Modifying VM Group Settings for OpenStack

For an existing VM group, you can modify options that affect backups.

Go to the VM Group

1. From the Command Center navigation pane, go to Protect > Virtual machines.

   The Overview page appears.

2. On the VM groups tab, click the VM group.

   The VM group page appears.

Modify the Backup Plan

You can select a different backup plan for the VM group.

• On the Overview tab, in the Summary section, for Plan, click the edit button , and then select a backup plan.

Specify the Time Zone

To schedule operations for the VM group based on a specific time zone, specify that time zone for the VM group.

1. On the Overview tab, in the Summary section, for Time zone, click the edit button .

2. From the list, select the time zone.

3. Click Submit.

View Recovery Points

The Recovery points section shows the backups that are available by date. For information about restores, see Restores for Openstack.

View Policies

If the VM group is not associated with a backup plan, the Policies section shows the storage policy and the schedule policy that the VM group is associated with.

View Schedules

If the VM group is not associated with a backup plan, the Schedules section shows the backups that are scheduled for the VM group.

Assign Roles to Users or User Groups

To allow a user or user group to perform data management operations on the VM group, create a security association between the user or user group and one of the following pre-defined roles:

• View: Provide read-only access to application group configuration, job history, and reporting data

• VM End User: Provide self-service backup, recover both in-place and out-of-place

Procedure

1. On the Configuration tab, in the Security section, click the edit button .

   The Security dialog box appears.

2. Enter the name of the user or user group, select the role to assign, and then click Add.

3. Click Save.

Related Pages

• Security for Virtualization

Modify the Number of Readers for Parallel Operations

If you have the Agent Management permission, you can modify the number of parallel read operations that can be launched during backups. (If you don't have the permission, the No. of readers setting is hidden.)

The default number of readers, 5, is tuned and validated by Commvault to function optimally with access nodes that meet the requirements for Openstack.

If additional CPU and RAM are provisioned to your Openstack access nodes, you can increase the number of readers that your access nodes use.

1. On the Configuration tab, in the Options section, click the edit button along side the No. of readers box.

2. In the No. of readers box, enter the number of readers to use.

3. Click Save.

Modify the Backup Type

If you change the backup type from File System and Application Consistent to Crash Consistent, the Commvault software forces a full backup.

1. On the Configuration tab, in the Options section, click the edit button .

   The Edit options dialog box appears.

2. For Virtual machine backup type, select one of the following options:

   By default, when a VM group is created, the backup type is crash consistent.

   • Application Aware: Uses in-guest application plug-ins to assist the Virtual Server Agent in quiescing the file system and applications and supporting granular application data recovery.

     To specify credentials for guest VMs in the VM group, click the key button (), and then provide the guest credentials. .

   • Crash consistent: Takes a point-in-time snapshot of virtual machine data without quiescing.

   • Application-based backups: Performs application discovery for those VMs selected within the VM group and configures backups by installing an in-guest application agent. For more information, see Application-Based Backups.

     To specify credentials for guest VMs in the VM group, click the key button (), and then provide the guest credentials

3. Click Save.

Specify the Time That Backup Jobs Start

You can specify the time of day that you want scheduled jobs for the VM group to start. By default, Commvault starts jobs based on the RPO (recovery point objective) settings of the backup plan that is specified for the application group.

If you modify the Backup job start time value, but the time that you enter is not within the time period that is set in the backup window or the full backup window for the backup plan, then Commvault starts jobs at the next available time within the window.

Set the Backup job start time in the local time zone of the hypervisor. Commvault uses the Time zone setting of the VM group to ensure that jobs are started at the Backup job start time, in the local timezone of the hypervisor.

1. On the Configuration tab, in the Options section, for Backup job start time click the edit button .

2. Enter the time for jobs to start.

3. Click Submit.

Disable Backups

When you disable backups, the VM group is excluded from SLA calculations.

• On the Configuration tab, in the Activity control section, move the Data backup toggle key to the left.

Exclude the VM Group from SLA Calculations

You can exclude the VM group from SLA calculations.

