Virtual machine client names are created with '_1' appended to the original client name

Duplicate client names for virtual machines appear in the Client Computers list, and you can use a merge operation to remove them. Note that the suggested resolution for this issue can be used to merge virtualization clients that use Indexing Version 1 or Indexing Version 2. Also note that, when the UUID changes for a VM, backup jobs for the VM will be converted to full backups due to the new VM GUID and when we merge duplicate clients automatically. In this scenario, in case of cycle retention, previous backup jobs will be aged. This, in turn, affects data aging based on retention settings specified at the storage policy level.

Symptoms

Duplicate client names for virtual machines appear in the Client Computers list (for example, client_name and client_name_1).

Causes

The following cases might cause the creation of a duplicate virtual machine client with a numeric suffix (for example, client_name_1), which appear in the Client Computers list:

• A VM is restored out of place and then backed up again while the source VM still exists.
• A short hostname is used to identify a virtual machine instead of the fully qualified domain name.

Resolution

Merging Duplicate Clients

You can use an interactive report or run the QS_SetVMClient script to merge duplicate VM clients. Duplicate clients are merged using the following criteria:

• If both clients have a Commvault agent installed, then the command fails.
• You cannot merge clients for VMs that are included in subclients under the same parent backup set.
• You cannot merge a client for a discovered VM with a virtualization client.
• If one of the clients has a Commvault agent installed, then the backup history is merged into the client that has the Commvault agent.
• If one of the clients has a numeric suffix in the client name (such as ‘_1’), then the backup history is merged into the client that does not have a numeric suffix in its name.
• If neither client has a Commvault agent installed or a numeric suffix in the client name, then the backup history is merged into the client that has the most recent backup.
• If both clients have a numeric suffix in the client name and do not have a Commvault agent installed, then the backup history is merged into the client that has the most recent backup.
• If both VM clients are associated with virtualization clients that use Indexing Version 2, the merged client has an additional backup set that is named *backupset_name_*merged, which includes jobs from the client that was incorporated into the merged client.

VM Clients Coming from the Same Hypervisor Client Backupset Cannot be Merged with Indexing Version 2 (VM-Centric)

There can only be one VM backupset under the VM client for a Hypervisor client's backupset. Therefore, VM clients cannot be merged in this scenario.

If duplicate VM clients cannot be merged, the backup history for the original VM client includes older jobs, and the backup history for the duplicate VM client (such as client_name_1) has newer jobs. To merge VM clients that cannot be merged automatically, perform the following steps:

1. Wait until the jobs for the original VM client have been pruned as part of data aging.
2. Delete the original VM client.
3. Rename the newer VM client by removing the '_1' from the client name. After you perform these steps, subsequent backup jobs are associated with the newer VM client.

Delete deconfigured clients that have no protected data

Set the "Delete deconfigured clients that have no protected data" parameter (CommCell Console > Storage tab > Media Management > Data Aging) to "1".

Definition: During a data aging job, clients that meet the following criteria are deleted after 30 days from the day they were created:

• The client is deconfigured.
• The backup data is deleted.
• The software was uninstalled on the client.

Additional criteria for discovered virtual machines: The VM is deleted in the management interface for the hypervisor, such as VMware vCenter. Set the value to 1 to delete the clients that meet the preceding criteria.

Note: This is global parameter and will affect other agents.

For more information, see Media Management Configuration: Data Aging.

Ignore cycles retention on deconfigured clients

Set the "Ignore cycles retention on deconfigured clients" parameter (CommCell Console > Storage tab > Media Management > Data Aging) to "1".

Definition: Specifies whether or not to ignore the defined retention cycle rules for data associated with deconfigured clients, deconfigured agents, and deconfigured instances.

Default Value: The following are the default values:

• 1 if you have a new Commcell environment from Service Pack 13 and later.
• 0 for existing Commcell environments. Usage: Without cycle retention (parameter value set to 1), only days are used to retain data on deconfigured clients and instances. Ultimately, all data will be pruned in this case.

Therefore if you have a new Commcell environment from Service Pack 13 or later, then only days are used to retain data on the deconfigured clients and instances.

For existing Commcell environments, the default honors the cycle retention configured on the copy.

Note:

• The OnePass feature ignores the Ignore Cycles Retention on De-Configured Clients parameter.
• This is global parameter and will affect other agents.

For more information, see Media Management Configuration: Data Aging.

Merge Duplicate VM Clients Interactive Report

You can download the Merge Duplicate VM Clients app from the Commvault Store. The app includes an interactive report that displays duplicate clients (so that you can select clients to merge) and a workflow that performs the merge operation.

QS_SetVMClient Script

The QS_SetVMClient script merges backup history for duplicate virtual machine clients, and then deletes the duplicate virtual machine client. All subsequent jobs are associated with the merged client. The script is available in the Base directory for Commvault software. Perform the following steps to merge duplicate clients. Run the script for each set of duplicate clients.

1. If you are not logged on to the CommServe computer, run the qlogin command.
2. On the command line, go to the software installation path, log on to the CommServe machine, and then run the following script: qoperation execscript -sn QS_SetVMClient -si 'client name_1' -si 'client name'
3. To log off the CommServe computer, run the qlogout command.
4. Run an incremental backup and confirm that the virtual machines are shown correctly in the Virtual Machine Status tab.