Advanced - VMware Configuration

While the Virtual Server iDataAgent is capable of backing up the entirety of your VMware environment using a single instance, backup set, and subclient configuration, it is often not practical to do so. For example, a Virtual Center may contain as few as two ESX Servers, each containing no more than 10 virtual machines. In this scenario, a single instance configured for the entire Virtual Center may be sufficient. However, if a Virtual Center contains upwards of 50 ESX Servers, each containing at least 20 virtual machines, a backup of a single Virtual Center instance may take a significant amount of time to complete. As such, it is important to consider how much data must be backed up at a given time.

As a best practice, consider the following recommendations:

If creating an instance for an entire Virtual Center containing a large number of ESX Servers and virtual machines, consider performing backups at the backup set or subclient level. These backups can be staggered throughout the day to ensure minimal resources are consumed.
If backups for a Virtual Center instance must be performed at the instance level, consider utilizing the Incremental and Differential backup options described in the Getting Started documentation.
If it is desirable to be able to perform backups at the instance level for both the Virtual Center and individual ESX Servers, consider creating one instance for the Virtual Center and additional instances for each ESX Server. This provides the flexibility to perform comprehensive backups for both the Virtual Center and ESX Servers as needed.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the agent and select Create New Instance.
Follow the procedure described in the Getting Started configuration documentation.

Creating User-Defined Backup Sets

Because backup sets dictate the data assigned to each subclient, it is recommended that backup sets be configured with the number of anticipated subclients in mind. For example, if an ESX Server has 100 virtual machines, all of which need to be backed up, then consider creating two backup sets. Each backup set can then contain five subclients with 10 virtual machines assigned to each. Such a scenario provides the flexibility of performing narrower backups staggered at different times, saving time and resources.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the instance for which you want to create a new backup set and select New Backup Set.
Follow the procedure described in the Getting Started configuration documentation.

Creating User-Defined Subclients

For Virtual Centers or ESX Servers that have a large number of virtual machines, it is recommended that the virtual machines be distributed across more than one subclient. This helps to enhance backup and recovery performance for each subclient, as well as preserves network resources. Additionally, user-defined subclients also provide the facility to group virtual machine backups of a specific entity, such as an ESX Server or datastore, together.

To further enhance performance in environments where a proxy server is used, consider assigning a different proxy server to each subclient. This ensures no single computer is given a substantially higher load.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the backup set for which you want to create a new subclient and select New Subclient.
Enter the name for the subclient in the Subclient Name text box.
Click Content tab.
Select the virtual machines to be added to the subclient.
Click OK.

Configuring User Accounts

The Virtual Server iDataAgent requires user accounts that have sufficient privileges for the software to:

Access the Virtual Center and ESX Servers
Access virtual machines
Access volumes, files, and folders within virtual machines

An administrative account configured with the VCB Role and the following additional privileges can be used:

Virtual Machine
Resource
Datastore

User-defined roles can also be created provided the above-mentioned privileges are included in those roles.

The following sections provide the steps necessary to configure user accounts for Virtual Centers and ESX Servers.

Virtual Center Credentials

Navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | Virtual Server.
Right-click the instance and click Properties.
In the VMware | vCenter area, click the Change button.
Enter the username and password.
The password must not contain single-quote (') or double-quote (") characters.
Click OK to save your changes.
Click OK.

Permissions for Custom User Accounts

You can create a separate account for backup and restore operations. If you are creating a user account other than administrator, ensure that the following permissions are assigned to the user account:

Backup Permission Requirements

Category	Available Permissions

Datastore	Allocate space Browse datastore Low level file operations
Global	Disable methods Enable methods Licenses
Virtual machine - Configuration	Add existing disk Add new disk Add or remove device Change resource Disk change tracking Disk lease Remove disk Settings
Virtual machine - Provisioning	Allow read-only disk access Allow virtual machine download Clone virtual machine
Virtual machine - Snapshot management ("Virtual machine - State" in vSphere 4.1)	Create snapshot Remove Snapshot