1. On the Configuration tab, in the SLA section, click the edit button .

   The SLA exclusions dialog box appears.

2. Move the Exclude from SLA toggle key to the right.

3. To exclude the VM group only for a period of time, click Include after a delay, and then select the amount of time.

4. Select one of the following options:

   • Excluded from monitoring

   • Service provider action pending

   • Customer action pending

5. If necessary, in Reason for exclusion, enter an explanation for excluding the VM group.

Modify Tags

If you have the Tag Management permission, you can create and apply tags to the VM group. A tag is a key and an optional value that you can use to categorize application groups. Tags are useful for managing and reporting in large environments.

Procedure

1. On the Configuration tab, in the Tags section, click the edit button .

   The Manage tags dialog box appears.

2. In Tag name, enter a name for the tag.

3. To assign a value, in Tag value, enter the value.

4. Click Save.

Related Pages

• For information about tags in the Commvault software, see Entity Tags.

Modify the Access Nodes

By default, VM groups inherit access nodes from the hypervisor. If you want to control the access node resources that are used for the VM group (for example, dedicated resources for mission-critical applications), you can specify different access nodes.

To ensure that multiple access nodes are available to perform backups and other operations, regardless of planned or unplanned outages for individual access nodes, use access node groups (also called server groups).

Select Different Access Nodes

1. On the Configuration tab, in the Access node section, click Actions, and then select Edit.

   The Edit access node dialog box appears.

2. Select the access node group or the access nodes to use for the VM group.

3. Click OK.

Related Pages

• Requirements for Openstack.

• To replace the same access node in multiple VM groups, see Replacing Infrastructure Nodes.

Allow the VM Group to Have No Content

• If you want backups of the VM group to complete successfully even if no VMs are discovered to back up, enable the Allow empty content toggle key.

For more information, see Allowing a VM Group to Have No Content.

Modify the VM Group Content

When you modify the content of an existing VM group, you can add and remove content, and you can exclude content using filters and disk filters.

1. On the Content tab, in the Content area, click the edit button .

   The Manage content dialog box appears.

2. To create rules that auto-discover and select instances to back up, do the following:

   1. Click Add, and then select Rule.

      The Add rule dialog box appears.

   2. From the list, select the type of rule to create, and then specify the rule:

      • Browse: Select specific VMs. (Selecting this option changes the Add rule dialog box to the Add content dialog box.)

      • Power state: Select VMs based on a power status of On, Off, or Other. (Other includes statuses such as Suspended).

      • Project: Select instances based on the project that they belong to. For example, to select instances in the MyCompany project, enter Project | Equals | MyCompany.

      • Instance name or pattern: Select instances based on their names. For example, to select instances VMs that have a name that includes "east", enter Virtual machine name or pattern | Contains | east.

   3. Click Save.

3. To select instances manually, do the following:

   1. Click Add, and then select Content.

      The Add content dialog box appears.

   2. From the Browse and select VMs list, select one of the following:

      • VMs: Select specific VMs.

      • Projects: Select a project, region, instance, or image.

      • Admin: Select images or instances.

   3. Click Save.

4. To see the instances that are selected for the VM group, click Preview.

5. Click Save.

6. To exclude some of the content that you added, in the Instance filters area, click the edit button , and then specify the filters.

   Specifying filters uses the same steps as above for adding content.

   Note

   Instances added directly using Add > Content in the Content area take precedence over exclusion rules. If you exclude such an instance using filters, it will still be backed up.

7. To exclude some volumes from the content that you added, in the Volume filters area, click the edit button .

   In the Manage volume filters dialog box, do the following:

   1. Click Add.

      The Add volume filter dialog box appears.

   2. From the Disk filter type list, select the type of filter, and then do the following:

      • Volume name/pattern: In the Volume name/pattern box, enter the display name of the volume or a pattern using wildcards (for example, Data* to identify volumes for which the volume name begins with "Data").

      • Volume type: To filter the operating system volume, select OS Disk, to filter the data volumes, select Data Disk.

   3. Click OK.

   4. Click Save.

View Instances

The Instances tab displays the OpenStack instances associated with this VM group.