IBM Spectrum Protect for Virtual Environments: Data Protection for VMware updates

View, add, or update information for the Data Protection for VMware vSphere GUI

The configuration wizard includes a new page, VMware vSphere Center Settings. Use this page to view, add, or update the registration information for the IBM Spectrum Protect vSphere Client plug-in.

Use the IBM Spectrum Protect server security certification

The Use SSL communication on the Admin Port check box has changed to Use encrypted communications on the admin port. When you select this check box, and click Next, the wizard determines of there is a certificate available. If there is no certificate, the wizard displays the IBM Spectrum Protect server certificate that was sent as part of the SSL/TLS handshake protocol.

Use enhanced features for data movers

The following enhancements were made for data mover configuration:

• A View option is now included for data movers so that you can view a sample options file content for the data mover. This sample file provides the recommended performance and other options for the data mover. Copy these options from the sample to the options file that is on the system where the data mover is installed. You can update these options if required for your environment.
• You are no longer required to manually set the password when you add a data mover and the Set Password option was removed. The password is now autogenerated. If Create Services is selected, you cannot change the password. If Create Services is selected, you can change the password by clicking View for the data mover.

Complete configuration tasks by using the improved Getting Started tab

The following enhancements were added to the Configure the infrastructure options:

• You can select a specific vCenter to view only infrastructure information for that vCenter.
• When you click View backup policy for a datacenter, the Configure Backup Policies page for the associated datacenter opens.

Manage data movers in a vCenter

You can manage the data movers that are defined for a vCenter, including adding and removing the association between the data movers and the vCenter and monitoring the status of the data movers.

For more information, see Managing data movers for a vCenter.

Manage mount proxies in a vCenter

You can manage the data movers that are defined for a vCenter, including adding and removing the association between the data movers and the vCenter and monitoring the status of the data movers.

For more information, see Managing mount proxies for a vCenter.

Select a default data mover for a schedule

You can select the data mover that you want to set as the default for a schedule. This is option is not required, but ensures that new virtual machines that do not have the Data Mover tag assigned are backed up.

For more information, see Managing backup schedules for a vCenter.

View detailed messages for mount cleanup actions

A custom vSphere task is created for mount cleanup for each restore type: instant access, instant restore, file restore, and general purpose restore. During cleanup for each restore type, event messages related to the task are shown in Tasks in the vSphere Web Client object navigator and in Tasks for the individual virtual machine.

Backup and restore operations

You can use the following methods to complete backup and restore operations for persisted snapshots:

In the IBM Spectrum Protect vSphere Client plug-in, select the backup or restore location for a VM

The Backup and Restore actions in the plug-in include new options for selecting the backup or restore location for the VM.

For more information, see Starting an on-demand backup of a virtual machine and Restoring a virtual machine.

Specify the location for a VM backup or restore operation with the new vmbackuplocation option

Use the vmbackuplocation option with the dsmc Backup VM or Restore VM command to specify the location for the VM backup or restore operation. You can specify a value of SERVER, LOCAL, or BOTH.

For scheduled backups, use this option with the dsmadmc DEFINE SCHEDULE command.

For more information about this option, see Vmbackuplocation

When you run the Query VM or DELETE BACKUP command, you can specify the backup location or locations to query or delete by using the new -From parameter. For more information, see Query VM and Delete Backup.

Optimize backup scheduling by defining schedule groups

You can use the schedgroup option to create a group that contains multiple backup schedules. You can then use the IBM Spectrum Protect vSphere Client plug-in to assign the schedule group to an object in the VMware vSphere Web client rather than assigning an individual schedule. For example, you can use this option to group multiple daily local backup schedules with a single IBM Spectrum Protect server backup schedule.

For more information about the schedgroup option, see Schedgroup.

For information about how to create a schedule group, see Creating a schedule group.

Walk through initial configuration tasks by using the improved Getting Started tab

The Getting Started tab for the plug-in has been redesigned to walk you through the initial configuration of the plug-in, including guidance for setting up the plug-in for data protection and a short video that shows you how to configure backup policies for VMs.

This tab also provides information on where to go in the interface to complete common tasks such as modifying backup policies, determining if VMs are at risk, running on-demand backup operations for VMs, and restoring VMs.

To open the Getting Started tab, click IBM Spectrum Protect in the vSphere Web Client object navigator.

View the history and status of backup schedules

You can view the run history for the backup schedules that are associated with a vCenter and the status of the schedules. You can also select an individual schedule and view the backup status of each associated VM for which a backup operation was run.

For more information, see Viewing backup schedule history for a vCenter.

View VM mounts and dismount VMs

Operations such as instant access, instant restore, and file restore require that the associated VM is mounted. You can view the VM mounts that are associated with a vCenter and then dismount the VMs when you are finished using them.

For more information, see Dismounting a virtual machine.

