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Creating a Restore as Lab Policy for VMware

To set up the Restore as Lab feature for Virtual Labs, you must create a Virtual Lab Policy so that users can create their own virtual labs from a VMware backup job. The Virtual Lab Policy contains settings for the restore destination and the isolated or external network.

Before You Begin

The following conditions must be met to use VM Lifecycle Management:

  • To verify the version of VMware software that is required to support this feature, see System Requirements.

  • A version of VMware Tools that is supported by the host must be installed on virtual machine templates (preferably the latest supported version)

  • Supported operating systems:

    • Windows Server 2008, 2008 R2, 2012, 2012 R2, 2016

    • Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10

    • Linux RHEL 5, 6, and 7, Oracle, and Ubuntu

You must install the following components to set up VM Lifecycle Management:

  • Virtual Server Agent. For installation instructions, see Deployment - Virtual Server Agent for VMware.

  • Web Server and Web Console. For installation instructions see Installing the Web Console.

  • Virtual Machines used as templates must have VMware Tools installed.

  • Create a VMware Client.

  • If you want to create a gateway computer that allows communication with computers outside of the virtual lab, you must download the V11 CV VLab Gateway Template - VMware that is compatible with your service pack from the Commvault Store, import it into vCenter, and convert it into a template.

    For download instructions, see Downloading Items from Commvault Store.

    Important: You must name all virtual machine templates using this format: CV_VLAB_GATEWAY_*. Only templates that begin with this prefix are displayed.

  • For a Virtual Lab Policy configured with an external network, the vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) feature is not supported. With an external network configuration, you must disable DRS on the cluster. If DRS is enabled, the lab configuration for the virtual lab might fail because the gateway VM can migrate to a different host and not add the required network.

To enable IP Masquerading, you must first configure the following:

  • The Static IP should be configured on the source virtual machine, and the remote connection should be enabled.

  • The masquerade network should have the equivalent static IP range as the source network; for example, the source subnet IP range is 172.16.52.51-55 and the masquerade IP range is 172.19.52.51-55.

  • The masquerade network should have DHCP enabled, and it should allow incoming requests. The gateway virtual machine should get a DHCP IP for the primary interface.

  • The gateway virtual machine template must be uploaded to the destination ESX server (Commvault Store).

  • The name of the template stored on the ESX server must begin with CV_VLAB_GATEWAY.

Procedure

  1. In the CommCell Browser, expand Policies, right-click Virtual Machine Policies, and then click Create New Policy.

  2. In the Virtual Machine Policy Options dialog box, select the vendor and policy options:

    1. From the Virtualization Vendor list, select VMware.

    2. From the Policy Type list, select Restore From Backup.

      Enable Virtual Lab is automatically selected.

    3. Click Next.

    The VM Lifecycle Policy dialog box appears.

  3. On the Enter the Policy Name and Description page, name the policy:

    1. In the Name box, enter a name for the policy.

      Note: Make a note of the Policy name. This is needed later for users to create virtual labs.

    2. In the Quota box, type or select the VM limit per user.

    3. Optional: Configure the period of time before a virtual lab is decommissioned and then deleted. Select Enable Decommission, and then configure the time period:

      • In the Decommission VM after list, select or type the number of days users will be able to keep the virtual lab running.

      • In the Deletion grace period list, select or type a number of days to keep the virtual lab available for renewal before it is deleted.

      All the decommissioned machines are automatically turned off, and when you perform a backup for these machines, they are archived.

      If you configure migration for the virtual lab in Select the vCenter and Datacenter > Advanced Policy Features, then these decommission settings will apply after the virtual lab is migrated to a different data store.

    4. In the Description box, enter a description for the policy.

    5. Click Next.

  4. On the Select the vCenter and Datacenter page, specify the vCenter and Datacenter to be used:

    1. In the Virtualization Client list, select the name of a vCenter.

    2. In the Datacenter list, select the name of a datacenter.

    3. Optional: If you want to refresh Datacenters for the Virtualization Client, click Update vCenter and Datacenter Information.

      This step can take some time if there are many ESX servers.

    4. Optional: Click Advanced Policy Features, and then configure any of the available settings in the Advanced Policy Features dialog box:

      • To specify the client group that can use this policy, select Associated Client Group, and then select a client group name from the list.

      • To configure email addresses for the people who will be notified about VM operations, in the E-mail addresses to notify box, enter email addresses separated by commas.

      • To configure the email sender's address, in the Sender's email address box, type an email address.

      • If you don't want to notify users about VM operations that succeeded, select Disable e-mail notifications for successful VM operations.

      • To create a live mount on a MediaAgent, select Live Mount On MediaAgent, and then select a MediaAgent from the list.

      • To specify the amount of time to wait before a virtual lab is moved to another data store, select Number of hours to wait before migration, and then enter the number of hours.

        If you want to make particular data stores available for migration, you must select them on the Select Datastores page.

      • To configure ESX Server threshold limits, select Enable ESX Threshold Limits, and then in Memory Freespace Required and Datastore Freespace Required, select the applicable percentages.

        Virtual Machine Migration will be skipped if its hosting server memory or Datastore has less than the required freespace.

      Click OK to close the Advanced Policy Features dialog box.

    5. Click Next.

  5. On the Select ESX Servers page, specify the ESX servers that you want to make available to virtual lab users.

    1. From the Available list, select the ESX Servers, and then click Add to add them to the Selected list.

    2. Click Next.

  6. On the Select Datastores page, specify the data stores that you want to make available to virtual lab users.

    1. From the Available list, select the data stores, and then click Add to add them to the Selected list.

    2. Click Next.

  7. On the Select Network page, configure settings for an isolated or external network:

    1. To use an existing, external network to communicate with computers outside the virtual lab, select Use An Existing Network, and then select a network from the list.

    2. To use a gateway computer to communicate with computers outside the virtual lab, configure the gateway VM, template, and network:

      • Select Create An Isolated Network.

      • Select Configure Gateway VM.

      • In the Gateway Template list, select the template for the gateway VM. This should be the template that was uploaded to the ESX server for IP Masquerading.

      • In the Gateway Network list, select a network that the gateway VM can use. This network should have access to the Internet.

      • In the IP Address Settings dialog box, configure the following:

        Network: select a network where the reserved IP address pool resides. This network must include

        IP Address Range: specifies the IP address range for the masqueraded IP addresses.

        Subnet Mask: Enter a full IP address or an IP address pattern for the subnet mask for the Masquerade network.

        Default Gateway: Enter a full IP address or an IP address pattern for the default gateway.

    3. Click Next.

  8. On the Select User Membership page, select the users or user groups that will have access to Virtual Labs:

    1. From the Available list, select users or user groups, and then click Add to add them to the Selected list.

    2. Click Next.

  9. On the Summary page, click Finish.

What To Do Next

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