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Credits:

Great thanks to Walter Grande and Henry Dornemann for their technical expertise and great explanations!

VM-Centric Client Views

When VM-centric operations are enabled, the CommCell Browser displays the changes made to the client structure. First, the client containing the VMware instance is visible and a subclient, named 'Default' is created under this instance. Additionally, a Default BackupSet and a Default subclient are also created under each virtual machine. If you expand the client computer group with the same name as the Virtual Server Agent (VSA) client, you will see the VMs accordingly. 

Logical display of the VSA client structure when VM-centric operations are enabled






The VM Centric VSA instance

1 - The client has a default BackupSet created from the agent install.

2 - The BackupSet contains a default subclient and any custom subclient created.



View of the single VMs in the CommCell® browser

1 - Expanding the VSA instance client computer group displays the VMs discovered.

2 - Each VM has a default backup set created automatically.

3 - The backup set contains a default subclient.



Job Management

VM-centric operations provide granularity in job control that was once impossible with the traditional VSA. Now, backup jobs, job priority, and retention are managed globally, as well as independently for one or more virtual machines.

Run a VSA Backup Job

The subclient backup job of the VSA instance is launched in the usual way. However, it now acts as a parent job that initializes a child job for each virtual machine to be protected. Each of these child jobs has its own Job Id and status, which can be monitored from the Virtual Machine Status tab and killed as needed. 

 



To launch the VSA subclient level backup

1 - Expand the VMware Instance | defaultBackupSet | Right-click the subclient | Backup.

2 - Select the backup type.

3 - Click OK to launch the job.



4 - Child jobs progression is displayed in the Virtual Machine Status window.

5 - Each child job has its own Job ID.



6 - A child job can be killed by right-clicking it.


Display Child Jobs in the Job Controller

By default, monitoring and managing individual VM backup jobs (child tasks) is accomplished only from the Virtual Machine Status tab. You can display the child jobs directly in the Job Controller to monitor and manage them more easily.

Tip: A large number of tasks in the Job Controller can make management difficult. Applying filters to the Job Controller view lets you see and manage the most important tasks efficiently. Also, the filters can be saved to be re-used in just a few clicks.

To display child jobs in the Job Controller, configure the JMShowPseudoVMJobs on the CommServe® server entity by setting its value to 1. 

 



To display VSA child jobs in the Job Controller

1 - Right-click the CommServe® server | Properties.

2 - Click to add an Additional Setting.

3 - Lookup for the JMShowPseudoVMJobs setting.

4 - Set the value to 1 which displays VMs.

5 - Use a description to add any required information.



6 - Each child job is now displayed in the Job Controller

7 - Each VM Job  can be managed with right-click from there.


Run a Single Virtual Machine Backup

One of the most interesting benefits of using the VM-centric operations is that you can perform the backup of a single virtual machine without backing up the entire VSA instance. Right-click on any of the protected VMs to start the backup job. Once launched, the job is displayed in the Job Controller and can be managed like any other job.




To backup a single VM

1 - Expand the VSA instance client computer group | The virtual machine | Backup Set | Right Click and select Backup.

2 - Select the job type.

3 - Click OK to launch the job.



4 - The VSA instance parent job launches and spawns a child job for the single VM.


Multi-Stream Synthetic Full Backup Jobs

Restructuring virtual machine backup jobs into independent child jobs provide the ability to perform synthetic full backups in the same way. Roughly speaking, several virtual machines are processed in parallel resulting in a multi-stream synthetic full backup. Commvault® software does not require any additional configuration because it automatically uses multi-stream synthetic full backups when VM-centric operations are enabled.




To run a multi-stream synthetic full backup

1 - Expand the VMware Instance | defaultBackupSet | Right-click the subclient | Backup.

2 - Select the Synthetic Full job type.

3 - Click OK to launch the job.



4 - Virtual machine synthetic full backups are executed in parallel.



Data Management

Previously changing retention or deleting data was done globally at the VSA subclient level, thereby affecting the data of all protected virtual machines.  Now data is managed with a separate backup job for each virtual machine so you can manage its content without impacting the data of other VMs. 

Retain a Single Virtual Machine Backup Job

The backup history of a virtual machine allows you to manage the data for that VM only. For example, it is possible to extend the retention of data for a determined period of time or even indefinitely. If the Add n days to the 'Retain Until' date option is selected, the set number of days will be added to the retention configured at the storage policy copy level. Thus, if the copy has a retention of 30 days and 20 days are added, the data will be kept for 50 days before expiring.

The retention of data for the other virtual machines that are part of the same VSA subclient IS NOT extended. Their data expires as expected once the storage policy copy retention is reached. However, the VSA parent job, which contains job metadata (not any virtual machine data), is kept for as long as a child job is extended.




To retain a single VM job

1 - Expand Storage Policies | the storage policy | Right-click the storage policy copy | View | Jobs.

2 - Uncheck the box Include All Client Computers and select the virtual machine.

3 - Provide additional filters such as the job type and time range if needed.

4 - Provide additional filters such as the job type and time range if needed.



5 - Right-click the backup job and select Retain Job.

6 - Retain the job infinitely, until a specific date, or add days to the storage policy copy retention.


Delete a Single Virtual Machine Backup Job

If the life of a backup job can be extended, it can also be terminated. Similarly to extending retention, from the backup job history of a virtual machine, one or more jobs can be selected and deleted. This purges the data from this virtual machine, and only this VM, from the Commvault® storage. At no time will the data of the other VMs be affected.




To delete a single VM job

1 - Expand Storage Policies | the storage policy | Right-click the storage policy copy | View | Jobs.

2 - Uncheck the box and select the virtual machine.

3 - Provide additional filters such as the job type and time range if needed.

4 - Provide additional filters such as the job type and time range if needed.



5 - Right-click the backup job and select Delete Job.

6 - Click Yes to compute dependent jobs along with the selected job.

7 - Click OK to delete the dependent jobs.

8 - Enter the confirmation text and click OK.


Delete a Single Virtual Machine

A virtual machine can be deleted completely, but it causes the (logical) deletion of data from each copy within the storage policy. Completely deleting a virtual machine makes it impossible to restore data. 

Warning! Deleting a virtual machine is a destructive action. Therefore it is important to validate the need to delete it. If the goal is to no longer perform a backup but continue to have the option to recover data, simply release the license for this virtual machine, but do not delete it!

Deleting a VM is a two-step process. First, its license must be released, and then delete the VM.




To delete a single VM

1 - Expand the VSA instance client computer group | Right-click the virtual machine | All Tasks | Release License for Client.

2 - Click Yes to confirm.



3 - Expand the VSA instance client computer group | Right-click the virtual machine | All Tasks | Delete.

4 - Click OK.

5 - Enter the confirmation text and click OK.