VMware vSphere Replication - 5.5 Administrator’s Guide

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VMware vSphere Replication Administration

vSphere Replication 5.5

VMware vSphere Replication Administration

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vSphere Replication Administration 6

Updated Information 7

Overview of VMware vSphere Replication 8

Contents of the vSphere Replication Appliance 9

vSphere Replication Client Plug-In 10

Source and Target Sites 10

How vSphere Replication Works 11

vSphere Replication Roles and Permissions 14

Assign vSphere Replication Roles to Users 14

Assign VRM Replication Viewer Role 14

Assign VRM Virtual Machine Replication User Role 15

Assign VRM Virtual Machine Recovery User Role 15

Clone Existing VRM Administrator Role and Modify Privileges 16

vSphere Replication Roles Reference 16

vSphere Replication System Requirements 20

vSphere Replication Licensing 20

vSphere Replication Network Ports 21

Operational Limits of vSphere Replication 21

Compatibility of vSphere Replication with Other vSphere Features 21

vSphere Replication Compatibility with Other Software 23

Bandwidth Requirements for vSphere Replication 23

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Installing vSphere Replication 26

Deploy the vSphere Replication Virtual Appliance 26

Configure vSphere Replication Connections 28

Uninstall vSphere Replication 28

Unregister vSphere Replication from vCenter Server if the Appliance Was Deleted 29

Deploying Additional vSphere Replication Servers 31

Deploy an Additional vSphere Replication Server 31

Reconfigure vSphere Replication Server Settings 32

Unregister and Remove a vSphere Replication Server 33

Disable the Embedded vSphere Replication Server 34

VMware vSphere Replication Administration

Upgrading vSphere Replication 35

Upgrade vSphere Replication by Using the Downloadable ISO Image 36

Update vCenter Server IP Address in vSphere Replication Management Server 37

Update vSphere Replication By Using vSphere Update Manager 37

Update vSphere Replication by Using the VAMI 39

Reconfigure the vSphere Replication Appliance 42

Reconfigure General vSphere Replication Settings 43

Change the SSL Certificate of the vSphere Replication Appliance 44

Change the Password of the vSphere Replication Appliance 47

Change Keystore and Truststore Passwords of the vSphere Replication Appliance 48

Configure vSphere Replication Network Settings 49

Configure vSphere Replication System Settings 50

Reconfigure vSphere Replication to Use an External Database 51

Use the Embedded vSphere Replication Database 55

Replicating Virtual Machines 56

How the Recovery Point Objective Affects Replication Scheduling 57

Replicating a Virtual Machine and Enabling Multiple Point in Time Instances 57

Using vSphere Replication with Virtual SAN Storage 58

Replicating Virtual Machines Using Replication Seeds 60

Replicating a Virtual Machine in a Single vCenter Server Instance 61

Configure Replication for a Single Virtual Machine 61

Configure Replication for Multiple Virtual Machines 63

Move a Virtual Machine to a New vSphere Replication Server 65

Stop Replicating a Virtual Machine 65

Reconfiguring Replications 66

Performing a Recovery with vSphere Replication 68

Recover Virtual Machines by Using vSphere Replication 68

Failback of Virtual Machines in vSphere Replication 70

Monitoring and Managing Replications in vSphere Replication 71

View the Replication Summary for a Site 71

Identifying Replication Problems in the Issues Tab 73

Manage Target Sites 73

Manage Replication Servers 74

Troubleshooting vSphere Replication 75

vSphere Replication Limitations 75

Access the vSphere Replication Logs 76

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VMware vSphere Replication Administration

vSphere Replication Events and Alarms 77

Solutions for Common vSphere Replication Problems 81

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vSphere Replication Administration

vSphere Replication Administration provides information about installing, configuring, and using

VMware vSphere Replication.

Intended Audience

This information is intended for anyone who wants to protect the virtual machines in their virtual

infrastructure by using vSphere Replication. The information is written for experienced Windows or Linux

system administrators who are familiar with virtual machine technology and datacenter operations.

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Updated Information

vSphere Replication Administration is updated with each release of the product or when necessary.

This table provides the update history of vSphere Replication Administration.

Revision Description

7 NOV 2017 Updated the information about vSphere High Availability in topic Compatibility of vSphere Replication with Other

vSphere Features.

001114-02 Included additional vSphere Replication limitations in vSphere Replication Limitations

Added troubleshooting topics:

Initial Full Synchronization of Virtual Machine Files to VMware Virtual SAN Storage Is Slow

vSphere Web Client 5.1.x Non-Functioning Option Binds vSphere Replication Traffic to a Specific vmknic

Configuring Replication Fails After Rebuilding VRMS

vSphere Replication Operations Run Slowly as the Number of Replications Increases

Added information on Virtual SAN:

Using vSphere Replication with Virtual SAN Storage

Configure Replication for Multiple Virtual Machines

vSphere Replication Operations Run Slowly as the Number of Replications Increases

Explained how to update the vCenter Server IP address in vSphere Replication Management Server in Update

vCenter Server IP Address in vSphere Replication Management Server

Clarified that you can update a minor release of vSphere Replication using VUM and VAMI and vSphere Replication

Servers using VAMI:

Update vSphere Replication By Using vSphere Update Manager

Update vSphere Replication by Using the VAMI

Update vSphere Replication Servers by Using the VAMI

Explained how to disable the embedded vSphere Replication server in Disable the Embedded vSphere Replication

Server

Updated Virtual SAN support in Compatibility of vSphere Replication with Other vSphere Features

Added vSphere Replication bandwidth requirements in Bandwidth Requirements for vSphere Replication and

Calculate Bandwidth for vSphere Replication

Described the vSphere Replication Management Server in Contents of the vSphere Replication Appliance

001114-01 Clarified that upgrade to vSphere Replication 5.5 is only available via the downloadable ISO image in Chapter 6

Upgrading vSphere Replication

001114-00 Initial release.

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Overview of

VMware vSphere Replication 1

VMware vSphere Replication is an extension to VMware vCenter Server that provides hypervisor-based

virtual machine replication and recovery.

vSphere Replication is an alternative to storage-based replication. It protects virtual machines from partial

or complete site failures by replicating the virtual machines between the following sites:

From a source site to a target site

Within a single site from one cluster to another

From multiple source sites to a shared remote target site

vSphere Replication provides several benefits as compared to storage-based replication.

Data protection at lower cost per virtual machine.

A replication solution that allows flexibility in storage vendor selection at the source and target sites.

Overall lower cost per replication.

You can use vSphere Replication with the vCenter Server Appliance or with a standard vCenter Server

installation. You can have a vCenter Server Appliance on one site and a standard vCenter Server

installation on the other.

With vSphere Replication, you can replicate virtual machines from a source datacenter to a target site

quickly and efficiently.

You can deploy additional vSphere Replication servers to meet your load balancing needs.

After you set up the replication infrastructure, you can choose the virtual machines to be replicated at a

different recovery point objective (RPO). You can enable multi-point in time retention policy to store more

than one instance of the replicated virtual machine. After recovery, the retained instances are available as

snapshots of the recovered virtual machine.

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VMware vSphere Replication Administration

You can use VMware Virtual SAN datastores as target datastores and choose destination storage profiles

for the replica virtual machine and its disks when configuring replications.

Note VMware Virtual SAN is a fully supported feature of vSphere 5.5u1.

You can use Virtual SAN in production environments with vSphere Replication 5.5.1 and vSphere

5.5u1.

Virtual SAN is an experimental feature in vSphere 5.5. You can perform testing with Virtual SAN with

vSphere Replication 5.5.0 and vSphere 5.5, but it is not supported for use in production

environments. See the release notes for the vSphere Replication 5.5.0 release for information about

how to enable Virtual SAN in vSphere 5.5.

You can configure all vSphere Replication features in the vSphere Web Client. You can manage sites

monitor the status of a replication through the replication management and monitoring dashboard.

Contents of the vSphere Replication Appliance

The vSphere Replication appliance provides all the components that vSphere Replication requires.

vSphere Replication Client Plug-In

The vSphere Replication appliance adds a plug-in to the vSphere Web Client.

Source and Target Sites

In a typical vSphere Replication installation, the source site provides business-critical datacenter

services. The target site is an alternative facility to which you can migrate these services.

How vSphere Replication Works

With vSphere Replication, you can configure replication of a virtual machine from a source site to a

target site, monitor and manage the status of the replication, and recover the virtual machine at the

target site.

Contents of the vSphere Replication Appliance

The vSphere Replication appliance provides all the components that vSphere Replication requires.

A plug-in to the vSphere Web Client that provides a user interface for vSphere Replication.

An embedded database that stores replication configuration and management information.

A vSphere Replication management server:

Configures the vSphere Replication server.

Enables, manages, and monitors replications.

Authenticates users and checks their permissions to perform vSphere Replication operations.

A vSphere Replication server that provides the core of the vSphere Replication infrastructure.

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VMware vSphere Replication Administration

You can use vSphere Replication immediately after you deploy the appliance. The vSphere Replication

appliance provides a virtual appliance management interface (VAMI) that you can use to reconfigure the

appliance after deployment, if necessary. For example, you can use the VAMI to change the appliance

security settings, change the network settings, or configure an external database. You can deploy

additional vSphere Replication Servers using a separate .ovf package.

vSphere Replication Client Plug-In

The vSphere Replication appliance adds a plug-in to the vSphere Web Client.

