- Evaluation is done only once (i.e. when the data flow implementing the policy is compiled), if VMs and templates are:
- Explicitly selected from a list or inventory tree.
- Specified using their full name (i.e. without using wildcards, e.g. Sales_SQLServer).
- Evaluation is done every time the operation is triggered, if VMs and templates
are:
- Implicitly selected using a container object (folder, host, cluster, datastore, resource pool, datacenter, or vApp).
- Selected using a tag defined in vSphere.
- Specified using a name pattern (i.e. using wildcards, e.g. Sales_Client*).
Tip: With this method of classification, VMs will be automatically added to the backup (without reactivating the data flow) when they are added to a container, assigned the appropriate tag or given a name that matches the defined pattern. For continuous replications it will be necessary to trigger the relevant operation to cause re-evaluation.
Every VMware object selected in the classification is resolved to a list of VMs and templates. For example, when selecting a datastore, all the VMs and templates that are in that datastore are selected. If any included VMs and templates reference VMDKs located in another datastore, these will be selected too. This ensures that VMs and templates that are backed up can be fully restored.
Backup behaviour differs depending on the type of operation the VMware classification is combined with in a policy.
- Physical compatibility mode RDM disks are not backed up because they are not included in a VMware snapshot.
- Virtual compatibility mode RDM disks are backed up.
- If the VM contains physical or virtual compatibility mode RDM storage, the backup operation will continue without backing up the RDM storage and the following warning will be logged:
VM: <VM_NAME>. Contains a RawDiskMapping (RDM). This RDM storage won't be backed up.
- If the VM contains Passthrough storage, the backup operation will continue without backing up the passthrough storage and the following warning will be logged:
VM: <VM_NAME>. Contains <TYPE> Passthrough storage. This Passthrough storage won't be backed up.
- If the VM has a dependency on a non-VMFS datastore (i.e. one that is not located on a block storage device), then:
- If no VMDKs for the VM are present in the non-VMFS datastore, the backup operation will continue and the following warning will be logged:
VM contains non-VMFS datastore '<DATASTORE_NAME>', which won't be backed up.
- If VMDKs for the VM are present in the non-VMFS datastore, the backup operation will be aborted and the following error will be logged:
The following non-VMFS datastores contain VM disks which won't be backed up: <LIST OF NON-VMFS DATASTORE NAMES WITH VMDKS>.
- If no VMDKs for the VM are present in the non-VMFS datastore, the backup operation will continue and the following warning will be logged: