> Documentation > Backup and Restore Agents > Virtualization > Virtual Server Agent > VMware > Configuration > Basic Setup for Backup and Recovery

Creating a Virtualization Client for the VMware vCenter

Create a virtualization client for each vCenter.

To perform backup operations, each virtualization client can include multiple proxies where the Virtual Server Agent is installed. The virtualization client also enables proxy teaming, enabling proxy failovers for fault tolerant backups. Using multiple proxies for each virtualization client makes it possible to perform backups for a large number of virtual machines in a limited backup window.

Note

To support a division of responsibilities within a vCenter, you can add multiple virtualization clients for a vCenter as described in Adding a Custom User with Limited Scope.

Before You Begin

  • Install the Virtual Server Agent on each computer that will serve as a proxy for backups and restores.

  • Ensure that vCenter permissions are configured as described in Permissions for Custom User Accounts.

  • Verify that the vSphere password for the hypervisor does not contain any of the following special characters or any non-ASCII characters: ampersand (&), semicolon (;), double quotation mark ("), single quotation mark ('), caret (^), backslash (\), percentage sign (%), left angle bracket (<), right angle bracket (>).

    For more information, see the VMware KB article vSphere 5.5 Single Sign-On Issues due to Special Characters in administrator@vsphere.local password (2060637).

  • Ensure that names of virtual machines and datastores do not contain the following special characters: 

    +   &   @   %   =   #   %   *   $   #   !   \   /   :   *   ?   "   <   >   |   ;   '

Procedure

  1. From the CommCell Browser, right-click Client Computers node and then select New Client > Virtualization > VMware vCenter.

  2. Enter the vCenter Host Name.

    To create a virtualization client for a standalone ESX server, enter the IP address for the ESX server and provide user credentials.

    To use a port number that is not default, append the port number to the host name. For example, if the host name is vc.commvault.com, and you want to use port number 1500, enter vc.commvault.com:1500.

  3. Enter the username and password required to access the vCenter.

    Note

    Do not include a colon (:) character in the password.

  4. From the Storage Policy list, select a storage policy to associate with the virtualization client.

    The storage policy you select is also associated with the default subclient that is created automatically for the virtualization client.

  5. Click Add to select a proxy for backup.

  6. Add VSA proxies:

    After adding a virtualization client in V11, you can only specify VSA proxies that are also V11.

    1. Select one or more proxies from the Exclude list.

      The list displays all clients that have the Virtual Server Agent installed and all client groups. You can select one or more clients or client groups. When you select a client group, ensure that at least one client in the group has the Virtual Server Agent installed.

    2. Click Include or Include All.

      You can change the order of the proxies in the list by clicking the up arrow virtual_client_order or down arrow virtual_client_order_down. The first proxy in the list is the coordinator proxy.

    3. Click OK.

  7. Click OK.

Result

A VMware vCenter client is created and displayed under the Client Computers node in the CommCell Console. By default, the client display name is same as the vCenter Host Name; but you can change the client display name later.

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