You can define discovery rules to automatically assign virtual machines to subclient content based on the virtual machine name or pattern, server host name, operating system group, or DNS host name. You can define single rules or a combination of rules to discover virtual machines.
This feature is useful in environments where virtual machines are added, removed, or relocated on a frequent basis, or when you want to manage groups of similar virtual machines by using different subclients.
You can also browse for and select virtual machines or other Xen objects.
Procedure
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From the CommCell Browser, expand Client Computers > virtualization_client > Virtual Server > instance > backup_set.
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Right-click the subclient and then click Properties.
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In the Subclient Properties dialog box, click the Content tab.
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Browse or define a rule to select an object:
To browse for an object:
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Click Browse.
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Select a view from the list at the top left of the Browse dialog box:
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In Server View you can view and select hosts and specific virtual machines.
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In Folder View you can view and select hosts, virtual machines, VM templates, storage repositories, and folders.
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Select objects at any level to include virtual machines for the selected object.
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Click OK.
To define a rule:
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Click Add.
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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:
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VM Name /Pattern: An exact virtual machine name or a pattern that is used for string matching.
For example, enter Test* to include a VM if the VM name begins with Test.
Notes
If a virtual machine is added by browsing and selecting the VM display name, discovery is performed based on the GUID for the named VM. If that virtual machine is later restored in place from a backup, a new GUID is generated, and that virtual machine is no longer included for backups. To include that VM, you must remove the old content rule, then add a new rule or use a name pattern for the virtual machine.
If a VM is added to subclient content using a specific name (without wildcards), and the software cannot find the VM based on that name during a backup job, the backup job completes with the error: Virtual machine [VMName] was not found.
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Template: Select True or False.
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Host: A XenServer host name or the IP address of a host.
When you add a host, all virtual machines on the host are included in the backup.
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Guest OS: A string pattern to identify an operating system group.
For example:
Enter Microsoft* to include any virtual machine with any version of the Windows operating system.
Enter *windows2012r2 to include Windows 2012 R2 machines.
Enter *linux* to include all Linux machines.
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Guest DNS Hostname: A string pattern to identify a hostname or domain.
For example, enter myhost.mycompany.com to include a specific host or *.mycompany.com to include all hosts on that domain.
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Power State: Select Powered On, Powered Off, or Other.
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Click + and repeat this step to include additional 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.
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Click OK.
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Click OK.
Notes
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If an automatic discovery rule for a subclient identifies an entity that cannot be found, a backup job for the subclient fails. For example, if a rule points to a host that has been retired, that is treated as a failure during discovery, and the backup job fails.
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To enable backup jobs to continue when an entity is not found, add the bAllowMissedContent additional setting on the Virtual Server Agent proxy and set the value to true.
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To generate a warning message when a content entity or rule does not return any results, add the bWarnEmptyContentRule additional setting on the Virtual Server Agent proxy and set the value to true.
For steps to add an additional setting, see Adding or Modifying Additional Settings from the CommCell Console.