You use the vSphere Replication client plug-in to perform all vSphere Replication actions.

Configure connections between vSphere Replication sites.

View all vCenter Server instances that are registered with the same SSO and status of each

vSphere Replication extension.

Deploy and register additional vSphere Replication servers.

Configure the replication of individual or multiple virtual machines.

View incoming and outgoing replications.

Monitor and manage the status of the replications.

Recover virtual machines.

Source and Target Sites

In a typical vSphere Replication installation, the source site provides business-critical datacenter services.

The target site is an alternative facility to which you can migrate these services.

The source site can be any site where vCenter Server supports a critical business need. The target site

can be in another location, or in the same room to establish redundancy. The target site is usually located

in a facility that is unlikely to be affected by environmental, infrastructure, or other disturbances that might

affect the source site.

vSphere Replication has the following requirements for the vSphere® configurations at each site:

Each site must have at least one datacenter.

The target site must have hardware, network, and storage resources that can support the same

virtual machines and workloads as the source site.

The sites must be connected by a reliable IP network.

The target site must have access to networks (public and private) comparable to those on the source

site, although not necessarily the same range of network addresses.

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VMware vSphere Replication Administration

Connecting Source and Target Sites

Before you replicate virtual machines between two sites, you must connect the sites. If the sites use

different SSO, you must provide authentication details for the target site, including IP or FQDN , user and

password information. When connecting sites, users at both sites must have VRM remote.Manage VRM

privilege. When you connect sites that are part of the same SSO, you need to select the target site only

without providing authentication details, as you are already logged in. After connecting the sites, you can

monitor the connectivity state between them at Target Sites tab.

How vSphere Replication Works

With vSphere Replication, you can configure replication of a virtual machine from a source site to a target

site, monitor and manage the status of the replication, and recover the virtual machine at the target site.

When you configure a virtual machine for replication, the vSphere Replication agent sends changed

blocks in the virtual machine disks from the source site to the target site, where they are applied to the

copy of the virtual machine. This process occurs independently of the storage layer. vSphere Replication

performs an initial full synchronization of the source virtual machine and its replica copy. You can use

replication seeds to reduce the amount of time and bandwidth required for the initial replication.

During replication configuration, you can set a recovery point objective (RPO) and enable retention of

instances from multiple points in time (MPIT).

As administrator, you can monitor and manage the status of the replication. You can view information for

incoming and outgoing replications, source and target site status, replication issues, and for warnings and

errors.

When you manually recover a virtual machine, vSphere Replication creates a copy of the virtual machine

connected to the replica disk, but does not connect any of the virtual network cards to port groups. You

can review the recovery and status of the replica virtual machine and attach it to the networks. You can

recover virtual machines at different points in time, such as the last known consistent state.

vSphere Replication presents the retained instances as ordinary virtual machine snapshots to which you

can revert the virtual machine.

vSphere Replication stores replication configuration data in its embedded database. You can also

configure vSphere Replication to use an external database.

You can replicate a virtual machine between two sites. vSphere Replication is installed on both source

and target sites. Only one vSphere Replication appliance is deployed on each vCenter Server. You can

deploy additional vSphere Replication Servers.

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Network File

Copy

ESXi

VR Agent

vCenter Server

vSphere Web Client

Target site is the location of

the virtual machine replica

Source site is the location of

the original virtual machine

VR Appliance

vCenter Server

ESXi

VR Agent

VR Appliance

vSphere Web Client

Source Site

Target Site

Replicate

changed blocks

Replication

ESXi

vSphere Web Client

vCenter Server

ESXi

VR Appliance

Cluster 1

Cluster 2

ESXi

Replication

VR ServerVR Server

Network

File Copy

Network

File Copy

VMware vSphere Replication Administration

Figure 1‑1. Replication Between Two Sites

You can add multiple Additional vSphere Replication servers in a single vCenter Server to replicate virtual

machines to other clusters.

Figure 1‑2. Replication In a Single vCenter Server

You can replicate virtual machines to a shared target site.

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VR Appliance

changed blocks

vCenter

Server

Source Site

Target Site

ESXi ESXi

vCenter Server

ESXi

VR Agent

ESXi

VR Agent

ESXi

VR Agent

VR Appliance

vCenter

Server

Source Site

Replication

ESXi

VR Agent

ESXi

VR Agent

ESXi

VR Agent

Replication

VR Appliance

Replicate

vSphere Web Client

Network

File Copy

Network

File Copy

VMware vSphere Replication Administration

Figure 1‑3. Replication to a Shared Target Site

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vSphere Replication Roles and

Permissions 2

You can use any predefined roles or clone an existing role, and add or remove privileges from it based on

your needs.

This section includes the following topics:

Assign vSphere Replication Roles to Users

Assign VRM Replication Viewer Role

Assign VRM Virtual Machine Replication User Role

Assign VRM Virtual Machine Recovery User Role

Clone Existing VRM Administrator Role and Modify Privileges

vSphere Replication Roles Reference

Assign vSphere Replication Roles to Users

You create roles and assign permissions for vSphere Replication in the same way as you do in vCenter.

See vSphere Users and Permissions in vSphere Security.

Assign VRM Replication Viewer Role

In this example, you create a vSphere Replication user that can view only replications sites and

replications configured between them, but cannot perform modifications.

Prerequisites

Verify that you have two sites connected and replication configured between them.

Verify that you have another user account for each site.

Procedure

1 Log in as Administrator on the source site.

2 Select vCenter > Manage > Permissions and assign the VRM replication viewer role with the

propagate option to this user.

3 Assign the same privilege on the target replication site.

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VMware vSphere Replication Administration

4 Log in as the user with the assigned VRM replication viewer role.

The user cannot perform modifications on the configured replication, nor on the replication sites. Running

operations result in Permission to perform this operation was denied.

Assign VRM Virtual Machine Replication User Role

In this example, you create a vSphere Replication user who can only configure replication between sites

and use a specific datastore on the target site.

Prerequisites

Verify that two sites are connected.

Verify that you have another user account for each site.

Procedure

1 Log in as the Administrator user on the source site.

2 Select vCenter > Manage > Permissions and assign to this user the VRM virtual machine

replication user role with the propagate option.

3 Assign the same privilege on the target replication site.

4 On the target site, select the datastore to store your replica files, and select Manage > Permissions.

5 Edit the assigned permission and assign the VRM target datastore user role.

6 Log in as that user on the source site, select the virtual machine, and click Configure Replication to

start the configuration wizard.

7 Select the target site and enter the same user credentials.

8 Accept the default selections until Target Location.

9 For the target location, select the datastore to which you granted permission.

Selecting a datastore for which the user lacks the Target datastore user role results in the error

message Permission to perform this operation was denied.

Assign VRM Virtual Machine Recovery User Role

In this example, you create a vSphere Replication user who can perform recovery operations only if the

source site is not available.

Prerequisites

Verify that you have two sites connected and replication configured between them.

Verify that you have another user account for the target site.

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VMware vSphere Replication Administration

Procedure

1 Log in as the Administrator user on the target site.

2 Select vCenter > Manage > Permissions and assign to this user the VRM virtual machine

recovery user role with the propagate option.

3 Log in as that user on the target site.

4 Select Monitor > vSphere Replication > Incoming Replications, select the replication, and start

recovery.

5 Select Recover with latest available data and follow the prompts to finish the recovery.

Clone Existing VRM Administrator Role and Modify Privileges

In this example, you create a vSphere Replication user who cannot modify the replication infrastructure.

The user cannot register additional vSphere Replication servers.

Prerequisites

Verify that you have a replication site.

Verify that you have another user account.

Procedure

1 Log in as the Administrator user and clone the VRM Administrator role.

2 In the cloned role, remove the Manage VR privileges.

3 Select vCenter > Manage > Permissions and assign the cloned user with Propagate privilege.

4 Log in as the cloned user and select Manage > vSphere Replication > Replication Servers.

Trying to register a vSphere Replication server results in the error message Permission to perform

this operation was denied.

vSphere Replication Roles Reference

vSphere Replication includes a set of roles. Each role includes a set of privileges, which enable users

with those roles to complete different actions.

For information about how to assign roles, see Assigning Roles in the vSphere Web Client in vSphere

Security.

Note When assigning permissions with no propagation, make sure that you have at least Read-only

permission on all parent objects.

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VMware vSphere Replication Administration

Table 2‑1. vSphere Replication Roles

Role Actions that this Role Permits Privileges that this Role Includes

Objects in vCenter Server

Inventory that this Role Can

Access

VRM

replication

viewer

VRM virtual

machine

replication user

View replications.

Cannot change replication

parameters.

View replications.

Manage datastores.

Configure and unconfigure

replications.

Manage and monitor

replications.

Requires a corresponding user

with the same role on the target

site and additionally

vSphere Replication target

datastore user role on the target

datacenter, or datastore folder or

each target datastore.

VRM remote.View VR

VRM remote.View VRM

VRM datastore mapper.View

Host.vSphere Replication.Manage

replication

Virtual machine.vSphere

Replication.Monitor replication

Datastore.Browse Datastore

VRM remote.View VR

VRM remote.View VRM

VRM datastore mapper.Manage

VRM datastore mapper.View

Host.vSphere Replication.Manage

replication

Virtual machine.vSphere

Replication.Configure replication

Virtual machine.vSphere

Replication.Manage replication

Virtual machine.vSphere

Replication.Monitor replication

vCenter Server root folder with

propagation, at source site

(outgoing replications) and target

site (incoming replications).