Restore Permission Requirements

Category	Available Permissions

Datastore	Allocate space
Network	Assign network
Resource	Assign vApp to resource pool Assign virtual machine to resource pool
Virtual machine - Configuration	Add existing disk Add new disk Add or remove device Advanced Change CPU Count Change resource Disk change tracking Disk lease Host USB device Memory Modify device settings Raw device Reload from path Remove disk Rename Reset guest information Settings Swapfile placement Upgrade virtual machine compatibility ("Upgrade virtual hardware" in vSphere 4.1)
Virtual machine - Interaction	Power Off Power On
Virtual machine - Inventory	Create new Register Remove Unregister
Virtual machine - Provisioning	Allow disk access Allow read-only disk access Allow virtual machine download Mark as template (to restore VM template)
Virtual machine - Snapshot Management ("Virtual machine - State" in vSphere 4.1)	Create snapshot Remove Snapshot Revert to snapshot

VM File Recovery Plugin Permissions

Category	Available Permissions
Extension	Register extension Unregister extension Update extension
Global	Log event Set Custom attribute Diagnostics

VM Lifecycle Management Provisioning Requirements

Category	Available Permissions
Datastore	Allocate space Browse datastore Low level file operations Remove file Update virtual machine files
Resource	Assign virtual machine to resource pool
Virtual machine - Configuration	Add existing disk Add new disk Add or remove device Advanced Change CPU count Change resource Display connection settings (not in vSphere 4.1) Extend virtual disk Memory Modify device settings Raw device Reload from path Remove disk Rename Reset guest information Set annotation (not in vSphere 4.1) Settings Swapfile placement Unlock virtual machine Upgrade virtual machine compatibility ("Upgrade virtual hardware" in vSphere 4.1)
Virtual machine - Guest Operations (not in vSphere 4.1)	Guest Operation Modifications Guest Operation Program Execution Guest Operation Queries
Virtual machine - Interaction	Power Off Power On Reset Suspend
Virtual machine - Inventory	Create from existing Move Remove
Virtual machine - Provisioning	Allow disk access Allow read-only disk access Allow virtual machine download Clone template Clone virtual machine Customize Deploy template Mark as virtual machine Modify customization specification Promote disks Read customization specifications
Virtual machine - Snapshot management ("Virtual machine - State" in vSphere 4.1)	Create snapshot Remove Snapshot Rename Snapshot Revert to snapshot

Configuring Backups for vSphere VADP Environments

Backups using vSphere VADP environment provide significant performance improvements over VCB.

During backups, the Virtual Server iDataAgent requests a snapshot of the virtual machine hosted on the VMFS datastore. The snapshot VMDK and virtual machine configuration files are then copied to the storage media without requiring any dedicated disk cache on the proxy server. In the case of incremental backups, Change Block Tracking (CBT) helps quickly identify the data blocks on the virtual machine that have changed since the last backup.

Similarly, during restores, virtual machines are restored directly to the appropriate ESX Server and datastore without the need for staging on the proxy server with VMware Converter. This capability provides for much faster restores.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the backup set and click Properties.
Select vStorage.
Click OK.
From the CommCell Browser, right-click the subclient click Properties.
Select the proxy computer from the Use Proxy menu.
Click OK.

Configuring Backups for Combined vSphere VADP and VCB Environments

You can also perform backup operations from an environment wherein both technologies exist. To accomplish this, simply ensure the following components are installed on the proxy computer:

VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB)
vSphere VADP
the Virtual Server iDataAgent

Once these components are prepared, backups will leverage between VCB and vSphere as appropriate.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the backup set and click Properties.
Select Automatic.
Click OK.
From the CommCell Browser, right-click the subclient and click Properties.
Select the proxy computer from the Use Proxy menu.
Click OK.

The vStorage API can be used to restore backups performed with VCB. The backup data will first be staged to the proxy and then vStorage will perform the restore.

Configuring Backups for VCB Environments

For ESX Servers prior to version 4.x, backups using VCB environment requires a proxy server to copy the data to be processed before being backed up or restored. In addition to ample disk space for copying the virtual machine data, the proxy server also requires the Virtual Server iDataAgent, VMware Consolidated Backup, and VMware Converter to be installed to process all the data prior to moving to the backup media or restore destination.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the backup set and click Properties.
Select vcbmounter
Click OK.
From the CommCell Browser, right-click the subclient and click Properties.
Select the proxy computer from the Use Proxy menu.
Click OK.

Configuring Backups of ESX Servers

Backups of entire ESX Servers consist of backing up all virtual machines that reside on the ESX Server. This option is useful in scenarios where each ESX Server contains a number of virtual machines that must be protected together.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the Virtual Server Instance and click Properties.
Select ESX Servers.
Click Configure ESX Server.
Click Add.
Enter the following:
- ESX Server name
- ESX User Name and Password. Re-confirm the password.
Click OK.

Configuring Backups of Volumes

You can create separate subclients to backup specific volumes of the virtual machine data. Use this option if you do not want to back up an entire virtual machine.

From the CommCell Browser, navigate to the Subclient and click Properties.
Select Volume-Level from the Backup Types.
Select the proxy computer from the Use Proxy menu.
Click Storage Device tab. Ensure that a Storage Policy is selected.
Click Ok.

Configuring Backups of Files/Folders

In addition to backing up virtual server disks and volumes, you can also create separate subclients to backup specific files/folders in the virtual machine. Use this option if you only need to back up a select number of important files rather than an entire virtual machine or volume.

From the CommCell Browser, navigate to the Subclient and click Properties.
Click Properties.
Select File-Level from the Backup Types.
Select the proxy computer from the Use Proxy menu.
Click Storage Device tab. Ensure that a Storage Policy is selected.
Click Ok.

Configuring Automatic Discovery of Virtual Machines

While virtual machine discovery can always be performed manually, it may be useful to discover virtual machines based on a specific set of criteria, particularly in environments where virtual machines are added, removed, or relocated on a routine basis. The following sections describe several methods of discovering virtual machines based on specific criteria, as well as the configuration steps required.

Virtual machines in HotAdd configurations should always be excluded from subclient content.

Discover Non-Associated Virtual Machines to Default Subclient

While rule-based discovery provides certain levels of granularity in populating virtual machines to back up, there may be scenarios where an entire ESX Server or Virtual Center requires complete protection on a routine basis. The Automatically add new VMs that do not qualify for membership in any of the subclients option provides the facility to assign any virtual machines found during discovery to the default subclient provided the virtual machine is not already configured in another subclient.

Note, however, that selecting this option overrides any previously configured regular expressions, ESX Server affinity, or the selection of Do Not Backup for any virtual machines.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the backup set and select Properties.
Select Automatically add new VMs that do not qualify for membership in any of the subclients.
Click OK.

Discover By Regular Expression

When configured, virtual machines matching the wildcard expressions are automatically either assigned to or filtered from the associated subclient.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the backup set for which you want to discover guest hosts and click Properties.
Select Rule-Based Discovery.
Click Discover By drop-down box and select Match Guest Host Names By Regular Expression.
Click Configure.
Highlight the desired subclient name.
Click Configure.
Type the name of the host name in the Guest host name text box.
Click Add to add the name to the Add Guest host name list.
Some examples of wildcard filters are:
- *exchangeVM* for a virtual machine named exchangeVM
- *vm* for virtual machines containing names that begin with vm
Click OK. The name is added to the Wildcard names for Virtual Machines column.
Click OK to save your changes.
Click OK.

Add a filter for the desired operating system to the Wildcard names for OS column for the subclient to which you want to apply the filter.

Discover By Single-ESX Server Affinity

When configured, new virtual machines found on the ESX Server are automatically assigned to the desired subclient and backed up when backup operations on the subclient are performed. This capability is useful in scenarios where:

a large number of virtual machines exist, rendering the manual process of adding them to a subclient unfeasible.
virtual machines are added to an ESX server on a frequent basis.

Optionally, you can choose to exclude specific virtual machines from being added without deselecting this option. However, note that these virtual machines will not be backed up unless each is reassigned to the desired subclient.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the backup set for which you want to discover guest hosts and then click Properties.
Select Rule-Based Discovery.
Click Discover By drop-down box and select ESX Server Affinity.
Click Configure.
Select the ESX Server you wish to configure for auto discovery and select the subclient you wish to associate with the ESX Server.
To exclude a select number of virtual machines from being backed up, choose the Do Not Backup option in the Subclient column.
Click OK to save your changes.
Click OK.

Discover By Multiple-ESX Server Affinity

In some cases, having access to other ESX Servers containing virtual machines you want to include in your backup. To accomplish this:

Creating a dedicated instance for multiple-ESX Server affinity with the instance typed defined for the Virtual Center.
Configure ESX Server Affinity as discussed in By Single-ESX Server Affinity.
Click Configure ESX Server.
Manually add the additional virtual machines from the second ESX Server.

