# Modifying Settings for an Alibaba Cloud

For an existing VM group, you can add instances or modify the content selections.

## Before You Begin

- The image that was used to create an instance must be present when you perform a backup operation. If the image is not available when the backup is performed, a browse operation of guest files and folders from that backup fails.

## Go to the VM Group

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

   The Overview page appears.

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

   The VM group page appears.

## Modify the Backup Plan

You can select a different backup plan for the VM group.

- On the Overview tab, in the Summary section, for Plan, click the edit button , and then select a backup plan.

## 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

On the Overview tab, the Recovery points section shows the backups that are available by date. For information about restores, see Restores for Alibaba Cloud.

## View Policies

On the Overview tab, if the VM group is not associated with a backup plan, the Policies section shows the storage policy and the schedule policy that the VM group is associated with.

## View Schedules

On the Overview tab, if the VM group is not associated with a backup 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

- Security for Virtualization

## 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 Alibaba access nodes.

If additional CPU and RAM are provisioned to your Alibaba 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. For No. of readers, enter the number of readers to use.

3. Click Save.

## Modify the Backup Type

By default, when a VM group is created, the backup type is crash consistent.

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:

   - Crash consistent: Takes a point-in-time snapshot of virtual machine data without quiescing.

   - File system and application consistent: Uses Alibaba Cloud guest tools to perform a quiesced backup of the file system and applications.

3. Click Save.

## Enable File Indexing

### Procedure

- On the 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, the Commvault software starts jobs based on the RPO (recovery point objective) settings of the backup 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 backup plan, then the software starts jobs at the next available time within the window.

Set the Backup job start time in the local time zone of the hypervisor (that is, the Alibaba account) that the VM group belongs to. The software 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.

6. Click Save.

## 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 (that is, the Alibaba account) that they belong to. To control the access node resources that are used for the VM group (for example, to provide dedicated resources for mission-critical applications), you can specify different access nodes for the VM group.

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 for the VM Group

1. On Configuration tab, in the Access nodes 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 for the VM Group

1. On Configuration tab, in the Access nodes 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

- For requirements for Alibaba access nodes, see Requirements for Alibaba access nodes.

- To replace the same access node in multiple VM groups, see Replacing Infrastructure Nodes.

## Allow the VM Group to Have No Content

- If you want backups of the VM group to complete successfully even if no VMs are discovered to back up, enable the Allow empty content toggle key.

For more information, see Allowing a VM Group to Have No Content.

## Modify the VM Group Content

When you modify the content of an existing VM group, you can add and remove content (for example, you can delete instances), and you can exclude content using filters.

You can add content to the VM group by using rules that auto-discover content, by selecting specific instances, and in other ways. When you first create the VM group, you can add an instance that is relatively small, and then later you can update the VM group by adding more content.

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

   The Manage content dialog box appears.

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

   1. Click Add, and then select Rule.

      The Add rule dialog box appears.

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

      - Browse: Select specific instances. (Selecting this option changes the Add rule dialog box to the Add content dialog box.)

      - Guest DNS hostname: Select instances based on a hostname or a domain. For example, to select hosts on the "mycompany.com" domain, enter Guest DNS hostname | Ends with | mycompany.com.

      - Guest OS: Select instances based on operating system. For example, to select instances that are not Windows, enter Guest OS | Does not contain | Windows.

      - Instance name or pattern: Select instances based on their names. For example, to select instances that have a name that includes "east", enter Instance name or pattern | Contains | east.

      - Power state: Select instances based on a power status of Running or Stopped.

      - Region: Select instances based on the Alibaba Region that they reside in.

      - Tag name: Select instances based on the names of tags that are assigned to them. Enter the tag name in the region\tag_name format. For example, to select instances in the eastern US Region that are for a department, enter Tag name | Equals | us-east-1\department.

      - Tag value: Select instances based on the values of tags that are assigned to them. Enter the tag value in the region\tag_name\tag_value format. For example, to select instances in the eastern US Region for the human resources department, enter Tag value | Equals | us-east-1\department\HR.

      - Zone: Select instances based on the zone that they reside in. For example, to select instances that reside in any eastern US zone, enter Zone | Contains | us-east. You can enter the zone value by typing or browsing to select.

   3. Click Save.

3. To select instances manually, 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:

      - By region: Select instances based on the Alibaba Region that they reside in.

      - By zone: Select instances based on the zone that they reside in.

      - By tags: Select instances based on tags that are assigned to them.

      - By instance type: Select instances based on their type, such as t2.micro or c5.large.

   3. Click Save.

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

5. Click Save.

6. To exclude some of the content that you added, in the VM filters area, click the edit button , and then specify the filters.

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

   Note

   VMs added directly using Add > Content in the Content area take precedence over exclusion rules. If you exclude such a VM using filters, it will still be backed up.

## View Virtual Machines

The Virtual machines tab displays the VMs associated with this VM group.

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