Managing VM Group Content for Nutanix AHV

For an existing VM group, you can add virtual machines or modify the content selections. Select VMs based on views or automatic discovery rules.

Views and Rule Options

When you define content or filters for a VM group, you can change the view and select specific entities, or define rules to automatically select VMs that meet specific criteria.

Views

When you browse to select VMs for VM group content or filters, you can select a browse method from the Browse and select VMs list, and then expand the tree below the list to select hosts, specific VMs, or VM storage locations for the VM group, or to clear previous selections.

You can select one of the following options from the list to control the browse display:

Container: Select a storage container or specific virtual machines.
Data protection: Select a host, protection domain, or specific virtual machines.
VMs: Select this option to browse and select specific VMs.

Rules

You can define rules to discover virtual machines automatically.

When you add a rule, from the Select rule for list, choose one of the following rules and then, from the Which matches with list, select Equals, Contains, Starts with, or Ends with:

Power state: From the Name list, select the power on status of virtual machines to be included in the VM group content. You can select On to identify VMs that are powered on, Off to identify VMs that are powered off, or Other to identify VMs with a different power on status, such as Suspended.
Virtual machine name/pattern: In the Name box, type the display name of the virtual machine or a pattern using wildcards (for example, Test* to identify VMs for which the VM name begins with "Test").

Procedure

From the Command Center navigation pane, go to Protect > Virtualization.

The Virtual machines page appears.
Click the VM groups tab.

The VM group page appears. The VM groups area displays summary information for any existing VM groups.
Click an existing VM group.
Click the Content tab.

The Content page of the VM group shows the currently selected content to be backed up (hosts, specific VMs, or source virtual machine storage).
To edit the content, click the icon.

The Manage content page appears.
To modify the Type, click in the Actions column of the row for the Name and then select Edit Rule.
1. To include instances that match all rules, select all. To include instances that match any of the rules, select any.
2. In the criteria list select a search criterion from the menu, such as VM name/pattern.
3. In the operators, list define the rule by selecting an operator from the list, such asEquals or Starts with.
4. To add a value, enter a text string or specify a text pattern using wildcards (for example, Test*to identify instances for which the instance name begins with "Test") that appear in the criteria you selected, such as VM name/pattern.
5. To add more content for the rule, click the folder icon and select a value from the list.
6. Click Save.
To remove a virtual machine, click in the Actions column of the row for the VM and select Delete.
Click Preview to see a list of the virtual machines that will be backed up and the hosts for the VMs.
Click Save to save the changes to VM group content.

The Content page appears with the rule and VM name that you selected.

Define Filters

To filter virtual machines based on specific criteria, move the Define Filters toggle key to the right.
To discover virtual machines automatically:
1. Click Add rule.
2. To include instances that match all rules, select all. To include instances that match any of the rules, select any.
3. In the criteria list select a search criterion from the menu, such as VM name/pattern.
4. In the operators list, define the rule by selecting an operator from the list, such as Equals or Starts with.
5. To add a value, enter a text string or specify a text pattern using wildcards (for example, Test* to identify instances for which the instance name begins with "Test") that appear in the criteria you selected, such as VM name/pattern.
6. To add more content for the rule, click the folder icon and select a value from the list.
7. Click Save.
To edit a rule, click in the Actions column of the row for the VM and select Edit rule.
1. To include instances that match all rules, select all. To include instances that match any of the rules, select any.
2. In the criteria list select a search criterion from the menu, such as VM name/pattern.
3. In the operators, list define the rule by selecting an operator from the list, such as Equals or Starts with.
4. To add a value, enter a text string or specify a text pattern using wildcards (for example, Test*to identify instances for which the instance name begins with "Test") that appear in the criteria you selected, such as VM name/pattern.
5. To add more content for the rule, click the folder icon and select a value from the list.
6. Click Save.
  
  The Content page appears with the VM name and the disk filters.

Define Disk Filters

To filter on disks attached to specific VMs, move the Define disk filters toggle key to the right.
Select Browse to display a list of VMs in the content.

The Browse virtual machine disks page appears.
Choose a VM and expand the tree to see the disks attached to the VM.
Select one or more disks and click OK.

The disk is added to the Disk Filter section for the VM.
Click Save.
To add a rule for the disk filter, click Add rule.

In the Add disk filter dialog box, provide information for the rule:
1. From the Disk filter type list, choose one of the following:
  1. Container: In the Container box, type the container name.
  2. Disk address: Choose pci, scsi, or ide from the Disk address list, and then type the number in the Disk number box.
  3. Click OK.
Click Save to save the changes to VM group content.

The Content page appears with the VM name and the disk filters.