Alternatively, vCenter Server root

folder without propagation on

both sites and virtual machine

without propagation on the

source site.

vCenter Server root folder with

propagation on both sites.

Alternatively, vCenter Server root

folder without propagation on

both sites, virtual machine

without propagation on the

source site, source datastores

without propagation on the

source site.

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VMware vSphere Replication Administration

Table 2‑1. vSphere Replication Roles (Continued)

Role Actions that this Role Permits Privileges that this Role Includes

Objects in vCenter Server

Inventory that this Role Can

Access

VRM

administrator

Incorporates all

vSphere Replication privileges.

VRM remote.Manage VR

VRM remote.View VR

VRM remote.Manage VRM

VRM remote.View VRM

VRM datastore mapper.Manage

VRM datastore mapper.View

VRM diagnostics .Manage

VRM session .Terminate

Datastore.Browse datastore

Datastore.Low level file operations

Host.vSphere Replication.Manage

replication

Resource.Assign virtual machine to

resource pool

Virtual machine.Configuration.Add

existing disk

Virtual machine.Configuration.Add

or remove device

Virtual machine.Interaction.Power

Virtual machine.Interaction.Device

connection

Virtual machine.Inventory.Register

Virtual machine.vSphere

Replication.Configure replication

Virtual machine.vSphere

Replication.Manage replication

Virtual machine.vSphere

Replication.Monitor replication

vCenter Server root folder with

propagation on both sites.

Alternatively, vCenter Server root

folder without propagation on

both sites, virtual machine

without propagation on the

source site, target datastore,

target virtual machine folder with

propagation on the target site,

target host or cluster with

propagation on the target site.

VRM

diagnostics

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Generate, retrieve, and delete log

bundles.

VRM remote.View VR

VRM remote.View VRM

VRM diagnostics .Manage

vCenter Server root folder on

both sites.

VMware vSphere Replication Administration

Table 2‑1. vSphere Replication Roles (Continued)

Role Actions that this Role Permits Privileges that this Role Includes

Objects in vCenter Server

Inventory that this Role Can

Access

VRM target

datastore user

VRM virtual

machine

recovery user

Configure and reconfigure

replications.

Used on target site in combination

with the VRM virtual machine

replication user role on both sites.

Recover virtual machines. Datastore.Browse datastore

Datastore.Browse datastore

Datastore.Low level file operations

Host.vSphere Replication.Manage

replication

Virtual machine.Configuration.Add

existing disk

Virtual machine.Configuration.Add

or remove device

Virtual machine.Interaction.Power

Virtual machine.Interaction.Device

connection

Virtual machine.Inventory.Register

Resource.Assign virtual machine to

resource pool

Datastore objects on target site,

or datastore folder with

propagation at target site, or

target datacenter with

propagation.

Secondary vCenter Server root

folder with propagation.

Alternatively, secondary

vCenter Server root folder

without propagation, target

datastore without propagation,

target virtual machine folder with

propagation, target host or

cluster with propagation.

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vSphere Replication System

Requirements 3

The environment in which you run the vSphere Replication virtual appliance must meet certain hardware

requirements.

vSphere Replication is distributed as a 64-bit virtual appliance packaged in the .ovf format. It has a dual

core CPU, a 10GB and a 2GB hard disk, and 4GB of RAM. Additional vSphere Replication Servers

require 512MB of RAM.

You must deploy the virtual appliance in a vCenter Server environment by using the OVF deployment

wizard on an ESXi host.

vSphere Replication consumes negligible CPU and memory on the source host ESXi and on the guest

OS of the replicated virtual machine.

This section includes the following topics:

vSphere Replication Licensing

vSphere Replication Network Ports

Operational Limits of vSphere Replication

Compatibility of vSphere Replication with Other vSphere Features

vSphere Replication Compatibility with Other Software

Bandwidth Requirements for vSphere Replication

vSphere Replication Licensing

You can use vSphere Replication with certain editions of vSphere that include vSphere Replication in the

license.

vSphere Replication does not have a separate license as it is a feature of certain vSphere license

editions.

vSphere Essentials Plus

vSphere Standard

vSphere Enterprise

vSphere Enterprise Plus

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VMware vSphere Replication Administration

If you have the correct vSphere license, there is no limit on the number of virtual machines that you can

replicate by using vSphere Replication.

You cannot use vSphere Replication to replicate virtual machines on ESXi hosts that do not have the

correct vSphere license. If you install vSphere Replication on an ESXi host that does not have the correct

license and try to configure replication for virtual machines on that host, the replication fails with a

licensing error.

If you configure a virtual machine for replication on a host with the correct vSphere license and move it to

a host with an unsupported license, vSphere Replication stops replication of that virtual machine. You can

disable vSphere Replication on a configured virtual machine on the unlicensed host.

vSphere Replication Network Ports

vSphere Replication uses default network ports for intrasite communication between hosts at a single site

and intersite communication between hosts at the protected and recovery sites.

For a list of all the ports that must be open for vSphere Replication, see

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1009562.

For the list of default ports that all VMware products use, see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1012382.

Operational Limits of vSphere Replication

vSphere Replication has certain operational limits.

To ensure successful virtual machine replication, you must verify that your virtual infrastructure respects

certain limits before you start the replication.

You can only deploy one vSphere Replication appliance on a vCenter Server instance. When you

deploy another vSphere Replication appliance, during the boot process vSphere Replication detects

another appliance already deployed and registered as an extension to vCenter Server. You have to

confirm if you want to proceed with the new appliance and recreate all replications or shut it down and

reboot the old appliance to restore the original vSphere Replication extension thumbprint in

vCenter Server.

Each vSphere Replication management server can manage a maximum of 500 replications.

See http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2034768 for more information.

Compatibility of vSphere Replication with Other vSphere Features

vSphere Replication is compatible with certain other vSphere management features.

You can safely use vSphere Replication in combination with certain vSphere features, such as vSphere

vMotion. Some other vSphere features, for example vSphere Distributed Power Management, require

special configuration for use with vSphere Replication.

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VMware vSphere Replication Administration

Table 3‑1. Compatibility of vSphere Replication with Other vSphere Features

Compatible with

vSphere Feature

vSphere vMotion Yes You can migrate replicated virtual machines by using vMotion. Replication

vSphere Replication Description

continues at the defined recovery point objective (RPO) after the migration is

finished.

vSphere Storage

vMotion

vSphere High

Availability

Yes You can move the disk files of a replicated virtual machine on the source site

using Storage vMotion with no impact on the ongoing replication.

Yes You can protect a replicated virtual machine by using HA. Replication continues

at the defined RPO after HA restarts a virtual machine. vSphere Replication

does not perform any special HA handling.

Note You cannot protect the vSphere Replication appliance itself by using HA.

vSphere Fault

Tolerance

No vSphere Replication cannot replicate virtual machines that have fault tolerance

enabled. You cannot protect the vSphere Replication appliance itself with FT.

vSphere DRS Yes Replication continues at the defined RPO after resource redistribution is

finished.

vSphere Storage

DRS

VMware Virtual

SAN datastore

Yes You can move the disk files of a replicated virtual machine on the source site

using Storage DRS with no impact on the ongoing replication.

Fully supported in

vSphere Replication 5.5.1.

Experimental support in

vSphere Replication 5.5.

You can use VMware Virtual SAN datastores as a target datastore when

configuring replications.

Note VMware Virtual SAN is a fully supported feature of vSphere 5.5u1.

You can use Virtual SAN in production environments with

vSphere Replication 5.5.1 and vSphere 5.5u1.

Virtual SAN is an experimental feature in vSphere 5.5. You can perform

testing with Virtual SAN with vSphere Replication 5.5.0 and vSphere 5.5,

but it is not supported for use in production environments. See the release

notes for the vSphere Replication 5.5.0 release for information about how

to enable Virtual SAN in vSphere 5.5.

vSphere

Distributed Power

Management

VMware vSphere

Flash Read Cache

Yes vSphere Replication coexists with DPM on the source site. vSphere Replication

does not perform any special DPM handling on the source site. Disable DPM

on the target site to allow enough hosts as replication targets.

Yes You can replicate virtual machines that contain disks that use VMware vSphere

Flash Read Cache storage. Since the host to which a virtual machine recovers

might not be configured for Flash Read Cache, vSphere Replication disables

Flash Read Cache on disks when it starts the virtual machines on the target

site. After the recovery, you can migrate the virtual machine to a host with Flash

Read Cache storage and restore the original Flash Read Cache setting on the

virtual machine.

vCloud APIs Not applicable No interaction with vSphere Replication.

vCenter

Not applicable No interaction with vSphere Replication

Chargeback

VMware Data

Not applicable No interaction with vSphere Replication.

Recovery

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vSphere Replication Compatibility with Other Software

vSphere Replication is compatible with versions of ESXi Server, vCenter Server, Site Recovery Manager,

databases, and Web browsers.

vSphere Replication is compatible with the same versions as vCenter Server, except for ESXi:

vSphere Replication requires ESXi 5.0 or greater. See:

VMware Product Interoperability Matrixes at

http://partnerweb.vmware.com/comp_guide2/sim/interop_matrix.php

For vSphere Replication interoperability with backup software when using VSS, see

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2040754.

