Any time data on a machine is backed up, information about the machine name, operating system, Windows service pack and security identifier (SID) is added to the backup, along with the user-defined text label. The label may include the department or machine owner's name or similar information that can be used as a tag or a key.
If you recover the machine to a VMware ESX(i) using Agent for ESX(i), or convert the backup to a ESX(i) virtual machine, these properties will be transferred to the virtual machine's configuration. You can view them in the virtual machine settings: Edit settings > Options > Advanced > General > Configuration parameters. You can select, sort and group the virtual machines with the help of these custom parameters. This can be useful in various scenarios.
Example:
Let's assume you migrate your office or datacenter to a virtual environment. By using third-party software that can access configuration parameters through VMware API, you can automatically apply security policies to each machine even before powering it on.
To add a text label to a backup:
Parameters specification
Parameter |
Value |
Description |
acronisTag.label |
<string> |
A user-defined label. The label can be set by a user when creating a backup plan. |
acronisTag.hostname |
<string> |
Host name (FQDN) |
acronisTag.os.type |
<string> |
Operating system |
acronisTag.os.servicepack |
0, 1, 2... |
The version of the Service Pack installed in the system. For Windows OS only. |
acronisTag.os.sid |
<string> |
Machine's SID. For example: S-1-5-21-874133492-782267321-3928949834. For Windows OS only. |
Values of the "acronisTag.os.type" parameter
Windows NT 4 |
winNTGuest |
Windows 2000 Professional |
win2000ProGuest |
Windows 2000 Server |
win2000ServGuest |
Windows 2000 Advanced Server |
win2000ServGuest |
Windows XP All Editions |
winXPProGuest |
Windows XP All Editions (64 bit) |
winXPPro64Guest |
Windows Server 2003, All Editions |
winNetStandardGuest |
Windows Server 2003, All Editions (64 bit) |
winNetStandard64Guest |
Windows 2008 |
winLonghornGuest |
Windows 2008 (64 bit) |
winLonghorn64Guest |
Windows Vista |
winVistaGuest |
Windows Vista (64 bit) |
winVista64Guest |
Windows 7 |
windows7Guest |
Windows 7 (64 bit) |
windows7_64Guest |
Windows Server 2008 R2 (64 bit) |
windows7Server64Guest |
Linux |
otherLinuxGuest |
Linux (64 bit) |
otherLinux64Guest |
Other Operating System |
otherGuest |
Other Operating System (64 bit) |
otherGuest64 |
Example
acronisTag.label = “DEPT:BUCH; COMP:SUPERSERVER; OWNER:EJONSON”
acronisTag.hostname = “superserver.corp.local”
acronisTag.os.type = “windows7Server64Guest”
acronisTag.os.servicepack = “1”
acronisTag.os.sid = “S-1-5-21-874133492-782267321-3928949834”