Once configured, all virtual machines from the pre-configured ESX Server, as well as the virtual machines selected from the second ESX Server, will be backed up during the next backup operation.

Discover by Cluster Affinity

When configured, new virtual machines found on the cluster are automatically assigned to the desired subclient and backed up when backup operations on the subclient are performed. This capability is useful if your virtual machines are strategically arranged among clusters in your environment.

Optionally, you can choose to exclude specific clusters from being added without deselecting this option. However, note that these clusters will not be backed up unless each is reassigned to the desired subclient.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the backup set for which you want to discover guest hosts and then click Properties.
Select Rule-Based Discovery.
Click Discover By drop-down box and select Cluster Affinity.
Click Configure.
Click Discover.
Select the cluster you wish to configure for auto discovery and select the subclient you wish to associate with it.
To exclude a select number of clusters from being backed up, choose the Do Not Backup option in the Subclient column.
Click OK to save your changes.
Click OK.

Discover by Data Center Affinity

When configured, new virtual machines found on a Data Center are automatically assigned to the desired subclient and backed up when backup operations on the subclient are performed. This capability is useful if your virtual machines are strategically arranged among Data Centers in your environment.

Optionally, you can choose to exclude specific Data Centers from being added without deselecting this option. However, note that these Data Centers will not be backed up unless each is reassigned to the desired subclient.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the backup set for which you want to discover guest hosts and then click Properties.
Select Rule-Based Discovery.
Click Discover By drop-down box and select Data Center Affinity.
Click Configure.
Select the Data Centers you wish to configure for auto discovery and select the subclient you wish to associate with it.
To exclude a select number of Data Centers from being backed up, choose the Do Not Backup option in the Subclient column.
Click OK to save your changes.
Click OK.

Discover By DataStore Affinity

When configured, new virtual machines found in the datastore are automatically assigned to the desired subclient and backed up when backup operations on the subclient are performed. This capability is useful if you want to limit discovery of virtual machines to a specific datastore in scenarios where:

a particular datastore houses virtual machines of vital importance or that are prone to considerable change.
you have a large number of datastores and intend to limit your backup and restore operations to a select group of datastores.

Optionally, you can choose to exclude specific virtual machines from being added without deselecting this option. However, that these virtual machines will not be backed up unless each is reassigned to the desired subclient.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the backup set for which you want to discover guest hosts and then click Properties.
Select Rule-Based Discovery.
Click Discover By drop-down box and select DataStore Affinity.
Click Configure.
From the DataStore Configuration for Auto Discovery dialog box, locate the datastores you wish to configure for auto discovery and select the subclient you wish to associate each with.
To exclude a select number of datastores from being backed up, choose the Do Not Backup option in the Subclient column.
If necessary, click Configure to add, edit, or remove ESX Servers.
Click OK to save your changes.
Click OK.

Discover By Resource Pool Affinity

When configured, new virtual machines found in the resource pool are automatically assigned to the desired subclient and backed up with backup operations on the subclient are performed. This capability is useful in scenarios where virtual machines are added to a datastore server on a frequent basis.

Optionally, you can choose to exclude specific resource pools from being added without deselecting this option. However, that these virtual machines will not be backed up unless each is reassigned to the desired subclient.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the backup set for which you want to discover guest hosts and then click Properties.
Select Rule-Based Discovery.
Click Discover By drop-down box and select Resource Pool Affinity.
Click Configure.
From the Resource Pool Configuration for Auto Discovery dialog box, locate the resource pools you wish to configure for auto discovery and select the subclient you wish to associate each with.
To exclude a select number of resource pools from being backed up, choose the Do Not Backup option in the Subclient column.
Select the ESX Server that should be used to discover the resource pools.
If necessary, click Configure to add, edit, or remove ESX Servers.
Click OK to save your changes.
Click OK.

Discover By OS Group

If your virtual machines consist of many different operating systems, it may be useful to discover them based on the operating systems they are running. The Virtual Server iDataAgent provides the facility to select the virtual machine operating systems that should be included in the subclient. When discovery operations are later performed, only virtual machines running the operating systems selected will be incorporated into the subclient content for backups.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the backup set for which you want to discover guest hosts and then click Properties.
Select Rule-Based Discovery.
Click Discover By drop-down box and select OS Group.
Click Configure.
Add a filter for the desired operating system to the Wildcard names for OS column for the subclient to which you want to apply the filter.
Some examples of wildcard filters are:
- *win* for all Windows operating systems
- *sus* for all SuSE Linux operating systems
- *lin* for all Linux operating systems
Click OK.

