Configuring a policy for virtual machines to use Replication Director

The following procedure describes how to configure a VMware policy to create snapshots of virtual machines using Replication Director.

See the NetBackup for VMware Administrator's Guide for more specific information about configuring VMware policies.

Only those policy options that are necessary to configure Replication Director are listed in the following procedure.

To create a policy to use virtual machines with Replication Director

In the NetBackup Administration Console, in the left pane, expand NetBackup Management > Policies.
On the Actions menu, click New > New Policy.
Type a unique name for the new policy in the Add a New Policy dialog box and click OK.
See NetBackup naming conventions.

Configure the options on the policy Attributes tab. The following items are specific to creating a VMware policy for snapshots with Replication Director:

Policy type: Select VMware.
Policy storage: Select the SLP that you want to use that has been configured for snapshot replication.
Use Replication Director: Enable Use Replication Director to automatically select other options that Replication Director requires.

Replication Director Options

Click the Options button to see the Replication Director Options dialog box and the default Configuration Parameters as follows:

Maximum Snapshots parameter

Sets the maximum number of Instant Recovery snapshots to be retained at one time. When the maximum is reached, snapshot rotation occurs: The next snapshot causes the oldest to be deleted.

Managed by SLP retention is automatically selected if the Fixed or the Expire after Copy retention is currently selected in the SLP.

Application Consistent Snapshot

This option is enabled by default. In most cases, Veritas recommends that you keep this option enabled.

If this option is disabled, data in the virtual machine may not be in a consistent state when the snapshot occurs. The snapshot may not capture all the data in the virtual machine.

Note the following:

To allow the SLP to create a backup image from the snapshot, this option must be enabled.
If this option is disabled, note the following about the VMware tab:
- Exclude deleted blocks and Exclude swap and paging filess are disabled.
- The Application Protection options are disabled.
- Only two of the Advanced parameters are available: Multiple organizations per policy and VMware server list.

Use the Schedule tab to create a schedule. Note that only the Full Backup type is supported.
Use the Clients tab to create a query for the automatic selection of virtual machines.
Select automatically through VMware Intelligent Policy query is pre-selected. Manual selection of virtual machines is not supported.
For instructions on creating a query, see the topics about configuring the automatic selection of virtual machines for backup in the NetBackup for VMware Administrator's Guide.
Use the VMware tab to select virtual machine backup options.
Note the following:
- The Enable file recovery from VM backup option is pre-selected and cannot be disabled.
- The Enable block-level incremental backup option is not supported and is disabled.
- The Transport modes are not supported and are disabled. NetBackup uses the VMware file transport mode to move the data between the backup host and the storage volumes.
- Under the options for Application Protection, only Exchange and SQL are supported.
- If the Application Consistent Snapshot option is disabled under Replication Director Options, only two of the Advanced parameters on the VMware tab are available:
  - Multiple organizations per policy
  - VMware server list
  The other Advanced parameters are ignored.
- All other options on the VMware tab are supported for Replication Director.
When the policy configuration is complete, click OK.

Configuring a policy for virtual machines to use Replication Director

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