Set Vmtags

The set vmtags command creates data protection tags and categories that can be added to VMware inventory objects. You can manage IBM Spectrum Protect™ backups of virtual machines in these VMware objects by specifying the tags with tools such as VMware vSphere PowerCLI Version 5.5 R2 or later.

VMware operations are available only if the client operates as a data mover for IBM Spectrum Protect for Virtual Environments: Data Protection for VMware.

If you are using the IBM Spectrum Protect extension to manage backups, you do not need to run the set vmtags command first. The tags and categories are created for you.

If you are writing scripts to apply these tags to VMware inventory objects, you need only to issue the set vmtags command once so that data protection tags are created before they are added to the VMware inventory.

You can manage virtual machine backups at the following VMware inventory object levels:

Datacenter
Folder (Host and Cluster folders and VM and Template folders)
Host
Host cluster
Resource pool
Virtual machine

For the list of supported tags, see Supported data protection tags.

For tags that are related to schedules, the virtual machines must be in a protection set that is protected by a schedule. A protection set consists of the virtual machines in a container that is assigned the Schedule (IBM Spectrum Protect) tag.

After running the set vmtags command, you can assign the tags to VMware objects to manage the protection of virtual machines. For example, you can exclude or include virtual machines in scheduled backup services, specify the retention policy for backups, set the data consistency of snapshots, or select the virtual machine disks to protect.

If the data protection tags already exist, running the set vmtags command does not create the tags again.

If you are upgrading from a previous version of the data mover, running the set vmtags command again will create any new tags that are available in the new version of the data mover.

Requirements: Before you run the set vmtags command, ensure that the following requirements are met:

VMware vCenter Server must be at Version 6.0 Update 1 or later.
The vmchost option must be configured in the dsm.opt file on Windows data movers or dsm.sys file on Linux data movers. The user name and password that are associated with the vmchost value must also be set. If not already set, you can use the dsmc set password command to set the user name and password.

Supported clients

Linux operating systems This command is valid only on supported Linux x86_64 clients that are installed on a vStorage backup server that protects VMware assets.

Windows operating systems This command is valid on supported Windows 64-bit clients that are installed on a vStorage backup server that protects VMware assets.

Syntax


>>-SET VMTAGS--------------------------------------------------><

Parameters

No parameters are required for this command.

Examples

Task

Create data protection tags and categories that can be added to VMware inventory objects:

dsmc set vmtags