Discover by vApp Affinity

When configured, new virtual machines associated with the selected vApps are automatically assigned to the desired subclient and backed up when backup operations on the subclient are performed. This capability is useful if you want to back up virtual machines sharing similar vApps at the same time.

Optionally, you can choose to exclude specific vApps from being added without deselecting this option. However, note that these vApps will not be backed up unless each is reassigned to the desired subclient.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the backup set for which you want to discover guest hosts and then click Properties.
Select Rule-Based Discovery.
Click Discover By drop-down box and select vApp Affinity.
Click Configure.
Select the vApps you wish to configure for auto discovery and select the subclient you wish to associate with it.
To exclude a select number of vApps from being backed up, choose the Do Not Backup option in the Subclient column.
Click OK to save your changes.
Click OK.

Configuring Transport Modes

By default, the software automatically determines the transport mode currently being used in your environment prior to each backup operation. This process can be eliminated by configuring the subclient to use a specific transport mode for all backups of that subclient. Doing so negates the need for the software to search your environment for the appropriate mode, thereby increasing backup performance.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the subclient and click Properties.
Click the Transport Mode for VMware drop-down box and select any of the following transport modes:
- SAN
- HotAdd
- NAS
- NBD SSL
- NBD
If you want the software to automatically set the transport mode based on your setup, select Auto.
Click OK.

In VCB environments, the NAS transport mode is not attempted during auto discovery operations. However, you can force the NAS mode by selecting it in the CommCell Console.
If you are performing backup of VMware templates, the NBD mode is used during the backup operation irrespective of any transport mode that you have selected.

Forcing Transport Modes in vSphere VADP Environments

In vSphere VADP environments, you can force one of the following transport modes to be used for all virtual machine backups by configuring the vStorageTransportMode registry key. The following transport modes can be forced using this registry key:

SAN
HotAdd
NBD

Follow the steps below to configure this key:

From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers.
Right-click the <Client>, and then click Properties.
Click the Registry Key Settings tab.
Click Add.
In the Name field, type vStorageTransportMode.
In the Location field, type VirtualServer.
In the Type list, select REG_SZ.
In the Value field, type the transport mode you want to use in lower-case letters (i.e., san, hotadd, nbd).
Click OK.

Pre/Post Processing using VMware Tools

You can use the VMware tools to perform the any operations before or after the backup. For example: A virtual machine hosts a oracle database and you want to enable the Hot backup of the database before performing the backup, you can run a script using the VMware Tools.

For more information about running scripts on Windows virtual machines, refer to http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1006671

On the Linux virtual machines, the script /usr/sbin/pre-freeze-script will be executed when the software snapshot is created and /user/sbin/post-freeze-script will be executed when the software snapshot is removed. Ensure that these scripts are executable by the VMware tools user.

The following scripts are available to perform the Pre/Post processes using VMware tools:

