Create and manage protection groups for VMware workloads with NetApp Backup and Recovery
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Create protection groups to manage the backup and restore operations for a set of workloads. A protection group is a logical grouping of resources such as VMs and datastores that you want to protect together.
You can perform the following tasks related to protection groups:
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Create a protection group by manually adding VMs to the group or by using VMware vSphere tags.
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View protection details.
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Back up a protection group now. Refer to Back up VMware workloads now.
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Suspend and resume a protection group's backup schedule.
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Delete a protection group.
Create a protection group
Group workloads you want to protect into a protection group to back up and restore them together.
Required Console role
Backup and Recovery super admin or Backup and Recovery backup admin role. Learn about NetApp Console access roles for all services.
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From the NetApp Backup and Recovery menu, select Inventory.
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Select a workload to view the protection details.
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Select the Actions icon
> View details. -
Select the Protection groups tab.
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Select Create protection group.
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Provide a name for the protection group.
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Select the VMs or databases that you want to include in the protection group.
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Select Next.
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Select the protection policy that you want to apply to the protection group.
If you want to create a policy, select Create new policy and follow the prompts to create a policy. See Create policies for more information.
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Select Next.
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Review the configuration.
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Select Create to create the protection group.
Create a protection group using vSphere tags
Use tag-based protection to simplify administration of protection groups in Backup and Recovery.
Here are the benefits of using tag-based protection:
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When you add a vSphere tag to a VM or datastore in vCenter, that object is automatically included in the next backup for any Backup and Recovery protection group that references that tag.
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When you remove a vSphere tag from a VM or datastore, that object is automatically excluded from subsequent backups for that tag-based protection group.
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If a vSphere tag is deleted in vCenter, future backups skip that tag and report a warning.
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If a VM is migrated to a different datastore, it remains protected as long as it still has the tag that is part of a tag-based protection group.
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Mixing resource types (for example, combining tags with individual VMs or datastores in the same protection group) is not supported. |
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Ensure your environment is using supported versions of VMware vSphere.
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In vCenter, ensure the virtual machines and datastores you want to protect are already associated with one or more vSphere tags.
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Tag membership is resolved from vCenter at backup time. Any changes you make to tags in vCenter (adding/removing tags, deleting tags, adding/removing VMs) are automatically reflected in the next backup. |
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Sign in to NetApp Backup and Recovery.
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Navigate to the Protection Groups view.
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Select Create Protection Group.
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Under General details > Protection group name, enter a name for the protection group.
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In the General details > Protection group resources section, select Tags.
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If multiple vCenters are configured, select the appropriate vCenter from the list to show tags available for that vCenter.
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In the Select tags section:
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On the left side:
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Select a vCenter from the list.
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Select the check boxes for one or more tags within that vCenter.
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On the right side:
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Review the list of selected tags, grouped by vCenter.
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Remove any tag you do not want in the protection group.
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Select Next.
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Select the protection policy that you want to apply to the protection group.
If you want to create a policy, select Create new policy and follow the prompts to create a policy. See Create policies for more information.
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Select Next.
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Review the tag settings in the Review step.
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Select Create to create the protection group.
The new tag-based protection group appears in the list, indicated by a tag icon.
Suspend a protection group's backup schedule
Suspend a protection group to pause its scheduled backups.
The protection status changes to "Under maintenance" when you suspend a protection group. You can resume the backup schedule at any time.
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From the NetApp Backup and Recovery menu, select Inventory.
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Select a workload to view the protection details.
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Select the Actions icon
> View details. -
Select the Protection groups tab.
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Select the Actions icon
> Suspend protection group. -
Review the confirmation message and select Suspend.
Resume a protection group's backup schedule
Resuming a suspended protection group restarts the scheduled backups for the protection group.
The protection status changes from "Under maintenance" when you suspend a protection group to "Protected" when you resume it. You can resume the backup schedule at any time.
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From the NetApp Backup and Recovery menu, select Inventory.
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Select a workload to view the protection details.
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Select the Actions icon
> View details. -
Select the Protection groups tab.
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Select the Actions icon
> Resume protection group. -
Review the confirmation message and select Resume.
The system validates the schedules and changes the protection status to "Protected" if the schedules are valid. If the schedules are not valid, the system displays an error message and does not resume the protection group.
Delete a protection group
When you delete a protection group, you remove it and all backup schedules for the group. Delete a protection group if you do not need it anymore.
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From the NetApp Backup and Recovery menu, select Inventory.
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Select a workload to view the protection details.
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Select the Actions icon
> View details. -
Select the Protection groups tab.
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Select the protection group that you want to delete.
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Select the Actions icon
> Delete. -
Review the confirmation message about deleting the associated backups and confirm the deletion.