Configure server and local backup policies

The interface for configuring backup polices has changed to a wizard that contains a Server page to configure server backup policies. If local backups are available, a Local page is also provided in the wizard to configure local backup policies.

For more information, see Configuring backup policies.

Select more options for on-demand backups operations

By using the following new options for on-demand backups, you can override the inherited options that are set for the VM:

Backup destination

Depending on the location of the VM, select the backup location: IBM Spectrum Protect server, local hardware storage, or both locations.

Disk protection

Select the VM disks to include in backups.

Data consistency

Select the type of snapshot and retry attempts that are used for backup.

Application protection

Enable this option to allow applications such as Microsoft SQL Server and Exchange Server to truncate logs and commit transactions before the backup operation begins.

For more information, see Starting an on-demand backup of a virtual machine.

Restore a VM from a local backup

The Restore a Virtual Machine wizard includes a new option, Fast VM revert, which enables you to restore a VM from a local backup.

The restore options that are available for a VM depend on the location of the backup. The backup can be located on the IBM Spectrum Protect server, the hardware storage as a persisted snapshot, or both locations.

For more information, see Restoring a virtual machine.

Obtain detailed information about data movers

The Edit Schedules window that is available from the IBM Spectrum Protect > Configure > Schedules tab has been renamed Edit Data Movers. This window now includes information about the data movers that are associated with the schedule. For each data mover, you can view the number of VMs that were processed during the last backup operation, the amount of data that was transmitted, and the duration of the backup operation. The amount of time that the data mover was active per schedule run is also shown in a sparkline.

For information about accessing the Edit Data Movers window, see Managing backup schedules for a vCenter.

View additional information about backup tasks and history

To view additional information about the backup tasks for a VM, select the VM in the vSphere Web Client object navigator, click Summary, and view the information in the Notes portlet. This summary information includes backup history information for the VM and additional information such as the snapshot type and the application protection type, if applicable.

Find instructions for creating a schedule that is compatible with tagging

Schedules are created by the IBM Spectrum Protect server administrator to automatically back up VMs. To enable schedules to be used with the IBM Spectrum Protect vSphere Client plug-in, the server administrator must create schedules that are compatible with tagging.

The server administrator can create tagging-compatible schedules by using IBM Spectrum Protect Operations Center V8.1 or later or the IBM Spectrum Protect server DEFINE SCHEDULE command.

For more information, see Creating a schedule that is compatible with tagging.

Manage VM backup operations by using new tags

The following new data protection tags are added to help you manage VM backup operations with the IBM Spectrum Protect vSphere Client plug-in:

Category	Tag	Tag Description
Data Mover (IBM Spectrum Protect)	Default Data Mover	The default data mover that is assigned to a schedule, if any, is used for backups in IBM Spectrum Protect
Local Backup Management (IBM Spectrum Protect)	LocalIncluded	The object is included in local backups on the hardware storage
Local Backup Management (IBM Spectrum Protect)	LocalExcluded	The object is excluded from local backups on the hardware storage
Local Management Class (IBM Spectrum Protect)	Management_class_name	The policy that is used for retention settings for local backups on the hardware storage
Schedule (IBM Spectrum Protect)	Schedule_group	The schedule group to use for backups by IBM Spectrum Protect

For information about supported data protection tags, see Supported data protection tags.

For more information, see Profile parameters.

For more information about this new option, see Vmmaxrestoreparalleldisks.

For more information, see Meet IBM Spectrum Protect.

New options for restoring VMs

The Restore a Virtual Machine wizard provides many expanded features that enable you to:

• Select the backup that you want to use for the restore operation using a calendar interface.
• Choose the restore type: restore, instant restore, or instant restore with instant access.
• Restore all virtual disks in a VM or just selected disks.
• Select the datastore for the restored VM.
• Select the data mover or mount proxy that you want to use for the restore operation.

For more information, see Restoring a virtual machine.

New feature for setting at-risk policies for VMs

VMs can be at risk of being unprotected because of failed or missed backup operations. You can set a policy for a VM that specifies if or when the VM is shown as at-risk if a backup operation does not occur in a specified time interval.

For more information, see Setting the at-risk policy for a virtual machine.

New backup information for VMs at the object level

You can view the most recent backup information for all VMs that are in the following vSphere objects. For each VM, you can view information such as the risk status, completion date, duration, and size of the backup.

• Datacenter
• Folder (host, cluster, and VM)
• Host
• Host Cluster
• Resource Pool

For more information, see Viewing the status of backup operations for virtual machines.

