Updating an Azure VM Group

When you update an Azure VM group, you can update many settings, including the server plan, the VMs that are associated with the VM group, roles and permissions, and access nodes.

Go to the VM Group

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

   The Virtual machines page appears.

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

   The VM group page appears.

Select a Different Plan or Policy

This section is named either "Plan" or "Policy", depending on whether the VM group is associated with a plan that was created in the Command Center or a storage policy that was created in the CommCell Console. You cannot change that selection for an existing VM group, but you can select a different plan or policy, as follows:

• When modifying the Plan setting, you can select a plan that was created in the Command Center.

• When modifying the Policies setting, you can make the following changes:

  • From the Storage policy list, you can select a storage policy that was created in the CommCell Console or a plan that was created in the Command Center.

  • You can select a schedule policy that was created in the CommCell Console.

• On the Overview tab, in the Summary section, for Plan, click the edit button .

• From the Plan list or the Policies list, select the plan or the policy.

• Click Submit.

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 Restoring Azure VMs and Files.

View Policies

If the VM group is not associated with a 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 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 Topics

• Roles Overview

• Security for Virtualization

Use Cyclic Redundancy Checking Instead of Changed Block Tracking

With changed block tracking (CBT), backups write only blocks that changed after the previous backup. You can use CBT with unmanaged and managed disks. For virtual machines that have a known issue with CBT, you can turn off CBT to run backups using the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) method instead.

• On Configuration tab, in the Options section, move the Use changed block tracking toggle key to the left.

Enable Automatic Detection of VM Owners

Virtual machine owners can be assigned automatically during virtual machine discovery, based on privileges and roles defined in the Azure portal. For more information, see VM Owner Detection for Azure.

• On Configuration tab, in the Options section, move the Auto detect VM owner toggle key to the right.

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 Azure VM access nodes.

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

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

   The Edit options dialog box appears.

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 VM backup type between File System and Application Consistent and Crash Consistent, Commvault forces a full backup.

1. On 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 in quiescing the file system and applications and in supporting granular application data recovery.

   • File system and application consistent: Uses VM restore points to perform a point-in-time application-consistent snapshot of all the managed disks of the VM.

     For the File System and application consistent backup type, consider the following:

     • When a Windows VM is running and the VM agent is in a ready state, Azure creates an application-consistent restore point.

     • When a Linux VM is running, Azure creates a file-system-consistent restore point.

     • When a Linux or Windows guest VM is not running, Azure creates a crash-consistent restore point.

   • Crash consistent: Uses an Azure software snapshot for a basic backup of the VM.

   • 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.

3. Click Save.

Enable IntelliSnap

Procedure

• On Configuration tab, in the Options section, move the IntelliSnap toggle key to the right.

Results

When you enable IntelliSnap on a VM group, Commvault automatically does the following:

• Creates schedule policies for the primary (snap) and backup copies.

• Enables IntelliSnap for the plan that is associated with the VM group.

• Sets the plan to retain 8 snap recovery points. (You can modify the server plan to specify a different number of snaps to retain.)

Enable File Indexing

When you enable file indexing for the VM group, if the access node that is assigned to back up the VM group does not have the software packages that are required for file indexing, Commvault automatically installs those packages.

• On Configuration tab, in the Options section, move the Index files after backup toggle key to the right.

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 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 server 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 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 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 Configuration tab, in the Options 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:

   • Exclude permanently

   • 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 hypervisor. For more information, see Entity Tags.

1. On 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.

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 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.

Create an Access Node

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

   The Add access node dialog box appears.

2. In Host name, enter the host name.

3. In Name, enter a descriptive name for the access node.

4. For OS Type, select the operating system of the access node.

5. Click Save.

   The Add access node dialog box appears.

6. Download and install the installation package, following the instructions in the dialog box to create and configure the access node.

Related Topics

System Requirements for Azure VM Access Nodes.

Modify Snapshot Tags

If you want to use tags for managed disk snapshots, you must add a tag. For more information, see Considerations for Azure Snapshot Tags.

1. On Configuration tab, in the Azure snapshot settings section, beside Snapshot tags, click the edit button .

   The Snapshot tags dialog box appears.

2. Select existing tags or create new tags.

3. Click Save.

Modify the Azure Resource Group for Disk Snapshots

You can modify the resource group that snapshots of the VM group are created in.

1. On Configuration tab, in the Azure snapshot settings section, beside Custom resource group for disk snapshots, click the edit button .

2. From the list that appears, select a resource group.

3. Click Submit.

Modify the VM Group Content

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

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

   The Manage content dialog box appears.

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

   1. Click Add, and then select Rules.

      The Add rule dialog box appears.

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

      • Power state: Select VMs based on whether they are powered on or off.

      • Region: Select VMs based on the region that they reside in.

      • Resource group: Select VMs based on the Azure resource group they are in.

      • Storage account: Select VMs based on the Azure storage account they are in.

      • Tag name: Select VMs based on the names of tags that are assigned to them. For example, to select VMs that have a tag name of "Department", enter Tag name | Equals | Department.

      • Tag value: Select VMs based on the values of tags that are assigned to them. For example, to select VMs that have a tag value of "Finance", enter Tag value | Equals | Finance.

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

   3. Click Save.

3. To select VMs in other ways, 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.

      • Resource groups: Backs up the VMs that are in the resource groups you select.

      • Regions: Backs up the VMs that are in the regions you select.

      • Storage account: Backs up the VMs that are in the storage accounts you select.

      • Tags: Backs up the VMs that contain the tags you select.

   3. Click Save.

4. To exclude some of the content that you added, move the Define filters toggle key to the right, and then specify the filters.

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

5. To exclude some VM disks from the content that you added, do the following:

   1. Move the Define disk filters toggle key to the right.

   2. Click Add, and then select Rule.

      The Add disk filter dialog box appears.

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

      • Blob URI or pattern: Enter the URI for an Azure blob or a pattern with wildcards to identify blob storage objects.

      • Disk name or pattern: Enter the name of the disk or a pattern using the '*' wildcard to represent a string of characters (for example, disk12.vhd or disk*.vhd).

        For Azure managed disks, enter the name of the disk or pattern without the file extension (for example, disk12 or disk*).

      • Disk tag: In the Name box, type the name of a tag or a pattern using the * wildcard to represent a string of characters (for example, name123 or name*). In the Value box, type a value for the tag or a pattern using the * wildcard to represent a string of characters (for example, value123 or value*). Both the Name and Value fields are used together to identify specific disks.

      • Disk type: To filter the operating system volume, select either Equals or Does not equal, and then select OS Disk (the only value).

6. To see the VMs that are selected for the VM group, click the Preview button.

7. Click Save.