found below in the Related Documents section.

Revision History:
2/21/2007 - Added tzupdater instructions for Tru64 systems.
3/1/2007 - Added steps for each platform to verify installation was successful.
3/7/2007 - Added which systems require JRE updates and also updated 6.0 and 5.x patch information
3/9/2007 - Updated Sun/Linux/Windows and HP/Tru64 installation steps to reflect tzupdater version changes on the Sun and HP Web sites.