VMware Compatibility Guide at

http://partnerweb.vmware.com/comp_guide2/search.php?testConfig=16&deviceCategory=software

Browser compatibility at vSphere Client and vSphere Web Client Software Requirements in vSphere

Installation and Setup

Browser compatibility of the VAMI depends on browsers supported by VMware Studio. See

https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/studio/studio25/release_notes.html

Bandwidth Requirements for vSphere Replication

Before configuring replications, VMware recommends that determine storage and network bandwidth

requirements for vSphere Replication to replicate virtual machines efficiently.

Storage and network bandwidth requirements can increase when using vSphere Replication. The

following factors play a role in the amount of network bandwidth vSphere Replication requires for efficient

replication.

Network Based Storage

Network bandwidth requirements increase if all storage is network-based because data operations

between the host and the storage also use network. When you plan your deployment, be aware of the

following levels of traffic:

Between the host running the replicated virtual machine and the vSphere Replication server.

Between the vSphere Replication server and a host with access to the replication target datastore.

Between the host and storage.

Between storage and the host during redo log snapshots.

Network based storage is a concern when you are replicating virtual machines within a single vCenter

Server instance that shares the network for the levels of traffic listed. When you have two sites with a

vCenter Server instance on each site, the link speed between the two sites is the most important as it can

slow down replication traffic between the two sites.

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VMware vSphere Replication Administration

Dataset Size

vSphere Replication might not replicate every virtual machine nor every VMDK file in the replicated virtual

machines. To evaluate the dataset size that vSphere Replication replicates, calculate the percentage of

the total storage used for virtual machines, then calculate the number of VMDKs within that subset that

you have configured for replication.

For example, you might have 2TB of virtual machines on the datastores and usevSphere Replication to

replicate half of these virtual machines. You might only replicate a subset of the VMDKs and assuming all

the VMDKs are replicated, the maximum amount of data for replication is 1TB.

Data Change Rate and Recovery Point Objective

The data change rate is affected by the recovery point objective (RPO). To estimate the size of the data

transfer for each replication, you must evaluate how many blocks change in a given RPO for a virtual

machine. The data change rate within the RPO period provides the total number of blocks that

vSphere Replication transfers. This number might vary throughout the day, which alters the traffic that

vSphere Replication generates at different times.

vSphere Replication transfers blocks based on the RPO schedule. If you set an RPO of one hour,

vSphere Replication transfers any block that has changed in that hour to meet that RPO.

vSphere Replication only transfers the block once in its current state at the moment that

vSphere Replication creates the bundle of blocks for transfer. vSphere Replication only registers that the

block has changed within the RPO period, not how many times it changed. The average daily data

change rate provides an estimation of how much data vSphere Replication transfers or how often the

transfers occur.

If you use volume shadow copy service (VSS) to quiesce the virtual machine, replication traffic cannot be

spread out in small sets of bundles throughout the RPO period. Instead, vSphere Replication transfers all

the changed blocks as one set when the virtual machine is idle. Without VSS, vSphere Replication can

transfer smaller bundles of changed blocks on an ongoing basis as the blocks change, spreading the

traffic throughout the RPO period. The traffic changes if you use VSS and vSphere Replication handles

the replication schedule differently, leading to varying traffic patterns.

If you change the RPO, vSphere Replication transfers more or less data per replication to meet the new

RPO.

Link Speed

If you have to transfer an average replication bundle of 4GB in a one hour period, you must examine the

link speed to determine if the RPO can be met. If you have a 10Mb link, under ideal conditions on a

completely dedicated link with little overhead, 4GB takes about an hour to transfer. Meeting the RPO

saturates a 10Mb WAN connection. The connection is saturated even under ideal conditions, with no

overhead or limiting factors such as retransmits, shared traffic, or excessive bursts of data change rates.

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You can assume that only about 70% of a link is available for traffic replication. This means that on a

10Mb link you obtain a link speed of about 3GB per hour. On a 100Mb link you obtain a speed of about

30GB per hour.

To calculate the bandwidth, see Calculate Bandwidth for vSphere Replication.

Calculate Bandwidth for vSphere Replication

To determine the bandwidth that vSphere Replication requires to replicate virtual machines efficiently, you

calculate the average data change rate within an RPO period divided by the link speed.

If you have groups of virtual machines that have different RPO periods, you can determine the replication

time for each group of virtual machines. For example, you might have four groups with RPO of 15

minutes, one hour, four hours, and 24 hours. Factor in all the different RPOs in the environment, the

subset of virtual machines in your environment that is replicated, the change rate of the data within that

subset, the amount of data changes within each configured RPO, and the link speeds in your network.

Prerequisites

Examine how data change rate, traffic rates, and the link speed meet the RPO. Then look at the

aggregate of each group.

Procedure

1 Identify the average data change rate within the RPO by calculating the average change rate over a

longer period then dividing it by the RPO.

2 Calculate how much traffic this data change rate generates in each RPO period.

3 Measure the traffic against your link speed.

For example, a data change rate of 100GB requires approximately 200 hours to replicate on a T1

network, 30 hours to replicate on a 10Mbps network, 3 hours on a 100Mbps network.

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Installing vSphere Replication 4

vSphere Replication uses the replication technologies included in ESXi with the assistance of virtual

appliances to replicate virtual machines between source and target sites.

To use vSphere Replication, you must deploy the vSphere Replication appliance on an ESXi host using

the vSphere Web Client.

The vSphere Replication appliance registers with the corresponding vCenter Server instance. For

example, on the source site, the vSphere Replication appliance registers with the vCenter Server

instance on the source site. Only one vSphere Replication appliance is allowed per vCenter Server.

The vSphere Replication appliance contains a vSphere Replication server that manages the replication

process. To meet the load balancing needs of your environment, you might need to deploy additional

vSphere Replication servers at each site. Additional vSphere Replication servers that you deploy are

themselves virtual appliances. You must register any additional vSphere Replication servers with the

vSphere Replication appliance on the corresponding site.

The vSphere Replication appliance provides a virtual appliance management interface (VAMI). You can

use this interface to reconfigure the vSphere Replication database, network settings, public-key

certificates, and passwords for the appliances.

This section includes the following topics:

Deploy the vSphere Replication Virtual Appliance

Configure vSphere Replication Connections

Uninstall vSphere Replication

Unregister vSphere Replication from vCenter Server if the Appliance Was Deleted

Deploy the vSphere Replication Virtual Appliance

vSphere Replication is distributed as an OVF virtual appliance.

You deploy the vSphere Replication appliance by using the standard vSphere OVF deployment wizard.

Prerequisites

Verify that you have vSphere and vSphere Web Client installations for the source and target sites.

Download the vSphere Replication package to a local directory or obtain its online URL.

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Download and install the Client Integration Plug-in from the login page of the vSphere Web Client. If

the plug-in is already installed, the link does not appear.

In the vSphere Web Client, select the vCenter Server instance on which you are deploying

vSphere Replication and click Manage > Settings > Advanced Settings. Verify that the

VirtualCenter.FQDN value is set to a fully-qualified domain name or a literal address.

Procedure

1 Log in to the vSphere Web Client on the source site.

2 Select vCenter > Hosts and Clusters.

3 Right-click a host and select Deploy OVF template.

4 Provide the location of the OVF file from which to deploy the vSphere Replication appliance, and click

Next.

Select URL and provide the URL to deploy the appliance from an online URL.

Select Local file > Browse to locate the .ovf file if you downloaded the zip file to a local

machine.

5 Review the virtual appliance details and click Next.

6 Accept the end user license agreements (EULA) and click Next.

7 Accept the default name and destination folder or datacenter, or provide a new name and select a

folder or datacenter for the virtual appliance, and click Next.

8 Select a cluster, host, vApp, or resource pool where you want to run the deployed template, and click

Next.

9 Select a destination datastore and disk format for the virtual appliance and click Next.

10 Select a network from the list of available networks, IP protocol, IP allocation, and click Next.

vSphere Replication supports both DHCP and static IP addresses. You can also change network

settings by using the virtual appliance management interface (VAMI) after installation.

11 Set the password for the root account for the customized template, and click Next.

Password must be eight characters minimum.

12 Review the binding to the vCenter Extension vService and click Next.

13 Review the settings, select the check box to power on the virtual appliance after deployment, and

click Finish.

The vSphere Replication appliance is deployed.

14 Log out of the vSphere Web Client, close the browser, then log back in.

vSphere Replication is present on the Home tab in the vSphere Web Client.

15 Repeat the procedure to install vSphere Replication on the target site.

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vSphere Replication is ready for use immediately after you deploy the appliance. No manual configuration

or registration is required.

What to do next

Perform optional reconfiguration of the vSphere Replication appliance by using the virtual appliance

management interface (VAMI). You can install a certificate, change the appliance root password, change

the trust policy, or configure vSphere Replication to use an external database.

Conﬁgure vSphere Replication Connections

To use vSphere Replication between two sites managed by different vCenter Server instances, you need

to configure a connection between the two vSphere Replication appliances.

You can complete this process on either site on which you have installed a vSphere Replication

appliance. If you are using an untrusted certificate, certificate warnings might appear during the process.

You can also configure connection between the two sites when you configure a replication.

Alternatively, you can use vSphere Replication to replicate virtual machines between different ESXi hosts

that the same vCenter Server manages. In this case, you deploy only one vSphere Replication appliance

and you do not need to connect the source and target sites.

