Backup Set Property (VM Filters)

Use this dialog box to add or edit filters for a backup set. Filters are criteria to exclude virtual machines from backups.

VM Filters

Use this area to define criteria for filtering virtual machines from the backup set. When you perform a backup of any subclient in the backup set, virtual machines satisfying the specified criteria are automatically excluded from the backup.

This area displays list of all defined filters.

Browse

Click this button to open the Browse dialog, which provides hierarchical views of the vCenter server, similar to the vCenter Inventory view.

Use the Browse dialog to browse the vCenter server and select one or more vCenter objects, such as hosts, clusters, resource pools, datacenters, datastores, datastore clusters, vApps, or folders.

Once you select any objects, all child objects are automatically filtered from the backup.

Add

Click this button to open the Add Filters dialog, which defines filters to exclude virtual machines based on specific criteria.

You can define the following types of filters:

• VM Name/ Pattern: Select this option to filter virtual machines based on a virtual machine name pattern. For example, to filter all virtual machines for which the name starts with "Exchange", select this option and enter Exchange* in the value box.

• Host: Select this option to filter all virtual machines from a specific host. Enter the host name or IP address in the value box.

  When you filter a host, all child objects of the host (such as datastores, resource pools, or VMs) are automatically filtered from the subclient content.

  For example: Host A has Datastore X as a child object. You have added Datastore X in the Contents of subclient list and in the same subclient, Host A is added in the VM Filters list. In this scenario, all datastores on Host A, including Datastore X, will be filtered from the subclient content.

• Datastore: Select this option to filter all virtual machines from a specific datastore. Enter the name of the datastore

• Guest OS: Select this option to filter all virtual machines that have operating systems from a specific OS group. For example, to filter all virtual machines that have any version of the Windows operating system installed, select this option and enter Windows in the value box.

• Guest DNS Hostname: Select this option to filter all virtual machines based on a hostname pattern. For example, to filter all virtual machines that have a hostname ending with "mycompany.com", select this option and enter mycompany.com in the value box.

• Power State: Select the power on status of virtual machines to be filtered. You can select one of the following options:

  • Powered On: Identify VMs that are powered on.

  • Powered Off: Identify VMs that are powered off.

  • Other: Identify VMs with a different power on status, such as Suspended.

• Notes: Enter a pattern to identify virtual machines based on notes text contained in vCenter annotations for the VM summary (for example, Test* to identify VMs with a note that begins with "Test").

• Custom Attribute: Enter a pattern to identify virtual machines based on custom attributes in vCenter annotations for the VM summary. You can enter search values for the names and values of custom attributes. For example:

  • Name Contains *resize* to identify VMs where the name of a custom attribute contains the word "resize").

  • Value Contains *128* to identify VMs where the value of a custom attribute contains the number "128").

• Tags and Categories: Select a tag or category to identify all virtual machines under VMware entities that are marked with that tag or category.

Edit

Select a VM filter entry and click Edit to modify the filter.

Delete

Select a VM filter and click Delete to remove the filter from the backup set.