Defining Filters for Content

Filters can be configured to exclude virtual machines and virtual machine disks 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.

Procedure

1. From the CommCell Browser, expand Client Computers > virtualization_client > Virtual Server > Azure Stack Hub > backup_set.

2. 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 VM Filters or VM Disk Filters.

   • In the Subclient Properties dialog box, click the Filters tab.

3. Browse to select virtual machines or define a rule to select virtual machine or virtual machine diskss:

   To browse for virtual machines:

   1. Click Browse.

   2. Select a view from the list at the top left of the Browse dialog box:

      • VMs: Select virtual machines.

      • Regions: Select the local region or a virtual machine.

      • Resource Group: Select a resource group or a virtual machine.

      • Storage Accounts: Select a storage account or a virtual machine.

      • Tags: Select a tag or virtual machine owner.

   3. Click OK.

   To define a rule for virtual machines:

   1. Click Add.

   2. In the Rule Group box, select the rule type from the list and enter the appropriate information in the box on the right.

      For virtual machine filters:

      • VM Name/Pattern: Enter the display name of the virtual machine or a pattern using wildcards (for example, Test* to identify virtual machines for which the virtual machine name begins with "Test"). You can also click ... to browse for a virtual machine.

      • Resource Group: Enter a name pattern or click ... to select a resource group.

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

        Running - to identify virtual machines that are powered on.

        Stopped - to identify virtual machines that are powered off.

      • Region: Only the local region is supported,

      • Storage Account: Click ... to select a storage account.

        Note

        Disk filters are not supported.

   3. 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:

      • If you define multiple rules, you can indicate whether virtual machines 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 virtual machines that match all of the rules.

      • To exclude virtual machines 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), virtual machines are selected if they match any of the rules defined for the subclient.

   4. Click OK.

   The rules you defined and the objects you selected appear in the filters list.

4. Click OK.

5. To modify a filter, select the filter and then click Edit.

6. To remove a filter, select the filter and click Delete; then confirm the deletion request.

7. Click OK.