New data protection tags are available for tagging support

New data protection tags are added to help you manage VM backup operations with the IBM Spectrum Protect vSphere Client plug-in in the VMware vSphere Web Client. In addition to using tags to exclude VMs from scheduled backup operations and assign retention or management classes, introduced in V7.1.6, you can assign the new tags to vSphere inventory objects to do the following tasks:

• Include VMs in scheduled backup operations
• Assign a data mover to a VM
• Specify a list of virtual disks to back up
• Assign a backup schedule to VMs in a container
• Specify the data consistency to achieve for snapshot attempts during VM backup operations
• Provide application protection to VMs that run Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft Exchange Server software

For information about supported data protection tags, see Supported data protection tags

For more information about the tasks that are managed by tagging, see Configuring backup policies.

Set a default data mover for tagging

You can set a default data mover for protecting VMs in vSphere inventory objects that are tagged with data protection tags. New VMs that are added to the tagged container and are protected by a schedule but do not have a data mover tag are backed up by the default data mover.

For more information, see Vmtagdefaultdatamover.

Data protection tags can be inherited from higher-level vSphere inventory objects

You can use tag inheritance to manage data protection for VMs in your vSphere inventory.

For more information, see Inheritance of data protection settings.

VMs can be added to a backup schedule by using the IBM Spectrum Protect vSphere Client plug-in

You can select a backup schedule for VMs from the IBM Spectrum Protect vSphere Client plug-in in the VMware vSphere Web Client. The backup schedule specifies how often and when to automatically back up the VMs in a vSphere inventory object.

For more information, see Selecting schedules for backing up virtual machines.

You can also view and manage backup schedules from the IBM Spectrum Protect vSphere Client plug-in. See Managing backup schedules for a vCenter.

• Optimized backup operations for multiple virtual disks by using parallel sessions, one session for each virtual disk.
• Optimized backup operations for a single virtual disk by using parallel sessions, multiple sessions for each virtual disk.
• Optimized recovery operations for single virtual disk by using multiple sessions, multiple sessions for each virtual disk.
• Updated the common data format to reduce the number of objects that are stored on the IBM Spectrum Protect server for larger virtual disk sizes.

Vmmaxbackupsessions

The vmmaxbackupsessions option specifies the maximum number IBM Spectrum Protect server sessions that move VM data to the server that can be included in an optimized (parallel) backup operation.

For more information about the vmmaxbackupsessions option, see Vmmaxbackupsessions.

For more information about optimized backups, see Backing up multiple virtual machines in parallel (optimized backup).

Vmmaxrestoresessions

The Vmmaxrestoresessions option specifies the maximum number IBM Spectrum Protect server sessions that can be included in a restore operation for a virtual disk.

For more information about the vmmaxrestoresessions option, see Vmmaxrestoresessions.

For more information about optimized restore, see Restoring a virtual disk using multiple sessions.

You can still manually create an administrative user ID with client owner authority over a node by specifying the USERID parameter on the REGISTER NODE command. For the latest information about this product update and its effect on storage environments, see technote 7048963.

VM operations in the data mover

VM operations are available only if you are using the client as a data mover for the IBM Spectrum Protect for Virtual Environments products (Data Protection for VMware or Data Protection for Microsoft Hyper-V).

You can no longer run VM operations without installing IBM Spectrum Protect for Virtual Environments.

For a list of commands and options for the data mover, see Data mover reference.

VMware vStorage API is no longer part of the client installation

The VMware vStorage API runtime files component that is used for VMware operations is no longer part of the backup-archive client installation. It is installed as part of the Data Protection for VMware installation package.

Discontinued Data Protection for VMware features and functions

File-level VM backups

You can no longer run file-level VMware VM backups on the data mover. Instead, use incremental-forever full or incremental-forever incremental backup operations.

Periodic full backups and incremental backups

You can no longer run periodic full backups and incremental backups of VMs on the data mover. Instead, use incremental-forever full or incremental-forever incremental backup operations.

VMware vCloud Director support

You can no longer back up or restore vCloud vApps with the data mover. To back up or restore vApps, you must use Data Protection for VMware V7.1.

Data Protection for VMware vSphere GUI plug-in view

The plug-in view for the Data Protection for VMware vSphere GUI is no longer provided. The browser view and the IBM Spectrum Protect vSphere Client plug-in, which integrates with the VMware vSphere Client, are available.

IBM Spectrum Protect Snapshot for VMware support

Data Protection for VMware no longer supports integration with IBM Spectrum Protect Snapshot for VMware (formerly IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy® Manager for VMware). To use Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for VMware with Data Protection for VMware, you must use Data Protection for VMware V7.1.

IBM Spectrum Protect recovery agent on Linux operating systems

The IBM Spectrum Protect recovery agent is no longer supported on Linux operating systems. You can use the IBM Spectrum Protect file restore interface to restore files on Linux operating systems.

• Windows 32-bit operating systems
• Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7, and Windows 8

To take advantage of new product features, install the V8.1 data mover on one of the supported operating systems. For the current list of supported operating systems, see technote 1505139.