Defining Filters for Content

Filters can be configured to exclude instances or instance volumes from backups. You can define filters on a subclient (only applies to that subclient) or on a backup set (applies to all subclients under the backup set).

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. Any filtering defined in a backup set is also visible in the subclients under the backup set when the Show Backupset Filters option is selected, and is applied at the subclient level even if backup set filters are not displayed.

Note

The option to filter volumes for a specific instance is only available when you are configuring filters for a subclient, and only when the subclient is configured to perform streaming backups.

Procedure

From the CommCell Browser, expand Client Computers > virtualization_client > Virtual Server > Amazon > backup_set.
Right-click the backup set or subclient and click Properties, then select one of the following tabs:
- In the Backup Set Property dialog box, click Instance Filters or Instance Volume Filters.
- In the Subclient Properties dialog box, click the Filters tab.
Browse to select instances or define a rule to select instances or volumes:

To browse for instances:
1. Click Browse.
  
  The Browse dialog box appears.
2. To display instance IDs, select Show VM Instance ID at the bottom of the dialog box.
3. Select a view from the list at the top left of the Browse dialog box:
  - Instances (By Region): Select a region or expand a region to select instances.
  - Instances (By Zone): Select a region or expand the tree to select a zone or instances.
  - Instances (By Tags): Browse and select instances using custom tags that were assigned in Amazon instance properties.
  - Instances (By Instance Type): Browse and select instances based on the instance type.
4. Click OK.
To define a rule for instances or instance volumes:
1. Click Add.
2. In the Rule Group box, select the rule type from the drop-down list and enter the appropriate information in the box on the right.
  
  For instance filters:
  - Instance Name/Pattern: Enter the display name of the instance or a pattern using wildcards (for example, Test* to identify instances for which the instance name begins with "Test"). You can also click ... to browse for an instance.
  - Region: Enter the region name or a region name pattern using wildcards. You can also click ... to open the Browse dialog box. When you add a region, all instances in the region are selected.
  - Zone: Enter the zone name or a zone name pattern using wildcards. You can also click ... to open the Browse dialog box. When you add a zone, all instances in the zone are selected.
  - Guest OS: Enter the exact name of the operating system or a pattern to identify an operating system group (for example, Microsoft* to identify any instance that has a version of the Windows operating system).
  - Guest DNS Hostname: Enter a hostname or a pattern to identify a hostname or domain (for example, myhost.mycompany.com to identify a specific host or *mycompany.com to identify all hosts on that domain).
  - Instance State: Select the power on status of instances to be selected. You can select one of the following options:
    
    Running - to identify instances that are powered on.
    
    Stopped - to identify instances that are powered off.
  For instance volume filters:
  - Volume Device Name/Pattern: Enter the device name of the volume or a pattern using wildcards. For example, use a pattern such as xdv* to identify volume devices where the volume device name begins with "xdv", or /dev/s* to identify devices where the name begins with "/dev/s".
  - Volume Name/Pattern: 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: Select the type of volume to be filtered. Select Root to exclude the OS volume from backups.
    
    Note
    
    You cannot back up the root volume for an instance that is launched from AWS Marketplace.
  - Disk Tag Name/Value: In the Name box, type the name of a volume or a pattern using the '*' wildcard to represent a string of characters (for example, name123 or name*). In the Value box, type the value for a volume 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 volumes.
To define multiple rules in a rule group:
1. Click + and define another rule. The following options are available for a rule group with multiple rules:
  
  If you define multiple rules, you can indicate whether instances are selected when they match all of the rules, or when they match any of the rules. For rule groups that include Power State rules, you can only select instances that match all of the rules.
  
  To exclude instances based on any of the criteria, you can use the Does Not Equal operator for one or more of the rules in a rule group. (For rule groups with a single rule, the only operator you can use is Equals.)
  
  For simple rules defined in the Contents of subclient list (not in a rule group), instances are selected if they match any of the rules defined for the subclient.
2. Click OK.
The rules you defined and the objects you selected appear in the VM Flters list on the Filters tab.
To filter volumes for a specific instance:
1. Under Instance Volume Filters, click Browse.
  
  The Browse dialog box displays instances. You can expand an instance to see volumes.
2. Under one or more instances, select volumes to filter from backups.
3. Click OK.
To modify a filter, select the filter and then click Edit.
To remove a filter, select the filter and click Delete; then confirm the deletion request.
Click OK.