About VMware policy classifications

Ops Center Protector VMware Application Guide

Version
7.9.x
Audience
anonymous
Part Number
MK-99PRT004-10
When items are added to the inclusion or exclusion lists displayed in the VMware Classification Wizard, the VMware Resource Selection Wizard is launched. This wizard enables virtual machines and templates to be selected based on the VMware inventories in which they appear in vSphere, or by pattern matching of VMware container object name, virtual machine name or template name. The list of VMs and templates included in the classification is evaluated at different times depending on how they are specified:
  • 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.

Warning: When vCenter objects like VMs and Datastores change their names or IDs, this will cause the backup to fail, to avoid backing up incorrect objects. Updating the policy to replace these with the new instances will be required.

Backup behaviour differs depending on the type of operation the VMware classification is combined with in a policy.

For host based Backup operations, the VMware files that record each selected VM's state (system configuration, virtual hard disk configuration and virtual hard disk data) are backed up as dictated by the policy's operation(s). If a VM contains RDM storage then:
  • 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.
For block based Snapshot and Replicate operations, the datastores that contain the selected VMs are identified. Those datastores that reside on Hitachi Block storage are then resolved down to their underlying LDEVs and are snapshotted/replicated as dictated by the policy's operation(s).
  • 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>.

Tip: Any RDM storage that cannot be protected by a VMware classification can be backed up using a separate Physical classification if appropriate.