Prerequisites

Procedure

1 Click vSphere Replication on the Home tab of the vSphere Web Client.

2 Click the Summary tab.

3 In the Local sites pane, click the name of the site on the source site.

4 Right-click the site in the left pane, select All vSphere Replication Actions > Connect to target

site, type the IP address or name of the remote site vCenter Server and the username and password

for the target site.

Option Description

To select an existing target site Click Select a target site and select a site from the list.

To configure a new remote site Click Connect to remote site and type the IP address or name of the remote site

vCenter Server, and provide the user name and password for the target site.

5 Click OK.

Uninstall vSphere Replication

You uninstall vSphere Replication by unregistering the appliance from vCenter Server and removing it

from your environment.

Prerequisites

Verify that the vSphere Replication virtual appliance is powered on.

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VMware vSphere Replication Administration

Stop all existing outgoing or incoming replications to the site.

Disconnect any connections to other vSphere Replication sites.

Procedure

1 Connect to the VAMI of the vSphere Replication appliance in a Web browser.

The URL for the VAMI is https://vr-appliance-address:5480.

2 Select the Configuration tab.

3 Click Unregister from vCenter Server.

4 In the vSphere Web Client, power off and delete the vSphere Replication appliance.

The vSphere Replication plug-in is uninstalled automatically.

You removed vSphere Replication from your environment.

Unregister vSphere Replication from vCenter Server if the Appliance Was Deleted

If the vSphere Replication appliance virtual machine does not exist because it was deleted, you cannot

use the virtual appliance management interface (VAMI) to unregister vSphere Replication from

vCenter Server. Instead, you can use the Managed Object Browser (MOB) to delete the

vSphere Replication extension.

Prerequisites

credentials.

Procedure

1 In the extensionList property, click the corresponding link for the com.vmware.vcHms extension key to

check the key details.

2 Verify that the displayed data is for a vSphere Replication appliance that is already lost.

3 In ExtensionManager, click unregisterExtension.

4 Type com.vmware.vcHms for the extension key value, and click Invoke Method.

5 Verify that the result displays void and not an error message.

An error message might appear if the specified extension is not registered, or if an unexpected

runtime error occurs.

6 Close the window.

7 Refresh the ExtensionManager page and verify that the extensionList entry does not include

com.vmware.vcHms.

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What to do next

Deploy a new vSphere Replication appliance and perform any optional configuration.

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Deploying Additional

vSphere Replication Servers 5

Depending on replication traffic, you might need to deploy one or more additional vSphere Replication

servers.

This section includes the following topics:

Deploy an Additional vSphere Replication Server

Reconfigure vSphere Replication Server Settings

Unregister and Remove a vSphere Replication Server

Disable the Embedded vSphere Replication Server

Deploy an Additional vSphere Replication Server

The vSphere Replication appliance includes a vSphere Replication server. However, you might need to

deploy multiple vSphere Replication servers to meet your load balancing needs.

You can deploy multiple vSphere Replication servers to route traffic from source hosts to target

datastores without traveling between different sites managed by the same vCenter Server.

For information about the loads that a vSphere Replication management server and a

vSphere Replication server can support, see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2034768.

Prerequisites

Deploy vSphere Replication appliances on the source and target sites.

Deploy vSphere Replication servers on a network that allows them to communicate with the

vSphere Replication appliances on the source and target sites.

Verify that the vSphere Replication servers can communicate with the ESXi Server instances on the

source site that hosts the replicated virtual machines.

Procedure

1 In the vSphere Web Client, start the OVF deployment wizard from Manage > vSphere Replication >

Replication Servers.

2 Browse for the vSphere_Replication_AddOn_OVF10.ovf file, select it, and click Next.

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VMware vSphere Replication Administration

3 Review the virtual appliance details and click Next.

4 Follow the prompts to select a destination host, datastore, and disk format for the virtual appliance.

5 Enter a password for the appliance that is at least eight characters long.

6 Set the network properties. Select DHCP or set a static IP address.

You can change network settings after deployment in the VAMI.

7 Review your settings and select Power on after deployment to start the appliance immediately after

deployment completes.

8 Click Finish.

What to do next

When the OVF file has deployed, register the vSphere Replication server with the vSphere Replication

appliance.

Register an Additional vSphere Replication Server

If you deploy additional vSphere Replication servers, you must register these servers with the

vSphere Replication appliance to enable them as traffic handlers at the recovery site.

Prerequisites

Verify that the vSphere Replication appliance is deployed and configured.

Verify that the additional vSphere Replication server is deployed.

Procedure

1 In Manage > vSphere Replication > Replication Servers, click Register a virtual machine as

vSphere Replication Server.

2 Select a virtual machine in the inventory that is a working vSphere Replication server, and click OK.

The newly registered vSphere Replication server appears in the list.

Reconﬁgure vSphere Replication Server Settings

The vSphere Replication appliance contains a vSphere Replication server. If you deploy additional

vSphere Replication servers, the server settings are established during deployment. You can modify the

settings after you deploy the server.

A vSphere Replication server does not require additional configuration through the virtual appliance

management interface (VAMI) after deployment. To increase security, you can change the root password

of the vSphere Replication server and install a new certificate. Using a self-signed certificate provides the

benefit of public-key based encryption and authentication, although using such a certificate does not

provide the level of assurance offered when you use a certificate signed by a certificate authority.

You can also reconfigure the network settings for the vSphere Replication server virtual appliance.

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VMware vSphere Replication Administration

Prerequisites

You deployed an optional vSphere Replication server in addition to the vSphere Replication appliance,

and the server is powered on.

Procedure

1 Log into the VAMI of the vSphere Replication server in a Web browser. A sample address might be

https://<vr_server_address>:5480.

2 Log in to the vSphere Replication server configuration interface as root.

Use the root password you set when you deployed the vSphere Replication server.

3 Click the VRS tab.

4 (Optional) Click Configuration to generate or upload a new certificate.

Option Action

Generate and install a self-signed

certificate

Upload an existing SSL certificate Click Browse next to the Upload PKCS#12 (*.pfx) file text box to browse for an

Click Generate and Install.

existing certificate, and click Upload and Install.

5 (Optional) Click Security to change the Super User password for the vSphere Replication server.

root is the Super User.

6 (Optional) Click the Network tab to change the network settings.

Option Action

View current network settings Click Status.

Set static or DHCP IPv4 or IPv6

addresses

Configure proxy server Click Proxy, select the Use a proxy server check box, and type the proxy server

Save Settings If you do not click Save Settings, changes are discarded.

Click Address, and select DHCP, Static, or None for IPv4 addresses.

Select Auto or Static for IPv6 addresses. If you select Static, type the default

gateway and DNS server addresses to use.

address and port number.

7 (Optional) Select VRS > Configuration > Restart to restart the vSphere Replication service.

8 (Optional) Select System > Reboot to reboot the vSphere Replication server appliance.

Unregister and Remove a vSphere Replication Server

If you deployed additional vSphere Replication server instances that you no longer require, you must

unregister them from the vSphere Replication appliance before you delete them.

Prerequisites

You deployed and registered a vSphere Replication server that you no longer require. Make sure it does

not serve any replications, otherwise the operations will fail.

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Procedure

1 In Manage > vSphere Replication, click the Replication Servers tab and find the

vSphere Replication server in the list.

2 Select the server and click Unregister the selected vSphere Replication Server.

3 In the Hosts and Clusters view, power off and delete the vSphere Replication server virtual machine.

Disable the Embedded vSphere Replication Server

vSphere Replication includes an embedded vSphere Replication Server by default. If you want to disable

the embedded vSphere Replication server, you can do so using ssh.

Prerequisites

Make sure no replications are using the embedded server. Stop the replications or move them to a

different server.

Procedure

1 Use ssh into the vSphere Replication appliance and type:

# /opt/vmware/hms/hms-configtool -cmd reconfig -property

hms-embedded-hbr=false

2 Restart the HMS service.

# service hms restart

You can now unregister the embedded vSphere Replication server from the vSphere Replication

appliance interface.

What to do next

Rebooting vSphere Replication does not automatically register the embedded server. To restore the

default behavior to automatically register the embedded vSphere Replication server, type

# /opt/vmware/hms/hms-configtool -cmd reconfig -property

hms-embedded-hbr=true

# service hms restart

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Upgrading vSphere Replication 6

You upgrade the vSphere Replication appliance and any additional vSphere Replication servers by using

a downloaded ISO image.

The downloadable ISO image is the only means of upgrading from vSphere Replication 5.1.x to

vSphere Replication 5.5.x. You cannot upgrade vSphere Replication from version 5.1.x to to version 5.5.x

by using vSphere Update Manager or the virtual appliance management interface (VAMI) of the

vSphere Replication appliance. After you have installed vSphere Replication 5.5.x or upgraded to version

5.5.x by using the ISO image, you can use the VAMI or Update Manager to install later 5.5.x update

releases.

You cannot downgrade to a previous version of vSphere Replication.

Example: vSphere Replication Upgrade Scenarios

These examples of upgrade and update scenarios are not exhaustive. For the full list of supported

upgrade paths, see the Compatibility Matrixes for vSphere Replication 5.5 at

https://www.vmware.com/support/vsphere5/doc/vsphere-replication-compat-matrix-5-5.html.

You can upgrade from vSphere Replication 5.1.2 to vSphere Replication 5.5.1 by using the ISO file

for vSphere Replication 5.5.1.

You can update vSphere Replication 5.5.0 to 5.5.1 by using the ISO file for vSphere Replication 5.5.1.

