Controlling disk scenarios

Set include and exclude statements to control the disks to be processed.

Important: The scenarios documented in this section are based on the correct use of the following Tivoli® Storage Manager backup-archive client options: You cannot select disks with the Data Protection for VMware vSphere GUI Schedule a Backup wizard. Therefore, before implementing a disk protection strategy based on these scenarios, make sure to review these options in Client options reference .
Controlling disks with include and exclude statements is provided to accomplish any of the following objectives: Use this feature to exclude a virtual disk during a backup operation. When the VM is restored, the excluded disk is created on the restored VM. However, no actual disk data is restored. Only the disk definition is restored. Therefore, make sure that the disk is properly formatted before using.

This feature is not provided to reduce backup storage space by occasionally excluding a virtual disk during a backup operation. This feature is provided only for virtual disks that never require backup. For example, those virtual disks that contain data that does not need to be restored, or the data is preserved by another backup mechanism. A virtual disk excluded from the backup operation is considered as deleted from the VM for that backup. If the VM is restored from that backup, the excluded virtual disk is not restored. Only the disk definition is restored.

You can view the disk name and label of the virtual disk by issuing the preview option. For example:
dsmc backup vm <vmname> -preview
This command does not back up the VM. Rather, it shows information about how the backup operation would proceed if it was started.
The primary method for excluding a virtual disk is to set the EXCLUDE.VMDISK option in the Tivoli Storage Manager backup-archive client dsm.opt options file. For example:
EXCLUDE.VMDISK <vmname> "Hard Disk 3"
Then, issue the backup command:
dsmc backup vm <vmname>
A secondary method for excluding a virtual disk is to specify the -vmdk option in the backup-archive client command-line interface (without setting the EXCLUDE.VMDISK option). For example:
dsmc backup vm "<vmname>:-vmdk=Hard Disk 3"
For restore operations, issue the dsmc restore vm command with the -detail option. This option displays the disk name and label from a VM backup. For example:
dsmc query vm FinTestUpdate -detail

Query Virtual Machine for Full VM backup

 #      Backup Date       Mgmt Class  Size         Type   A/I Virtual Machine
---  -------------------  ----------  -----------  ------ --- ---------------
  1  08/14/2013 07:56:47  STANDARD      168.94 GB  FULL    A  FinTestUpdate
        The size of this incremental backup: n/a
        The number of incremental backups since last full: n/a
        The amount of extra data: n/a
        The TSM objects fragmentation: n/a
        Backup is represented by: n/a
        Application protection type: VMware
        VMDK[1]Label:   Hard disk 3
        VMDK[1]Name:    [DEVESX02:LocalHD] FinTestUpdate/FinTestUpdate_2-000001.vmdk
        VMDK[1]Status:  Skipped: User
        VMDK[2]Label:   Hard disk 4
        VMDK[2]Name:    [DEVESX02:LocalHD] FinTestUpdate/FinTestUpdate_3.vmdk
        VMDK[2]Status:  Skipped: Independent
        VMDK[3]Label:   Hard disk 5
        VMDK[3]Name:    [DEVESX02:LocalHD] FinTestUpdate/FinTestUpdate_4.vmdk
        VMDK[3]Status:  Skipped: Independent
        VMDK[4]Label:   Hard disk 1
        VMDK[4]Name:    [DEVESX02:LocalHD] FinTestUpdate/FinTestUpdate.vmdk
        VMDK[4]Status:  Protected
        VMDK[5]Label:   Hard disk 2
        VMDK[5]Name:    [DEVESX02:LocalHD] FinTestUpdate/FinTestUpdate_1.vmdk
        VMDK[5]Status:  Protected
To restore only Hard Disk 1, issue this command:
dsmc restore vm "FinTestUpdate:vmdk=Hard Disk 1"
When you use selective disk restore, a VM can be updated with only the disks that are specified in the command. In the previous example, if the VM named FinTestUpdate exists, the restore operation restores only disk Hard Disk 1. The other disks remain intact. If the VM named FinTestUpdate does not exist, then a VM is created and only disk Hard Disk 1 is restored. The other disks are created as unformatted disks and contain no data.