Operation	Procedure	Scripts
The scripts can be used to take snapshot of a VM with DB2 Application. This script allows VMWARE to suspend I/O updates to DB2 database till VMWARE LINUX guest snap shot is completed.	On a Linux virtual machine, copy the pre-freeze-script and post-thaw-script to /usr/bin directory. Copy write_suspend and write_resume scripts to a location where DB2 database can execute it. (Preferably to a directory under DB2 home)	pre-freeze-script.sh post-thaw-script.sh write_resume.sh write_suspend.sh
The scripts can be used to take snapshot of a VM with MAXDB Application. This script allows VMWARE to suspend I/O updates to MAXDB database till VMWARE LINUX guest snap shot is completed.	On a Linux virtual machine, copy the pre-freeze-script and post-thaw-script to /usr/bin directory. Copy suspend_logwriter and resume_logwriter scripts to a location where MAXDB database can execute it. (Preferably to a directory under MAXDB home)	pre-freeze-script.sh post-thaw-script.sh resume_logwriter.sh suspend_logwriter.sh
The scripts can be used to take snapshot of a VM with Oracle Application. This script allows VMWARE to suspend I/O updates to Oracle database till VMWARE LINUX guest snap shot is completed.	On a Linux virtual machine, copy the pre-freeze-script and post-thaw-script to /usr/bin directory. Copy pre-freeze-script.sql and post-thaw-script.sql scripts to a location where Oracle database can execute it. (Preferably to a directory under Oracle home) These scripts change the entire database to backup mode. If the virtual machine has Oracle iDataAgent installed on it, you can also use the consistent-archivelog-backup.rman script as a sample to run archivelog backup. This will get a consistent snap and also all the latest archived logs and current control file.	pre-freeze-script.sh post-thaw-script.sh pre-freeze-script.sql post-thaw-script.sql consistent-archivelog-backup.rman
The scripts can be used to take snapshot of a VM with Sybase Application. This script allows VMWARE to suspend I/O updates to Sybase database till VMWARE LINUX guest snap shot is completed.	On a Linux virtual machine, copy the pre-freeze-script and post-thaw-script to /usr/bin directory. Copy pre-freeze-script.sql and post-thaw-script.sql scripts to a location where Sybase database can execute it. (Preferably to a directory under Sybase home) These scripts execute sybase quiesce commands which will stop updates to databases.	pre-freeze-script.sh post-thaw-script.sh pre-freeze-script.sql post-thaw-script.sql

Modifying an Agent, Instance, Or Subclient

Certain properties of Agents, Instances, and Subclients can be modified to accommodate changes to your configuration, data, or desired backup behavior.

It is recommended that that you do not modify the properties of an instance or subclient when a job is in progress for that specific instance or subclient. If a job is in progress, either wait for the job to complete or kill the job from the Job Controller.

The following table describes the properties that can be configured from these levels.

Option	Description	Related topics
Job Results Directory	Ensure that the full path name for the Job Results Directory, combined with the VMDK file name, is no greater than 255 characters in length. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the icon of the client computer whose job results path you want to change, then click Properties. From the Job Configuration tab of the Client Computer Properties dialog box, click User Name/Password to establish or change the Impersonate User account to access the Job Results Directory. Click OK once you have administered the account. From the Job Configuration tab, type a new job results path in the Job results path field. You can also click Browse to browse to a new job results path from the Browse for Job Result Path dialog box. Click OK. Click OK to save your changes.	Refer to Job Management.
Change the User Account Details	In order to perform discovery, backup, and restore operations within a single instance, you need administrator-level global, virtual machine, and resource privileges. You can configure the user account associated with the Virtual Center. From the CommCell browser, right-click the virtual server instance. Click Properties. Click Configure Password. Type the user name. Type password and confirm password. You can configure the user account associated with the ESX Server. Click Configure ESX Server. Select the ESX server. Click Edit. Type the username. Type the password and confirm password.
Change Storage Policies	You can modify the storage policies in any of the following situations: To include a different media for the backup operation. To use a storage policy with a different retention criteria. You can change the storage policies from the subclient level. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Storage Device. Select the Storage policy from the drop-down menu. Click OK.	Refer to Storage Policies.
Rename a Backup Set or Subclient	You can rename a subclient: From the CommCell Browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Type the new name in the Subclient name field. Click OK.
Data Transfer Options	You can efficiently configure the available resources for transferring data secured by data protection operations from the subclient level. This includes the following: Enable or disable Data Compression either on the client or the MediaAgent. Configure the transfer of data in the network using the options for Network Bandwidth Throttling and Network Agents. You can configure the data transfer options. From the CommCell Browser,right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Storage Device. Click Data Transfer Option tab. Choose the appropriate software compression option for this subclient. Select Throttle Network Bandwidth and set the required bandwidth. Click OK.	Refer to Data Compression and Network Bandwidth Throttling.
View Data Paths	You can view the data paths associated with the primary storage policy copy of the selected storage policy or incremental storage policy. You can also modify the data paths including their priority from the subclient level. From the CommCell browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Storage Device. Select Storage Policy from the drop-down menu. Click Data Paths.
Number of Data Readers	Use this option to specify the number of simultaneous backup data streams allowed for this subclient. From the CommCell browser,right-click the subclient. Click Properties Type the Number of Data Readers. Click OK.	Refer to Streams.
Configure a Subclient for Pre/Post Processing of Data Protection	You can add, modify or view Pre/Post processes for the subclient. These are batch files or shell scripts that you can run before or after certain job phases. From the CommCell browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Pre/Post Process. Click one of the following phases and type the full path of the process that you want to execute during that phase. Alternatively, click Browse to locate the process (applicable only for paths that do not contain any spaces). PreBackup Process PostBackup Process Click OK. Select Run Post Scan Process for all attempts to run a post scan process for all attempts . Select Run Post Backup Process for all attempts to run a post backup process for all attempts. For subclients on Windows platforms, Run As displays Not Selected. If you want to change the account that has permission to run these commands, click Change. In the User Account dialog box, select Use Local System Account, or select Impersonate User and enter the user name and password. Click OK. If you selected Local System Account, click OK to the message advising you that commands using this account have rights to access all data on the client computer.	Refer to Pre/Post Processes.
Configure Activity Control	You can enable backup and restore operations from the agent and subclient level. However, you can enable restore operations only from the agent level. From the CommCell browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Activity Control, select or clear option(s) as desired. Click OK.	Refer to Activity Control.
Configure User Security	You can configure user security from the agent or subclient level. You can perform the following functions: Identify the user groups to which this CommCell object is associated. Associate this object with a user group. Disassociate this object from a user group. From the CommCell browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Security. Select the appropriate user groups to which you want to associate to the CommCell object from the Available Groups pane, and then move the user group to the Associated Groups pane. Click OK.	Refer to User Administration and Security.
Enable/Disable Data Encryption	You can enable data encryption from the suclient level.Encryption must be enabled at the client level prior to configuring any instances residing on that client. From the CommCell browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Encryption. Select the desired encryption. Click OK.	Refer to Data Encryption.
View Software Version and Installed Updates	The Version tab, at the Agent level displays the software version and post-release service packs and updates installed for the component. From the CommCell browser, right-click the agent. Click Properties. Click Version. Click OK.
CommCell Configuration Report	The CommCell Configuration Report provides the properties of the CommServe, MediaAgents, clients, agents, subclients, and storage policies within the CommCell based on the selected filter criteria. From the CommCell browser, click Reports icon. Select CommCell Configuration. Click Run.	Refer to CommCell Configuration.