You cannot upgrade from vSphere Replication 1.0.3 to 5.5.1 by using Update Manager or the VAMI.

You cannot upgrade from vSphere Replication 5.1.2 to 5.5.1 by using Update Manager or the VAMI.

You can update vSphere Replication 5.5.0 to 5.5.1 by using Update Manager or the VAMI.

This section includes the following topics:

Upgrade vSphere Replication by Using the Downloadable ISO Image

Update vCenter Server IP Address in vSphere Replication Management Server

Update vSphere Replication By Using vSphere Update Manager

Update vSphere Replication by Using the VAMI

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VMware vSphere Replication Administration

Upgrade vSphere Replication by Using the Downloadable ISO Image

You upgrade the vSphere Replication appliance and the vSphere Replication server by using a

downloadable ISO image.

Prerequisites

Upgrade the vCenter Server instance that vSphere Replication extends.

Download the VMware-vSphere_Replication-5.5.x.x-build_number.iso ISO image from the

vSphere downloads page. Copy the ISO image file to a datastore that is accessible from the

vCenter Server instance that you use with vSphere Replication.

Power off the vSphere Replication virtual machine.

Procedure

1 Right-click the vSphere Replication virtual machine and select Edit Settings.

2 In Virtual Hardware, select CD/DVD Drive > Datastore ISO File.

3 Navigate to the ISO image in the datastore.

4 For File Type, select ISO Image and click OK.

5 Check the box to connect at power on and follow the prompts to add the CD/DVD Drive to the

vSphere Replication virtual machine.

6 Restart the vSphere Replication virtual machine.

7 In a Web browser, log in to the virtual appliance managment interface (VAMI).

If you are updating vSphere Replication 5.1, go to https://vr_appliance_address:5480.

8 Click the Update tab.

9 Click Settings and select Use CDROM Updates, then click Save.

10 Click Status and click Check Updates.

The appliance version appears in the list of available updates.

11 Click Install Updates and click OK.

12 After the updates install, click the System tab and click Reboot to complete the upgrade.

13 Log out of the vSphere Web Client and log in again to see the upgraded appliance.

What to do next

If your infrastructure uses more than one vSphere Replication server, you must upgrade all of the

vSphere Replication servers to 5.5. Repeat these steps to upgrade each vSphere Replication server.

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Update vCenter Server IP Address in vSphere Replication Management Server

After you upgrade vCenter Server and the vSphere Replication appliance, if the vCenter Server certificate

or the IP address changed during the upgrade, you must perform additional steps.

To update the vCenter Server certificate, see vSphere Replication is Inaccessible After Changing vCenter

Server Certificate.

If vCenter Server uses a static IP address, it preserves the IP address by default after upgrade. If the

vCenter Server uses a DHCP address that changed during the upgrade, and the vSphere Replication

management server is configured to use the vCenter Server IP address and not FQDN, update the IP

address in the vSphere Replication management server.

Procedure

1 Upgrade vCenter Server to the new appliance.

2 Upgrade vSphere Replication.

3 Power off the vSphere Replication appliance and power it on to retrieve the OVF environment.

4 On the vSphere Replication VAMI Configuration tab, type the new IP address of the vCenter Server.

5 Click Save and Restart.

Update vSphere Replication By Using vSphere Update Manager

You can update vSphere Replication from version 5.5.x to a later 5.5.x update release by using vSphere

Update Manager.

Update Manager 5.5.x contains the update information for vSphere Replication 5.5.x update releases.

Using Update Manager is the easiest way to update vSphere Replication, especially for large

environments that contain multiple vSphere Replication servers. You can update multiple

vSphere Replication servers at the same time.

Prerequisites

You installed vSphere Replication 5.5.x or upgraded vSphere Replication to version 5.5.x by using the

downloadable ISO file. If you are running an older version of vSphere Replication, you must upgrade

to version 5.5.x before you can use Update Manager to install a later 5.5.x update release.

You updated vCenter Server to the corresponding 5.5.x update release.

Verify that you installed Update Manager 5.5.x and installed the Update Manager client plug-in on the

vCenter Server instance that you use with vSphere Replication.

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Procedure

1 In the Update Manager interface, click the Configuration tab, click Download Settings, and select

the VMware VAs download source.

You can deselect all other download sources.

2 Click Apply and click Download Now to download the latest updates.

3 Click the Baselines and Groups tab, select VMs/VAs, and click Create to create an update baseline

for virtual appliances.

4 Type a name and a description for this update baseline, and select VA Upgrade as the baseline type.

5 Click Add Multiple Rules and set the update rules to create the update baseline.

Option Description

Vendor Select VMware Inc.

Appliances Select vSphere Replication Appliance and vSphere Replication Server

Upgrade To Select Latest

6 Click OK, click Next, and click Finish.

The update baseline is created.

7 In the VMs and Templates view, select the vSphere Replication appliance and click the Update

Manager tab.

8 Click Attach, select the baseline that you created, and click Attach to attach the baseline to the

vSphere Replication appliance.

9 Click Scan to discover the update version available.

10 Click Remediate and follow the prompts to start the update of the vSphere Replication appliance.

You can monitor the progress of the update in the Recent Tasks panel and verify that the appliance is

updated after the task finishes.

11 Select a vSphere Replication server in the Inventory and click the Update Manager tab.

12 Click Attach, select the baseline that you created, and click Attach to attach the baseline to the

vSphere Replication server.

13 Click Remediate and follow the prompts to start the update of the vSphere Replication server.

14 Repeat Step 11 to Step 13 for all vSphere Replication servers.

What to do next

If you configured vSphere Replication to accept only certificates that are signed by a trusted certificate

authority, after an update you must reconnect the vSphere Replication appliances.

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Update vSphere Replication by Using the VAMI

You can update vSphere Replication from version 5.5.x to a later 5.5.x update release by using the virtual

appliance management interface (VAMI) of the vSphere Replication management server.

Important Do not select the option in Update > Settings in the VAMI to automatically update

vSphere Replication. If you select automatic updates, the VAMI updates vSphere Replication to the latest

version, which might be incompatible with vCenter Server 5.5.x. Leave the update setting set to No

automatic updates.

Prerequisites

You installed vSphere Replication 5.5.x or upgraded vSphere Replication to version 5.5.x by using the

downloadable ISO file. If you are running an older version of vSphere Replication, you must upgrade

to version 5.5.x before you can update to a 5.5.x update release.

You updated vCenter Server to the corresponding 5.5.x update release.

Procedure

1 Connect to the VAMI of the vSphere Replication appliance in a Web browser.

The URL for the VAMI of the vSphere Replication appliance is https://vrms-address:5480.

2 Type the root user name and password for the vSphere Replication appliance.

You configured the root password during the OVF deployment of the vSphere Replication

management server.

3 Click the Update tab.

4 Click Check Updates.

By default, the VAMI shows the most recently available version. If you want to update to an older

update release when the next update release is already available, you must manually change the

update URL:

a Click Settings.

b Select Use Specified Repository and paste the update URL into the Repository URL text box.

See the release notes of the update release for the exact URL.

c Click Save Settings.

d Click Status.

e Click Check Updates.

The update checker shows that a new version is available.

5 Click Install Updates and click OK.

6 When the update finishes, select the System tab, and click Reboot.

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7 Repeat the process on the target site.

What to do next

If you configured vSphere Replication to accept only certificates that are signed by a trusted certificate

authority, after an update you must reconnect the vSphere Replication appliances.

If your infrastructure uses more than one vSphere Replication server, update the vSphere Replication

server appliances.

Update vSphere Replication Servers by Using the VAMI

If your infrastructure uses more than one vSphere Replication server, you must update all of the

vSphere Replication servers to the same update release version as the vSphere Replication appliance.

Prerequisites

You installed vSphere Replication 5.5.x or upgraded vSphere Replication and the additional

vSphere Replication servers to version 5.5.x by using the downloadable ISO file. If you are running an

older version of vSphere Replication, you must upgrade the vSphere Replication appliance and the

additional vSphere Replication servers to version 5.5.x before you can update to a later 5.5.x update

release.

You updated vCenter Server to the corresponding 5.5.x update release.

Procedure

1 In a Web browser, connect to the VAMI of the vSphere Replication server to update.

The URL for the VAMI of the vSphere Replication server is https://vr-server-address:5480.

2 Type the root user name and password for the vSphere Replication server appliance.

3 Click the Update tab.

4 Click Check Updates.

By default, the VAMI shows the most recently available version. If you want to update to an older

update release when the next update release is already available, you must manually change the

update URL:

a Click Settings.

b Select Use Specified Repository and paste the update URL into the Repository URL text box.

See the release notes of the update release for the exact URL.

c Click Save Settings.

d Click Status.

e Click Check Updates.

The update checker shows that a new version is available.

5 Click Install Updates and click OK.

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6 When the update finishes, select the System tab, and click Reboot.

7 Repeat the procedure to update any other vSphere Replication server instances.

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Reconﬁgure the

vSphere Replication Appliance 7

If necessary, you can reconfigure the vSphere Replication appliance settings by using the virtual

appliance management interface (VAMI).

You provide the settings for the vSphere Replication appliance in the Deploy OVF wizard when you

deploy the appliance. If you selected automatic configuration of the appliance using an embedded

database, you can use the vSphere Replication appliance immediately after deployment. If necessary you

can modify the configuration settings of the vSphere Replication appliance after you deploy it.

