To create a VMware backup schedule

1        Review the considerations and prerequisites in Requirements and considerations for VMware backups.

2        Do one of the following:

     If you plan to use filters in your schedule, select the vCenter or stand-alone ESX server from the Navigation pane. Filters are used to dynamically add and remove VMs from the schedule. For details see Dynamic VMware protection.

     If you are not using filters, you can select the vCenter, stand-alone ESX server, resource pool, vApp, navigation group, or virtual machine from the Navigation pane.

3        Select Backup > Schedule Backup and then enter a unique schedule name and description.

4        In the Schedule area, select a backup strategy from the list. Choose from Incremental Forever (recommended), Full with Incrementals, Full with Differentials, or Custom.

Note for custom backup strategy: Select the calendar icon to drag and drop the backup type icons onto the desired days. Select Confirm to save changes or Cancel to exit without saving.

5        Define the frequency at which backups of each type will run using the fields below each backup type.

6        (Optional) Set retention settings as desired. For details see About retention control.

7        Do one of the following:

     If you want to use filters, proceed to Step 8.

     If you do not want to use filters, skip to Step 14.

Creating filters

8        Click Advanced Settings then check the box to Enable filter creation. This displays the Filter Creation window.

9        Select the desired container from the Select Container drop-down list. The containers refer to your VMware hypervisor, not containers created in the Unitrends interface.

10    Select the action for this filter from the Select Action drop-down list.

11    Enter the filter string to be associated with the container and action fields. For details see Dynamic VMware protection.

Note: The use of colon, semi-colons, and backslashes is not supported for filter strings. Filter strings are not case-sensitive.

12    Click Add. Repeat Step 9 - Step 12 as needed, to add up to 10 filters per schedule.

13    Click Apply to display the virtual machines caught by the filters. If all desired VMs display in the VM list, skip to step Step 15.

If the displayed list of VMs does not meet your schedule requirements, edit the filters by selecting Edit filters. Select the red x to the right of the filter string to remove the filter. Once the filters have been updated, click Apply to display the virtual machines to be included in the schedule. Once the displayed virtual machines meet your requirements, skip to Step 15.

Completing the schedule

14    Select the virtual machines you wish to protect with this schedule. If you want to add new virtual machines to this schedule, select Auto-include new VMs.

15    If necessary, assign credentials. See Setting VM credentials for application-aware protection for details.

16    Click Save to create and enable the schedule.