VMware disk exclusions

With Unitrends you have the option to exclude a subset of a virtual machine’s drives from backup. Exclusions are done on a per-virtual machine basis. Any subsequent backups for that virtual machine do not include the excluded disks’ data blocks, but metadata is still backed up. This remains in effect until the disk is removed from the exclusions. Any independent or physical RDM disks are automatically excluded from vProtect backups. If disks are changed from independent to dependent after the client has been added and you want to back up the disk, you must manually remove the exclusion setting in the Disk Exclusion Settings dialog (described below).

To exclude disks from backups

1

Select the vCenter, stand-alone ESX server, or navigation group from the navigation pane and navigate to Settings > Clients, Networking, and Notifications > Clients.

In the middle of the screen, a list of your virtual machines displays.

The list of available VMs is determined by what you select in this step:

•

Select a navigation group to display only its VMs.

•

Select a vCenter or ESX server to display all VMs.

2

Click the disk icon in the Disk column for the virtual machine you want to exclude disks for. The Disk Exclusion Settings dialog displays.

3

Uncheck the disks you want to exclude. A warning displays near the bottom of the dialog box letting you know that changing disk exclusion settings will force the next backup to be a full backup. Click Confirm to save your changes.

Note:  If you attempt to exclude the first disk listed, you receive a warning that the first disk is usually the system/OS disk. Click Confirm again to verify that you want to exclude the first disk. If you attempt to exclude all disks from backup, an error displays asking you to include at least one disk.