Reconfigure General vSphere Replication Settings

You can use vSphere Replication immediately after you deploy the vSphere Replication appliance. If

necessary, you can reconfigure the general settings after deployment in the virtual appliance

management interface (VAMI).

Change the SSL Certificate of the vSphere Replication Appliance

vSphere Replication appliance uses certificate-based authentication for all connections that it

establishes with vCenter Server and remote site vSphere Replication appliances.

Change the Password of the vSphere Replication Appliance

You set the password of the vSphere Replication appliance when you deploy the appliance. You can

change the password after installation by using the virtual appliance management interface (VAMI).

Change Keystore and Truststore Passwords of the vSphere Replication Appliance

To increase security, you can change the default passwords of the vSphere Replication appliance

keystore and truststore. If you copy the keystores from the appliance to another machine, VMware

recommends that you change the passwords before the copy operation.

Configure vSphere Replication Network Settings

You can review current network settings and change address and proxy settings for

vSphere Replication. You might make these changes to match network reconfigurations.

Configure vSphere Replication System Settings

You can view the vSphere Replication system settings to gather information about the

vSphere Replication appliance. You can also set the system time zone, and reboot or shut down the

appliance.

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Reconfigure vSphere Replication to Use an External Database

The vSphere Replication appliance contains an embedded vPostgreSQL database that you can use

immediately after you deploy the appliance, without any additional database configuration. If

necessary, you can reconfigure vSphere Replication to use an external database.

Use the Embedded vSphere Replication Database

If you configured vSphere Replication to use an external database, you can reconfigure

vSphere Replication to use the embedded database.

Reconﬁgure General vSphere Replication Settings

You can use vSphere Replication immediately after you deploy the vSphere Replication appliance. If

necessary, you can reconfigure the general settings after deployment in the virtual appliance

management interface (VAMI).

The general settings of the vSphere Replication appliance include the name and IP address of the

vSphere Replication appliance, the address and port of the vCenter Server instance to which it connects,

and an administrator email address. You can change the general settings from the default values in the

virtual appliance management interface (VAMI).

For example, you can reconfigure the address of the vSphere Replication appliance if you did not specify

a fixed IP address when you deployed the appliance, and DHCP changes the address after deployment.

Similarly, you can update the address of the vCenter Server instance if the address changes after

deployment.

Prerequisites

Verify that the vSphere Replication appliance is powered on.

You must have administrator privileges to configure the vSphere Replication appliance.

You updated vCenter Server to the corresponding 5.5.x update release.

Procedure

1 Connect to the VAMI of the vSphere Replication appliance in a Web browser.

The URL for the VAMI is https://vr-appliance-address:5480.

2 Review and confirm the browser security exception, if applicable, to proceed to the login page.

3 Type the root user name and password for the appliance.

You configured the root password during the OVF deployment of the vSphere Replication appliance.

4 Select the VR tab and click Configuration.

5 Type the address of the vSphere Replication appliance or click Browse to select an IP address from

a list.

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6 Type the address of the vCenter Server instance to use with this installation.

You must use the same address format that you used when you installed vCenter Server.

For example, if you used a fully qualified domain name during installation, you must use that FQDN. If

you used an IP address, you must use that IP address.

7 Type an administrator email address.

8 Click Save and Restart Service to apply the changes.

You reconfigured the general settings of the vSphere Replication appliance.

Change the SSL Certiﬁcate of the vSphere Replication Appliance

vSphere Replication appliance uses certificate-based authentication for all connections that it establishes

with vCenter Server and remote site vSphere Replication appliances.

vSphere Replication does not use username and password based authentication. vSphere Replication

generates a standard SSL certificate when the appliance first boots and registers with vCenter Server.

The default certificate policy uses trust by thumbprint.

You can change the SSL certificate, for example if your company's security policy requires that you use

trust by validity and thumbprint or a certificate signed by a certification authority. You change the

certificate by using the virtual appliance management interface (VAMI) of the vSphere Replication

appliance. For information about the SSL certificates that vSphere Replication uses, see vSphere

Replication Certificate Verification and Requirements When Using a Public Key Certificate with vSphere

Replication.

Prerequisites

Verify that the vSphere Replication appliance is powered on.

You must have administrator privileges to configure the vSphere Replication appliance.

You updated vCenter Server to the corresponding 5.5.x update release.

Procedure

1 Connect to the VAMI of the vSphere Replication appliance in a Web browser.

The URL for the VAMI is https://vr-appliance-address:5480.

2 Type the root user name and password for the appliance.

You configured the root password during the OVF deployment of the vSphere Replication appliance.

3 (Optional) Click the VR tab and click Security to review the current SSL certificate.

4 Click Configuration.

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5 (Optional) To enforce verification of certificate validity, select the Accept only SSL certificates

signed by a trusted Certificate Authority check box.

See vSphere Replication Certificate Verification for details of how vSphere Replication handles

certificates.

6 Generate or install a new SSL certificate.

Option Action

Generate a self-signed certificate Click Generate and Install. Using a self-signed certificate provides trust by

thumbprint only and might not be suitable for environments that require high

levels of security. You cannot use a self-signed certificate if you selected Accept

only SSL certificates signed by a trusted Certificate Authority.

Upload a certificate Click Browse to select a PKCS#12 certificate and click Upload and Install.

Public key certificates must meet certain requirements. See Requirements When

Using a Public Key Certificate with vSphere Replication.

7 Click Save and Restart Service to apply the changes.

You changed the SSL certificate and optionally changed the security policy to use trust by validity and

certificates signed by a certificate authority.

Note If you change a certificate on one of the source or target sites, its status changes to

Disconnected. You can reconnect the source and target sites manually. Alternatively, the sites reconnect

when you run an operation between them.

vSphere Replication Certiﬁcate Veriﬁcation

vSphere Replication verifies the certificates of vCenter Server and remote vSphere Replication servers.

All communication between vCenter Server, the local vSphere Replication appliance, and the remote

vSphere Replication appliance goes through a vCenter Server proxy at port 80. All SSL traffic is

tunnelled.

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vSphere Replication can trust remote server certificates either by verifying the validity of the certificate

and its thumbprint or by verifying the thumbprint only. The default is to verify by thumbprint only. You can

activate the verification of the certificate validity in the virtual appliance management interface (VAMI) of

the vSphere Replication appliance by selecting the option Accept only SSL certificates signed by a

trusted Certificate Authority when you upload a certificate.

Thumbprint Verification vSphere Replication checks for a thumbprint match. vSphere Replication

trusts remote server certificates if it can verify the the thumbprints through

secure vSphere platform channels or, in some rare cases, after the user

confirms them. vSphere Replication only takes certificate thumbprints into

account when verifying the certificates and does not check certificate

validity.

Verification of

Thumbprint and

Certificate Validity

vSphere Replication checks the thumbprint and checks that all server

certificates are valid. If you select the Accept only SSL certificates

signed by a trusted Certificate Authority option, vSphere Replication

refuses to communicate with a server with an invalid certificate. When

verifying certificate validity, vSphere Replication checks expiration dates,

subject names and the certificate issuing authorities.

In both modes, vSphere Replication retrieves thumbprints from vCenter Server. vSphere Replication

refuses to communicate with a server if the automatically determined thumbprint differs from the actual

thumbprint that it detects while communicating with the respective server.

You can mix trust modes between vSphere Replication appliances at different sites. A pair of

vSphere Replication appliances can work successfully even if you configure them to use different trust

modes.

Requirements When Using a Public Key Certiﬁcate with vSphere Replication

If you enforce verification of certificate validity by selecting Accept only SSL certificates signed by a

trusted Certificate Authority in the virtual appliance management interface (VAMI) of the

vSphere Replication appliance, some fields of the certificate request must meet certain requirements.

vSphere Replication can only import and use certificates and private keys from a file in the PKCS#12

format. Sometimes these files have a .pfx extension.

The certificate must be issued for the same server name as the value in the VRM Host setting in the

VAMI. Setting the certificate subject name accordingly is sufficient, if you put a host name in the VRM

Host setting. If any of the certificate Subject Alternative Name fields of the certificate matches the

VRM Host setting, this will work as well.

vSphere Replication checks the issue and expiration dates of the certificate against the current date,

to ensure that the certificate has not expired.

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If you use your own certificate authority, for example one that you create and manage with the

OpenSSL tools, you must add the fully qualified domain name or IP address to the OpenSSL

configuration file.

If the fully qualified domain name of the appliance is VR1.example.com, add subjectAltName =

DNS: VR1.example.com to the OpenSSL configuration file.

If you use the IP address of the appliance, add subjectAltName = IP: vr-appliance-ip-

address to the OpenSSL configuration file.

vSphere Replication requires a trust chain to a well-known root certificate authority.

vSphere Replication trusts all the certificate authorities that the Java Virtual Machine trusts. Also, you

can manually import additional trusted CA certificates in /opt/vmware/hms/security/hms-

truststore.jks on the vSphere Replication appliance.

vSphere Replication accepts MD5 and SHA1 signatures, but VMware recommends that you use

SHA256 signatures.

vSphere Replication does not accept RSA or DSA certificates with 512-bit keys. vSphere Replication

requires at least 1024-bit keys. VMware recommends using 2048-bit public keys. vSphere Replication

shows a warning if you use a 1024-bit key.

