---
title: "Choosing VMs and VM Containers to Monitor and Report On"
description: "By default, Veeam ONE collects data about all VMs and VM containers (hosts, clusters, datastores and so on) on connected virtualization servers."
canonical: "https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/one/userguide/vms_to_monitor.html"
breadcrumb: "User Guide > Configuring Veeam ONE > Choosing Objects to Monitor and Report On > Choosing VMs and VM Containers to Monitor and Report On"
dateModified: "2026-10-23"
---

# Choosing VMs and VM Containers to Monitor and Report On

By default, Veeam ONE collects data about all VMs and VM containers (hosts, clusters, datastores and so on) on connected virtualization servers. If you do not want to monitor and report on specific VMs or VM containers, you can configure rules to include and exclude VMs and VM containers from the data collection scope.

You can refine the data collection scope with the following types of rules:

- **Inclusion rules** define VMs and VM containers that must be monitored and reported on. Out-of-the-box, Veeam ONE includes a default inclusion rule that adds to the data collection scope all VMs and VM containers on connected servers.
- **Exclusion rules** define VMs and VM containers that must not be monitored and reported on.

::: note

If you exclude all child objects of a container from monitoring, Veeam ONE will not collect monitoring and reporting data for the parent container.

:::

To configure an inclusion or exclusion rule, perform the following steps.

## Step 1. Disable or Delete the Default Inclusion Rule

If you want to create one or more VM inclusion rules, you must delete or disable the default inclusion rule. Otherwise Veeam ONE will keep collecting data about all VMs and VM containers.

::: note

This step is not required if you want to create exclusion rules only.

:::

To delete or disable the default inclusion rule:

1. Open Veeam ONE Client.
2. In the main menu, click **Settings** and select **Server Settings**. 

   Alternatively, press the `[CTRL+S]` on the keyboard.

3. In the **Server Settings** window, open the **Monitored VMs** tab. 
4. In the **VM Monitoring Inclusion Rules** section, delete or disable the default inclusion rule:

   - To disable the default inclusion rule, clear the **Enabled** check box next to the rule.
   - To delete the default inclusion rule, select the rule and click **Delete** on the right.

![Disable or Delete Default Inclusion Rule](images/delete_default_inclusion_rule.png "Disable or Delete Default Inclusion Rule")

## Step 2. Launch the Monitoring Rule Wizard

Launch the **Monitoring Rule** wizard:

- To create an inclusion rule, in the **VM Monitoring Inclusion Rules** section, click **Create New**.
- To create an exclusion rule, in the **VM Monitoring Exclusion Rules** section, click **Create New**.

![Launch Monitoring Rule Wizard](images/launch_monitoring_rule_wizard.png "Launch Monitoring Rule Wizard")

## Step 3. Specify Rule Name and Description

At the **Rule Name** step of the wizard, specify a name and description for the new rule.

![Specify Rule Name and Description](images/rule_name_description.png "Specify Rule Name and Description")

## Step 4. Add Objects to the Rule

At the **Apply Rule to** step of the wizard, specify the scope of the virtual infrastructure to which the rule must apply:

1. Click **Add** and select *Infrastructure View*, *Business View* or *VMware Cloud Director* *View*.
2. In the **Select scope** window, select check boxes next to VM containers to which the rule must apply.
3. Click **OK**.

![Add Objects to the Rule](images/rule_objects.png "Add Objects to the Rule")

## Step 5. Choose VM Selection Criterion

At the **VM Selection** step, choose a criterion according to which VMs and VM containers must be added to the rule:

- **By object name** — select this option if you want to add VMs to the rule based on VM names.
- **By infrastructure location** — select this option if you want to add to the rule VMs that belong to a specific level of the virtual infrastructure hierarchy (the level you specified at the **Apply Rule to** step of the wizard).

  You can use this selection criterion to find VMs that belong to a specific cluster, host, datastore or other VM container in the virtual infrastructure hierarchy.

![Specify VM Selection Criterion](images/rule_criterion.png "Specify VM Selection Criterion")

## Step 6. Specify Rule Conditions

The **Conditions** step of the wizard appears only if you have selected the **By object name** option at the **VM Selection** step. At this step, configure conditions for adding VMs to the rule by name:

1. Click **Add Condition**.
2. From the **Object name** list, select a condition for adding VMs — *Equals* or *Not Equals*.
3. In the field next to the selected condition, specify the name of VMs to add to the rule.

   You can use the ‘*’ (asterisk) and ‘?’ (question mark) wildcards. The ‘*’ (asterisk) character stands for zero or more characters. The ‘?’ (question mark) stands for a single character. For example, if you want to find VM replicas created with Veeam Backup & Replication, you can create a rule with the ‘*_replica’ name query.

4. If you add two or more conditions, link them with Boolean operators. From the **Type** list, select a Boolean operator to link the conditions:

   - **Any condition is true** — if at least one of the specified conditions is met, a VM will be added to the rule.
   - **All conditions are true** — if all specified conditions are met, a VM will be added to the rule.

![Specify Rule Conditions](images/monitored_vm_by_object_name.png "Specify Rule Conditions")

## Step 7. Review the Configuration

At the **Summary** step, review the rule configuration and click **Finish** to exit the wizard.