Creating a Provisioning Policy for Live Mount with VMware

The provisioning policy for live mount specifies the total number of VMs that can be live mounted, how long live mounted VMs can run, and the resources that are dedicated for live mounts. This policy defines limits to the impact that live mount operations can have on the operating environment.

For more information, see Running a Virtual Machine Using Live Mount.

Before You Begin

Decide how you want to restrict the number of virtual machines that can be live mounted and the length of time that live mounted VMs can run.
Decide whether to specify a particular MediaAgent for live mounts.
Identify the vCenter, datacenter, ESX servers, and networks to use for live mounts.
Identify users or user groups who should be able to perform live mounts.

Procedure

In the CommCell Browser, expand Policies, right-click Virtual Machine Policies, and then click Create New Policy.

The Virtual Machine Policy Options dialog box appears.
Select the vendor and policy options:
1. From the Virtualization Vendor list, select VMware.
2. From the Policy Type list, select Live Mount.
3. Click Next.
The VM Lifecycle Policy wizard appears.
In the Enter the Policy Name and Description page, name the policy and configure advanced settings:
1. In the Name box, enter a name for the policy.
  
  Make a note of the policy name, which users need to provide when live mounting virtual machines.
2. In the Quota box, type or select the total number of concurrent live mounts that each user can run.
3. In the Mount VM for box, type or select the number of hours that live mounted virtual machines can run before they expire.
4. In the Description field, enter a description for the policy.
5. To use a specific MediaAgent for live mounts, select Live Mount on MediaAgent and then choose a MediaAgent from the list.
6. To specify a delay between VM expiration and migrating VMs to a datastore, select Number of hours to wait before migration and enter or select the number of hours.
7. Click Next.
In the Select the vCenter and Datacenter page, specify the vCenter and datacenter to use.
1. From the Virtualization Client list, select the name of a previously configured vCenter.
2. If you have not already refreshed datacenter information for the vCenter, click Update vCenter and datacenter information.
3. From the Datacenter list, select the name of a datacenter.
4. To modify default values for advanced settings, click Advanced Policy Features.
  
  In the Advanced Policy Features dialog box, you can modify the following values:
  - Associated Client Group: Select this option and choose a previously defined client computer group from the drop-down list.
  - E-mail addresses to notify: To identify users who should be notified about live mount operations, type one or more e-mail addresses separated by commas.
  - Sender's e-mail address: Type the e-mail address that should be listed as the sender for notifications.
  - Disable e-mail notifications for successful VM operations: To send e-mail notifications only for unsuccessful live mounts, select this option.
  - To enable users to extend VM leases after expiration, select Allow Renewals after expiration.
  - To configure ESX Server threshold limits, select Enable ESX Threshold Limits, and then in Memory Freespace Required and Datastore Freespace Required, select the applicable percentages.
    
    Virtual Machine Migration will be skipped if its hosting server memory or Datastore has less than the required freespace.
  Click OK to save advanced settings.
5. Click Next.
In the Select ESX Servers page, specify the ESX servers to make available for live mounts.

By default, the Select All option is selected to make all configured ESX servers available for live mounts.
1. To identify specific ESX servers to be used for live mounts with this policy, clear the Select All option.
2. From the Available list, select the ESX servers, and then click Add to add them to the Selected list.
3. Click Next.
In the Select Datastores page, you can choose whether to make live mounted VMs available after the initial expiration period, by migrating them to a datastore for longer term use:
1. Select Migrate VMs to datastore after expiration to enable VMs to be mounted to a datastore for longer term availability.
  
  By default, VMs are available indefinitely after migration if you select this option.
  
  Note
  
  Migration is supported only for streaming backups and IntelliSnap backup copies.
2. To specify decommissioning options for migrated VMs, click Migration Options.
  
  In the Migration Options dialog box, you can specify the following policy options:
  - To mark VMs to be decommissioned after migration, select Enable Decommission.
  - For Decommission VM after, enter or select the number of days to retain VMs after migration.
    
    During this period, users can continue to use live mounted VMs.
  - For Deletion grace period, enter the number of days before decommissioned VMs are removed from the datastore.
    
    To keep VMs for a longer period, users can renew VMs before they are decommissioned or during the grace period.
  Click OK to save the migration options.
3. Select datastores that can be used for migrated VMs from the Available area.
  
  If you selected Migrate VMs to datastore after expiration, you can choose Select All to use all available datastores for migrated VMs, or select individual datastores and click Add to use only the selected datastores.
4. Click Next.
In the Enter Resources page, identify the networks that can be used for live mounted VMs:
1. Under Network Names, select one or more networks from the Available list.
2. Click Add to assign them to the Selected list.
3. Click Next.
In the Physical Machine Restore Options page, click Next.

This page is not required for live mounts.

You can use this page to identify ISO mount paths and network information that are used to create virtual machines from backups of physical machines (Virtualize Me).
In the Select User Membership page, select user groups to have access to the live mount feature.
1. From the Available list, select user groups.
2. Click Add to add them to the Selected list.
3. Click Next.
In the Summary page, verify the values entered for the policy and click Finish.

What to Do Next

Provide users who will perform live mounts with the policy name to be used when live mounting virtual machines. See Running a Virtual Machine Using Live Mount.