You can define filters at the backup set level to exclude virtual machines from backups for all subclients in the backup set.
The filters specified for the backup set are combined with the filters for the subclient to determine which virtual machines are excluded from backups.
About This Task
For each subclient under a backup set, the filtering specified for the backup set is combined with the filtering for the subclient to determine which content is excluded from backups.
Notes:
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You cannot filter a virtual machine template based on the guest operating system.
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If a virtual machine is explicitly added to the content of a subclient, the virtual machine is discovered by its GUID. If the display name changes later, the machine is still included in the subclient as long as its GUID remains the same. Any virtual machines identified in a subclient and discovered by their GUIDs will not be filtered from backups.
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If a virtual machine is added by browsing and selecting the VM display name, discovery is performed based on the GUID for the VM. If that virtual machine is later restored in place from a backup, a new GUID is generated, and that virtual machine is no longer filtered from the backup. To filter that VM, you must remove the old filter rule, then add a new rule or use a name pattern for the filter.
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On clients upgraded from V9, if the subclients have virtual machines or disks marked using the Do Not Backup option, those items are automatically added to the filters for subclients and backup sets.
Before You Begin
Before defining the filtering criteria by using guest OS or guest DNS hostname, ensure that following requirements are satisfied:
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The virtual machine must be powered on at the time of the backup.
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The Hyper-V integration services must be installed and updated on the virtual machine.
Procedure
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From the CommCell Browser, expand Client Computers > virtualization_client > Virtual Server > instance.
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Right-click the backup set and then click Properties.
The Backup Set Property dialog box is displayed.
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Add VM filters:
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On the VM Filters tab, click Browse.
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Select a view from the list at the upper-left corner of the Browse dialog box. For more information on the views, see Subclient Configuration (Microsoft Hyper-V).
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Add rules for VM filters:
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On the VM Filters tab, click Add.
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In the Add Rule dialog box, click ... to browse for specific virtual machines or hosts, or select the filter type from the drop-down list and enter the appropriate values in the corresponding box.
You can also use wildcard characters when defining rules based on a name or pattern.
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Rule name
Description
VM Name/Pattern
Enter a pattern (for example, Test* to exclude VMs for which the VM name begins with "Test").
Host
Enter a host name or the IP address of the VM host. When you filter a host, all virtual machines for the host are automatically excluded from backups.
Guest OS
Enter a pattern to identify an operating system group. For example, you can enter Microsoft* to filter any virtual machine that has a version of the Windows operating system, *windows2012r2 to filter Windows 2012 R2 machines, or *linux* to filter all Linux machines.
Guest DNS Hostname
Enter a pattern to identify a hostname or domain (for example, myhost.mycompany.com to exclude a specific host or *.mycompany.com to exclude all hosts on that domain).
Power State
Select the power on status of the virtual machines to be filtered from subclient content. You can select from one of the following options:
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Powered On: To identify VMs that are powered on.
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Powered Off: To identify VMs that are powered off.
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Other: To identify VMs with a different power on status, such as Pause, Saved, etc.
Notes
Enter a pattern to identify the VMs based on the notes description. (for example, Test* to identify VMs with a notes description that begin with "Test").
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Add Disk filters:
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On the Disk Filters tab, click Add.
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In the Add Rule dialog box, select the filter type from the drop-down list and enter the appropriate values in the corresponding box.
You can also use wildcard characters when defining rules based on a name or pattern.
Virtual Device Node
Select a device node from the drop-down list.
Virtual Disk Name Pattern
Enter a pattern for the names of disks to filter (for example, VMName.vhd or VMName.vhdx).
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To define multiple rules in a rule group, click + and define another rule. The following options are available for a rule group with multiple rules:
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If you define multiple rules in a rule group, you can indicate whether virtual machines are selected when they match all of the rules (selected by default), or when they match any of the rules.
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To exclude virtual machines based on any of the criteria, use the Does Not Equal operator. You can use this operator only when you are defining more than one rule. (For rule groups with a single rule, the only operator that you can use is Equals.)
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Click OK to add the filter.
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Click OK to save the backup set properties.
What To Do Next
To verify the list of virtual machines that are selected for backup, use the Preview button on the Content tab of the Subclient Properties dialog box (right-click the default subclient > Properties > Content tab). The Preview display includes an Add to Filters button that you can use to add specific virtual machines to filters.