Runbook can be created to automatically control the startup and operating characteristics of protected VMs as they are recovered. A runbook is a set of configuration settings that are applied to a group of protected VMs when the domain is failed over to the recovery site or failed back to the protected site.

Operational parameters that can be defined for runbooks include: VM startup sequence, VM startup delay, allocation of VM memory and CPU, etc. Protected VMs are initially assigned the status "Independent VM" by default. The VMs can then be added to a runbook group for automation during the failover or failback process.

The use of runbook settings is optional and is configured after VMs are added to a protected domain.

Note: Creation and use of runbooks is optional. VM failover and failback settings can be managed individually or run using default settings. The following steps can be skipped if runbooks will not be used.