Tagging in VMware allows administrators to assign metadata (labels) to vSphere objects, making it easier to organize, search, and automate management tasks. Tags help categorize and group resources without modifying their configurations, improving resource management, policy enforcement, and automation.

Key Components of Tagging in VMware

Tags

• A tag is a label or metadata assigned to an object in vSphere (e.g., VMs, datastores, hosts).
• Example: “Production”, “Critical”, “Backup Required”.

Tag Categories

• Tags are grouped into categories to enforce structure and consistency.
• Categories can be single or multi-value (i.e., an object can have one or multiple tags from a category).
• Example Categories: “Environment” (with tags: Dev, Test, Prod), “Backup Policy” (with tags: Daily, Weekly, Monthly).

Tagged Objects

• Tags can be assigned to various vSphere objects like VMs, hosts, datastores, networks, and clusters.

Why Use Tagging in VMware?

 – Enhanced Organization – Helps IT teams classify and locate VMs and other resources quickly.
–  Simplified Management – Group objects dynamically for backup, security, or performance monitoring.
–  Automation & Policies – Integrated with vSphere automation tools (e.g., vRealize Orchestrator, PowerCLI) to apply policies based on tags.
 –  Access Control – Restrict permissions and manage access using tags (e.g., only allow backups for VMs with a “Backup” tag).
–  Reporting & Auditing – Tags help generate reports for capacity planning, compliance, and auditing.

Common Use Cases for VMware Tagging

Backup & Disaster Recovery

• Use tags to define which VMs require backup, integrating with Veeam or other backup solutions.

 Security & Compliance

• Apply security policies based on tagged categories, like “PCI Compliant” for financial workloads.

Resource Allocation

• Allocate resources based on tags, ensuring high-priority VMs get more CPU/memory.

Chargeback & Cost Management

• Track resources by department, tagging VMs with “HR”, “Finance”, or “Engineering” for billing purposes.

 Automation & Orchestration

• Use PowerCLI, vRealize Orchestrator, or Ansible to apply automated actions (e.g., shutdown all VMs with “Test” tags at night).

How to Implement Tagging in vCenter

1️⃣ Create Tag Categories

• Go to vSphere Client → Menu → Tags & Custom Attributes → Categories → Create Category.

2️⃣ Create Tags

• Go to Tags & Custom Attributes → Tags → Create Tag, assign it to a category.

3️⃣ Assign Tags to Objects

• Select a VM/Datastore/Host → Click Assign Tag → Choose a tag.

4️⃣ Use Tags in Automation & Searches

• Use vSphere search or PowerCLI scripts to filter objects based on tags.