Avamar : Server 19.10+ with avtar Client Authentication Failure with Error 69

The Symptoms of the issue are as follows:

• The Avamar server login fails even when the password is correct, resulting in an authentication failure (Invalid password? User disabled?) error.
• The encoded password does not work, even when used in place of the clear text password.
• The issue occurs when the password is longer than 20 characters.
• The issue occurs when the Avamar server version is 19.10 or higher, and client is running an older version.
   
• The following error messages are displayed:

  • avtar Error <5126>: Login error 69: Authentication failure (Invalid password? User disabled?)
    avtar FATAL <5308>: Failed to initiate session with server
    avtar Info <6149>: Error summary: 2 errors: 5308, 5126
    avtar Info <5314>: Command failed (2 errors, exit code 10008: cannot establish connection with server (possible network or DNS failure))

This specific issue with the avtar authentication failure is caused by either of these two scenarios:

• Password length: The password used is too long, exceeding the 20-character limit in older versions of Avamar. 
• Version mismatch: The client and server versions not matching, which is a requirement for Avamar authentication due to the new, longer, character limit. 

• Ensure that the client and server versions match for the Avamar client to authenticate with the Avamar server.
• Use a password that is 27 characters or less for the Avamar client to authenticate with the Avamar server when the client and server versions do not match.
• Run the avtar --backups command on the Avamar server using the clear text password to troubleshoot authentication issues.

  avtar --backups --id=exampleuser --ap=examplepassword --path=/path/to/client --server=192.168.1.1 # Replace with Avamar IP or FQDN

If you are still experiencing issues with password authentication, contact Dell Support for assistance.