How To Install Custom SnapAPI Module for Acronis Agent on Linux CentOS 8.4 and CentOS Stream

If you are trying to install Acronis agent on a server running CentOS 8.4/8.5 or CentOS Stream, then you need to be aware that even though the agent installation will complete successfully, your server/device will appear as Offline in the Acronis Cloud Backup Management portal.

This is because the default SnapAPI version of Acronis agent is not supported on kernel version 4.18* and 5.8*.

The SnapAPI module is in charge of all I/O operations on the hard disk of Acronis software. Whilst the SnapAPI module is updated automatically during the product update, in this article we will provide the steps you need to follow in order to install a Custom SnapAPI module on your Linux CentOS server.

Steps to Install a Custom SnapAPI module on Linux Server

1. Connect on your Linux server via ssh and run the following command:

root@server:~$ wget https://dl.acronis.com/u/kb/67243/snapapi26_modules-0.7.140-1.noarch.rpm

2. Stop the Acronis process/service:

root@server:~$ systemctl stop acronis_mms

3. Remove existing SnapAPI module from the kernel (replace snapapi24 with the correct version of what’s currently installed on your server)

root@server:~$ rmmod snapapi26

4. Check SnapAPI version

root@server:~$  dkms status

A sample output from the command in step 4 is:

file_protector/1.1-1509, 4.18.0-348.7.1.el8_5.x86_64, x86_64: installed
snapapi26/0.8.18, 4.18.0-348.7.1.el8_5.x86_64, x86_64: installed

5. Remove SnapAPI from the dkms tree

root@server:~$ dkms remove -m snapapi26 -v 0.8.18 --all

* The “0.8.18” is the version of SnapAPI as found from the command output in Step 4.

Then proceed to the following command to entirely delete any traces of the SnapAPI module:

root@server:~$ rm -rf /usr/src/snapapi*

6. Install SnapAPI from the rpm package we downloaded in Step 1.

root@server:~$ rpm -Uhv snapapi26_modules-0.7.140-1.noarch.rpm --nodeps

7. Add tarball to the dkms tree

root@server:~$ dkms ldtarball /usr/lib/Acronis/kernel_modules/snapapi26-0.8.18-all.tar.gz

Sample output from command in Step 7 is:

Loading tarball for snapapi26-0.8.18
Loading /var/lib/dkms/snapapi26/0.8.18/2.6.18-128.7.1.el5/i686…
Loading /var/lib/dkms/snapapi26/0.8.18/2.6.18-128.7.1.el5/x86_64…
Loading /var/lib/dkms/snapapi26/0.8.18/2.6.18-164.15.1.el5/i686…
Loading /var/lib/dkms/snapapi26/0.8.18/2.6.18-164.15.1.el5/x86_64…
Loading /var/lib/dkms/snapapi26/0.8.18/2.6.18-164.el5/i686…
Loading /var/lib/dkms/snapapi26/0.8.18/2.6.18-164.el5/x86_64…
[...]
Loading /var/lib/dkms/snapapi26/0.8.18/4.18.0-80.el8.x86_64/x86_64…
Creating symlink /var/lib/dkms/snapapi26/0.8.18/source -> /usr/src/snapapi26-0.8.18

8. Build and Install the new SnapAPI module

root@server:~$ dkms build -m snapapi26 -v 0.8.18 && dkms install -m snapapi26 -v 0.8.18

9. Load the snapapi26 kernel module

root@server:~$ modprobe snapapi26

10. Finally, start the Acronis service

root@server:~$ systemctl start acronis_mms

You are all set! Allow a few minutes and then login to the Acronis management portal. If all went well, you should be able to view and manage your new Linux server device.