Include scenarios (four disks)

In these scenarios, VM vm5_fin_com contains four disks:
Hard Disk 1
Hard Disk 2
Hard Disk 3
Hard Disk 4
Use the INCLUDE.VMDISK statement to back up disks Hard Disk 1 and Hard Disk 2:
INCLUDE.VMDISK vm5_fin_com "Hard Disk 1"
INCLUDE.VMDISK vm5_fin_com "Hard Disk 2"
Since an include disk statement is specified, this statement implies that only disks specifically included are backed up. As a result, Hard Disk 3 and Hard Disk 4 are not backed up.
Use the DOMAIN.VMFULL statement to back up disks Hard Disk 1 and Hard Disk 2:
DOMAIN.VMFULL "vm5_fin_com:vmdk=Hard Disk 1:vmdk=Hard Disk 2"
Hard Disk 3 and Hard Disk 4 are not backed up.
You can include one or more disks with a DOMAIN.VMFULL statement. You can exclude one or more disks with a DOMAIN.VMFULL statement. You can mix include and exclude disks on the same statement. For example, the following statement is valid:
domain.vmfull "vm5_fin_com:vmdk=Hard Disk 1:-vmdk=Hard Disk 2:vmdk=Hard 
Disk 3:vmdk=Hard Disk 4"
If an include statement is present, it causes all other disks in the VM to be excluded from a backup operation, unless the other disks are also specified with an include statement. For example, the following statement excludes all hard disks except for Hard Disk 1:
domain.vmfull "vm5_fin_com:vmdk=Hard Disk 1"

Include scenarios (10 disks)

In these scenarios, VM vm5_fin_com contains 10 disks:
Hard Disk 1
Hard Disk 2
Hard Disk 3
Hard Disk 4
Hard Disk 5
Hard Disk 6
Hard Disk 7
Hard Disk 8
Hard Disk 9
Hard Disk 10
When multiple disks exist, include statements can be simpler to use than exclude statements.
Use the INCLUDE.VMDISK statement to back up disks Hard Disk 1 and Hard Disk 2:
INCLUDE.VMDISK vm5_fin_com "Hard Disk 1"
INCLUDE.VMDISK vm5_fin_com "Hard Disk 2"
The remaining eight hard disks are not backed up.
Use the DOMAIN.VMFULL statement to back up disks Hard Disk 1 and Hard Disk 2:
DOMAIN.VMFULL "vm5_fin_com:vmdk=Hard Disk 1:vmdk=Hard Disk 2"
The remaining eight hard disks are not backed up.

Exclude scenarios (four disks)

In these scenarios, the VM named vm5_fin_com contains four disks:
Hard Disk 1
Hard Disk 2
Hard Disk 3
Hard Disk 4
Use the EXCLUDE.VMDISK statement to back up disks Hard Disk 1 and Hard Disk 2:
EXCLUDE.VMDISK vm5_fin_com "Hard Disk 3"
EXCLUDE.VMDISK vm5_fin_com "Hard Disk 4"
Hard Disk 3 and Hard Disk 4 are not backed up.
Use the DOMAIN.VMFULL statement to back up disks Hard Disk 3 and Hard Disk 4:
DOMAIN.VMFULL "vm5_fin_com:vmdk=Hard Disk 3:vmdk=Hard Disk 4"
Hard Disk 1 and Hard Disk 2 are not backed up.

Exclude scenarios (10 disks)

In these scenarios, the VM named vm5_fin_com contains 10 disks:
Hard Disk 1
Hard Disk 2
Hard Disk 3
Hard Disk 4
Hard Disk 5
Hard Disk 6
Hard Disk 7
Hard Disk 8
Hard Disk 9
Hard Disk 10
When multiple disks exist, exclude statements require more information than include statements.
Use the EXCLUDE.VMDISK statement to back up disks Hard Disk 1 and Hard Disk 2, and exclude the remaining eight disks:
EXCLUDE.VMDISK vm5_fin_com "Hard Disk 3"
EXCLUDE.VMDISK vm5_fin_com "Hard Disk 4"
EXCLUDE.VMDISK vm5_fin_com "Hard Disk 5"
EXCLUDE.VMDISK vm5_fin_com "Hard Disk 6"
EXCLUDE.VMDISK vm5_fin_com "Hard Disk 7"
EXCLUDE.VMDISK vm5_fin_com "Hard Disk 8"
EXCLUDE.VMDISK vm5_fin_com "Hard Disk 9"
EXCLUDE.VMDISK vm5_fin_com "Hard Disk 10"
Only Hard Disk 1 and Hard Disk 2 are backed up.
Use the DOMAIN.VMFULL statement to back up disks Hard Disk 1 and Hard Disk 2 and exclude the remaining eight disks:
DOMAIN.VMFULL "vm5_fin_com:-vmdk=Hard Disk 3:
-vmdk=Hard Disk 4:-vmdk=Hard Disk 5:-vmdk=Hard Disk 6:
-vmdk=Hard Disk 7:-vmdk=Hard Disk 8:-vmdk=Hard Disk 9:
-vmdk=Hard Disk 10"
Only Hard Disk 1 and Hard Disk 2 are backed up.