You create and edit groups through the Group Definition window. You open this window by selecting Groups from the Configure menu of the Global Console.

The Group Definition window is divided into two panels. The left panel displays the Global Manager, groups, and the group members. When you choose a selective group in the left panel, the Properties, Priorities, and Matching Criteria tabs display in the right panel of the Group Definition window.

Note:

When you select a top-level group, only the Properties tab is displayed. Top-level selective groups do not have priority or matching criteria.

Priority and matching criteria determine which topology elements are members of each group. If you have worked with configuration groups (Polling Groups and Threshold Groups) for VMware Smart Assurance applications, the priority and matching criteria for topology groups function similarly.

“Properties of selective groupsâ€� on page 127 describe priority and matching criteria.

The toolbar of the Group Definition window contains four buttons:

  • Delete removes the specified group from the topology of the Global Manager. If the deleted group contains child groups, the child groups are also deleted.

    Note:

    The Delete command does not remove hierarchical groups.

  • Regroup tells the Global Manager to rebuild the selective groups from the selected group down to the bottom of the group hierarchy. If you select the Global Manager icon and invoke Regroup, the Global Manager rebuilds all of the selective groups. This, however, is not usually necessary. It is more efficient to regroup a section of the group hierarchy when there are large number of topology elements in each group.

    You need to invoke Regroup after you make changes to the priority or matching criteria of a group. The Global Manager automatically regroups the topology when it synchronizes its topology with the underlying domains.

    Note:

    The Regroup command does not affect hierarchical groups.

  • Create Top Level Group displays the New Group dialog box where you specify the name, description, and target class for the group. This command is only available when the Global Manager is selected.

  • Create New Group displays the New Group dialog box where you specify the name, description, and target class for a child group. This command is available when a group is selected in the group tree hierarchy in the left panel of the Group Definition window.

    You can also find these commands under the Group menu. In addition, the Group menu also contains the Save Groups command. When you invoke Save Groups, the Global Manager saves its in-memory database to the repository file.