---
title: "Configuring Categorization Using Grouping Expressions"
description: "Grouping expressions are used to find objects that share common properties. When you configure categorization with grouping expression, Veeam ONE creates a set of groups, and includes objects with matching attributes into these groups."
canonical: "https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/one/userguide/bv_grouping_expressions.html"
breadcrumb: "User Guide > Business View > Configuring Categorization Model > Creating Business View Categories and Groups > Configuring Categorization Using Grouping Expressions"
dateModified: "2026-10-23"
---

# Configuring Categorization Using Grouping Expressions

Grouping expressions are used to find objects that share common properties. When you configure categorization with grouping expression, Veeam ONE creates a set of groups, and includes objects with matching attributes into these groups.

Groups created with grouping expressions have dynamic membership. If the property value changes, the object can be moved into another group or excluded from categorization after the next data collection.

For example, you can create an expression that will divide VMs into groups by the guest OS name. Veeam ONE will create groups with the names of guest OSes that VMs in your infrastructure run. Each group will include VMs with the same guest OS.

To create groups using expressions:

1. Open Veeam ONE Client.

   For details, see [Accessing Veeam ONE Components](access.md).

2. In the inventory pane, navigate to the **Business View** node.
3. Launch the **Categorization Wizard**:

   1. In the information pane, switch to the **Categories** tab.
   2. In the **Actions** pane, click **Add Category**.

   Alternatively, in the **Business View** tree, right-click the main node and select *Add Category*.

   [![Launching Categorization Wizard](images/launch_cat_wizard.png "Launching Categorization Wizard")](images/launch_cat_wizard.png){.toggle scale=60}

4. At the **Name and Object Type** step, enter category name, select object type and click **Next**.

   You can select the following types of objects: *Virtual Machine*, *Host*, *Cluster*, *Storage*, *Computer*, *Enterprise Application*.

   If you select the *Computer* or *Enterprise Application* object type, continue with step 6 of this procedure.

   ![](images/name_object.png)

5. At the **Platform** step of the wizard, select the platform for which you want to categorize objects.

   ![](images/bv_platform_type.png)

6. At the **Categorization Method** step of the wizard, select *Grouping expression*.

   ![](images/bv_grouping_expressions.png)

7. <a id="7"></a>At the **Grouping Criteria** step of the wizard, specify an expression that Veeam ONE must use to create groups and distribute infrastructure objects in these groups:

   1. Click the **Editor** button to open the **Grouping Expression Editor**.
   2. In the menu on the left, double click an item to add it to the **Expression** field.
   3. Click **Save** to save the expression and exit the editor.

   [![Grouping Expression Editor](images/expression_editor.png "Grouping Expression Editor")](images/expression_editor.png){.toggle scale=60}

   To check the created script, click the **Verify** button.

   [![Create Grouping Expression](images/expressions.png "Create Grouping Expression")](images/expressions.png){.toggle}

   For details on the syntax of grouping expressions, see [Grouping Expressions Syntax](appendix_expressions_examples.md).

   If you selected the *Computer* or *Enterprise Application* object type, click **Save** to finish working with the wizard.

8. At the **Export** step of the wizard, choose whether you want to export Business View categorization data:

   - [For VMware vSphere objects] Select **Create vSphere tags** if you want to display Business View categories and groups in vCenter Server.

     Veeam ONE will export categories as tag categories and groups as tags.

   - [For Microsoft Hyper-V objects] Select **Create Hyper-V custom properties** if you want to display Business View categories and groups in System Center Virtual Machine Manager.

     Veeam ONE will export categories as custom properties and groups as property values.

   ::: note

   This step is not available if you enable import of categorization data from vCenter Server, System Center Virtual Machine Manager or a 3rd party application. For details on importing categorization model, see [Selecting Categorization Model](business_view.md#model).

   :::

   [![](images/bv_export_tags.png)](images/bv_export_tags.png){.toggle}

9. Click **Save**.