Creating VM Filters for VMware

To exclude specific VMs from backup operations in the VM group content, you can create a filter that excludes the filtered VMs from a backup operation.

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.

Go to the VM Group

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

The Overview page appears.
On the VM groups tab, click the VM group.

The VM group page appears.

Define VM Filters

Click the Content tab.
In the VM filters area, click the edit button .

The Manage VM filters dialog box appears.
To discover virtual machines automatically:
1. Click Add, and then select Rule.
  
  The Add rule dialog box appears.
2. To include VMs that match all rules, select all. To include VMs that match any of the rules, select any.
3. From the list, select the type of rule to create, and then specify the rule:
  - Browse: Select specific VMs. (Selecting this option changes the Add rule dialog box to the Add content dialog box.)
  - Custom attribute: Select VMs based on custom attributes in vCenter annotations for the VM summary. For example, to select VMs that have a custom attribute that equals "128", enter Custom attribute | Equals | 128.
  - Datastore: Select VMs based on the name of the datastore that contains them.
  - Folder: Select VMs based on the folder that contains them.
  - Guest DNS hostname: Select VMs 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 VMs based on operating system. For example, to select VMs that are not Windows, enter Guest OS | Does not contain | Windows.
  - Host: Select VMs based on hostname. For example, to select VMs that are on hosts that include "acme" in their names, enter Host | Contains | acme.
  - Notes: Select VMs based on notes contained in annotations for the VM summary. For example, to select VMs that have notes that begin with "Test", enter Notes | Starts with | Test.
  - Power state: Select VMs based on a power status of On, Off, or Other. (Other includes statuses such as Suspended).
  - Tag: Select VMs based on tags that the VMs are marked with.
  - Tag category: Select VMs based on tag categories that the VMs are marked with.
  - Template: Specify whether to select virtual machine templates. For example, to select templates, enter Template | Equals | True.
  - Virtual machine name or pattern: Select VMs based on their names. For example, to select VMs that have a name that includes "east", enter Virtual machine name or pattern | Contains | east.
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 Virtual machine name or pattern or Tag.
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 then click Edit rule.
1. In the Edit rule dialog box, make the required changes.
2. Click Save.
To select VMs 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, one of the following:
  - Hosts and clusters
  - VMs and templates
  - Datastores and datastore clusters
  - Tags and categories
3. Select the VMs to add to the VM group.
4. Click Save.
To see the VMs that are selected for the VM group, click Preview.
Click Save.

View Virtual Machines

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