Backing up virtual machine data to local disks

You can create a schedule to back up your VM data and store it on a storage device that is configured in the IBM Storage Protect Snapshot for VMware profile. You can run the schedule immediately or at a later time.

Create a schedule to back up VM by following these steps:

1. Start the Tivoli® Storage FlashCopy® Manager for VMware GUI with either of these methods:
   • Click the Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for VMware GUI icon in the Solutions and Applications window of the vSphere Client.
   • Open a web browser, and go to the GUI web server. For example:

     https://guihost.mycompany.com:9081/TsmVMwareUI/

     Log on with the vCenter user ID and password.
2. In the Getting Started window, click Define a backup task to open the Schedule a Backup wizard. Review the welcome information and click Next to create the backup task.
3. In the Backup settings page, select Back up to IBM Storage Protect Snapshot as the Type of backup to run.
4. In the General page, specify a name for the backup schedule you are creating in the Backup Schedule Name field. The schedule name must not contain any spaces. You can optionally add a description for the schedule.
5. In the Source page, select a VMware datacenter to view all VMs available for that datacenter. You can also expand the datacenter and select a VMware datastore to view all VMs available for that datastore. Select the VMs or VM templates to back up in the selection table. If you do not know the location of a VM, select a datacenter to view all its VMs.
   Tip: Fine-tune the list of VMs by entering text in the Filter field. The wildcard character (*) is not allowed.
6. In the Settings page, select the type of VMware snapshot to take when backing up to the local IBM Storage Protect Snapshot for VMware disk.
7. In the Destination page, select the device class on the local disk of IBM Storage Protect Snapshot for VMware to back up to. The device class defines the storage device and target disks that are used to create the hardware snapshot of the logical units (LUNs) that are used for the datastores. The device classes must be defined in the IBM Storage Protect Snapshot for VMware configuration before they are available in the list.
8. In the Schedule page, you can select to run the backup immediately or schedule the backup to run at a later time.
   • To begin the backup at the completion of this wizard, select Execute immediately.
   • To schedule your backup to run at a later time, do the following steps:
     1. Select Schedule for later (repeated) execution.
     2. In the Date and time of the first backup field, specify when you want to run the schedule for the first time.
     3. Specify the interval that you want the schedule to run in the How often to run the backup field.
     4. In the Date and time of the last backup field, specify when you want to stop the schedule from running. If you do not specify the date and time of the last backup, the schedule creation cannot continue.
     5. If you want to include newly added or discovered VMs to future runs of this schedule, select Newly added virtual machines are included in this backup task. The table lists the datastores that contain the newly added VMs. This check box has the following characteristics when selected:
        • If you select all of the VMs on one datastore or datacenter, the schedule backs up that datastore or datacenter. That is, all VMs on that datastore or datacenter, present and future, are backed up.
        • If you select one or more VMs on a datastore or datacenter (but not all), then the schedule includes only the selected VMs and any future VMs that are added to the datastore or datacenter. The remaining VMs on that datastore or datacenter that are not selected are excluded.
        • If you rename a VM, and you select this option, the schedule backs up the renamed VM.
        To modify the list of datastores, go to the Source page and select VMs from only the preferred datastores. Clear the selected VMs from the non-preferred datastores.
9. In the Summary page, review your backup settings and click Finish to save your schedule. If you selected to run the backup now, the backup operation begins immediately when you click Finish.