Deleting an Instance, Backup Set, or Subclient

The following sections describe the steps involved in deleting an instance, backup set, or subclient.

When you delete an instance or backupset, the associated data is logically deleted and you can no longer access the corresponding data from CommCell Console for recovery purposes.

Refer to the troubleshooting article on Recovering Data Associated with Deleted Clients and Storage Policies for information on how to recover data if you accidentally delete an entity.

Deleting an Instance

Consider the following before deleting an instance:

When you delete a specific instance all job schedules and job histories that pertain to any of the levels within the deleted instance are deleted.
You cannot delete an instance if it is being backed up. Attempts to delete an instance under such conditions cause the deletion to fail. If a backup is in progress, either wait for the backup to complete or kill the backup job using the Job Manager. Once the backup is no longer in progress, you can delete the instance level.
You cannot delete an instance if there is only one instance present for an agent. To delete the final instance, you must remove the agent software from the client computer.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the instance that you want to delete, click All Tasks and then click Delete.
Click Yes to confirm the deletion. (Clicking No cancels the deletion and retains the node.)
Type the requested phrase in the Enter Confirmation Text dialog box and click OK. This should delete the instance.

Deleting a Backup Set

Consider the following before deleting a backup set:

You cannot delete a default backup set.
Schedules associated with the backup set are also automatically deleted.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the user-defined backup set that you want to delete, and then click Delete from the shortcut menu.
A confirmation message is displayed, asking if you want to delete the backup set.
Click No to cancel the deletion and retain the backup set, or click Yes to continue the deletion.

Deleting a Subclient

Consider the following before deleting a subclient:

You cannot delete a default subclient.
Schedules associated with the subclient are also automatically deleted.

From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | <Agent> | <Backup Set>.
Right-click the <subclient> that you want to delete, and then click Delete.
A confirmation message is displayed, asking if you want to delete the subclient.
Click No to cancel the deletion and retain the subclient, or click Yes to continue the deletion.

Advanced - VMware Configuration

Table of Contents

Backup Permission Requirements

Restore Permission Requirements

VM File Recovery Plugin Permissions

Operation

Procedure

Scripts