Change the Password of the vSphere Replication Appliance

You set the password of the vSphere Replication appliance when you deploy the appliance. You can

change the password after installation by using the virtual appliance management interface (VAMI).

Prerequisites

Verify that the vSphere Replication appliance is powered on.

You must have administrator privileges to configure the vSphere Replication appliance.

You updated vCenter Server to the corresponding 5.5.x update release.

Procedure

1 Connect to the VAMI of the vSphere Replication appliance in a Web browser.

The URL for the VAMI is https://vr-appliance-address:5480.

2 Type the root user name and password for the appliance.

You configured the root password during the OVF deployment of the vSphere Replication appliance.

3 Click the VR tab and click Security.

4 Type the current password in the Current Password text box.

5 Type the new password in the New Password and the Confirm New Password text boxes.

The password must be a minimum of eight characters. vSphere Replication does not support blank

passwords.

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6 Click Apply to change the password.

Change Keystore and Truststore Passwords of the vSphere Replication Appliance

To increase security, you can change the default passwords of the vSphere Replication appliance

keystore and truststore. If you copy the keystores from the appliance to another machine, VMware

recommends that you change the passwords before the copy operation.

The keystore and truststore passwords might be stored in an access restricted config file.

vSphere Replication has the following keystores:

/opt/vmware/hms/security/hms-keystore.jks, which contains the vSphere Replication

appliance private key and certificate.

/opt/vmware/hms/security/hms-truststore.jks, which contains additional CA certificates

besides the ones that Java already trusts.

Procedure

1 To change the hms-keystore.jks password, log in as root.

2 Obtain the current hms-keystore password.

# /opt/vmware/hms/hms-configtool -cmd list | grep keystore

Example of the output hms-keystore-password = old_password

3 Change the hms-keystore password.

# /usr/java/default/bin/keytool -storepasswd -storepass old_password -new new_password -

keystore /opt/vmware/hms/security/hms-keystore.jks

4 Change the vSphere Replication appliance private key password.

# /usr/java/default/bin/keytool -keypasswd -alias jetty -keypass

old_password -new new_password -storepass new_password -keystore

/opt/vmware/hms/security/hms-keystore.jks

5 Update the configuration with the new password.

/opt/vmware/hms/hms-configtool -cmd reconfig -property

'hms-keystore-password=new_password'

6 Reboot the appliance for the changes to take effect.

# reboot

7 To change the hms-truststore.jks password, log in as root.

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8 Obtain the current hms-truststore password.

# /opt/vmware/hms/hms-configtool -cmd list | grep truststore

Example of the output: hms-truststore-password = old_password

9 Change the hms-truststore password.

# /usr/java/default/bin/keytool -storepasswd -storepass

old_password -new new_password -keystore

/opt/vmware/hms/security/hms-truststore.jks

10 Update the configuration with the new password.

/opt/vmware/hms/hms-configtool -cmd reconfig -property

'hms-truststore-password=new_password'

11 Restart the vSphere Replication service.

# service hms restart

Conﬁgure vSphere Replication Network Settings

You can review current network settings and change address and proxy settings for vSphere Replication.

You might make these changes to match network reconfigurations.

Prerequisites

Verify that the vSphere Replication appliance is powered on.

You must have administrator privileges to configure the vSphere Replication appliance.

You updated vCenter Server to the corresponding 5.5.x update release.

Procedure

1 Connect to the VAMI of the vSphere Replication appliance in a Web browser.

The URL for the VAMI is https://vr-appliance-address:5480.

2 Type the root user name and password for the appliance.

You configured the root password during the OVF deployment of the vSphere Replication appliance.

3 Click the Network tab.

4 Click Status to review current network settings.

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5 Click Address to review or modify IPv4 and IPv6 address settings.

IP Address Type Option Description

IPv4 DHCP DHCP is not recommended if the IP address of the appliance might change if it reboots.

IPv4 Static With a static IPv4 address, you can modify the IP settings, DNS settings, netmask, and host

name information.

IPv4 None Deactivates IPv4 addresses.

IPv6 Auto Automatic assignment of IPv6 addresses is not recommended if the IP address of the appliance

might change if it reboots.

IPv6 Static With a static IPv6 address, you can modify the IP address and the address prefix.

6 Click Save Settings.

If you do not click Save Settings, changes are discarded.

7 Click Proxy to review or modify proxy settings.

a Select Use a proxy server to use a proxy server.

b Type a proxy server name in the HTTP Proxy Server text box.

c Type a proxy port in the Proxy Port text box.

d (Optional) Type a proxy server user name and password.

8 Click Save Settings.

If you do not click Save Settings, changes are discarded.

What to do next

A network address change might require you to reconnect the source and target sites and might also

require a change of certificate if you have activated verification of certificate validity.

Conﬁgure vSphere Replication System Settings

You can view the vSphere Replication system settings to gather information about the

vSphere Replication appliance. You can also set the system time zone, and reboot or shut down the

appliance.

Prerequisites

Verify that the vSphere Replication appliance is powered on.

You must have administrator privileges to configure the vSphere Replication appliance.

You updated vCenter Server to the corresponding 5.5.x update release.

Procedure

1 Connect to the VAMI of the vSphere Replication appliance in a Web browser.

The URL for the VAMI is https://vr-appliance-address:5480.

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2 Type the root user name and password for the server.

3 Click the System tab.

4 Click Information.

You can review information about vSphere Replication, and reboot or shutdown the appliance.

Option Description

Vendor Vendor name

Appliance Name vSphere Replication appliance name

Appliance Version vSphere Replication version

Hostname Hostname of the appliance

OS Name Operating system name and version

OVF Environment: View Displays information about the OVF environment

Reboot Reboots the virtual appliance

Shutdown Shuts down the virtual appliance

Shutting down the vSphere Replication appliance stops configured replications and prevents you from

configuring replication of new virtual machines as well as modifying existing replication settings.

5 Click Time Zone.

Option Description

System Time Zone Time zones are available from the drop-down list

Save Settings Saves settings

Cancel Changes Discards changes

Reconﬁgure vSphere Replication to Use an External Database

The vSphere Replication appliance contains an embedded vPostgreSQL database that you can use

immediately after you deploy the appliance, without any additional database configuration. If necessary,

you can reconfigure vSphere Replication to use an external database.

Each vSphere Replication appliance requires its own database. If the database at either site is corrupted,

vSphere Replication does not function. vSphere Replication cannot use the vCenter Server database

because it has different database schema requirements. However, if you do not use the embedded

vSphere Replication database you can use the vCenter database server to create and support an

external vSphere Replication database.

You might need to use an external database to improve performance or load balancing, for easier backup,

or to meet your company's database standards.

Note vSphere Replication server inside the vSphere Replication appliance uses its own embedded

database and config files. Configuring VRMS to use external database does not provide protection of

losing the vSphere Replication appliance or any Additional vSphere Replication Server appliance.

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If you reinitialize the database after you deploy vSphere Replication, you must go to the

vSphere Replication virtual appliance management interface (VAMI) to reconfigure vSphere Replication to

use the new database connection.

Prerequisites

Verify that the vSphere Replication appliance is powered on.

You must have administrator privileges to configure the vSphere Replication appliance.

You must create and configure the external database before you connect it to vSphere Replication.

See Databases that vSphere Replication Supports for the configuration requirements for each

supported type of database.

Procedure

1 Connect to the VAMI of the vSphere Replication appliance in a Web browser.

The URL for the VAMI is https://vr-appliance-address:5480.

2 Type the root user name and password for the appliance.

You configured the root password during the OVF deployment of the vSphere Replication appliance.

3 Select the VR tab and click Configuration.

4 Select Manual configuration to specify a configuration or select Configure from an existing VRM

database to use a previously established configuration.

5 In the DB text boxes, provide information about the database for vSphere Replication to use.

Option Setting

DB Type Select SQL Server or Oracle.

DB Host IP address or fully qualified domain name of the host on which the database server is running.

DB Port Port on which to connect to the database.

DB Username Username for the vSphere Replication database user account that you create on the database server.

DB Password Password for the vSphere Replication database user account that you create on the database server.

DB Name Name of the vSphere Replication database instance.

DB URL Auto-generated and hidden by default. Advanced users can fine-tune other database properties by modifying

the URL, for example if you use a named instance of SQL Server.

6 Click Save and Restart Service to apply the changes.

You configured vSphere Replication to use an external database instead of the database that is

embedded in the vSphere Replication appliance.

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Databases that vSphere Replication Supports

The vSphere Replication virtual appliance includes the VMware standard embedded vPostgreSQL

database. You can also configure vSphere Replication to use an external database.

Automated migration between the embedded database and any external databases is not supported in

any direction. If you must configure an external database, you must manually migrate the data or

manually recreate all replications.

You can configure vSphere Replication to use one of the supported external databases.

Microsoft SQL

Oracle

External vPostgreSQL databases are not supported. vSphere Replication supports the same database

versions as vCenter Server. For supported database versions, see the VMware Product Interoperability

Matrixes at http://partnerweb.vmware.com/comp_guide2/sim/interop_matrix.php?.

Configure Microsoft SQL Server for vSphere Replication

When you create a Microsoft SQL Server database, you must configure it correctly to support

vSphere Replication.

Configure Oracle Server for vSphere Replication

You must configure an Oracle Server database correctly to support vSphere Replication.

Conﬁgure Microsoft SQL Server for vSphere Replication

When you create a Microsoft SQL Server database, you must configure it correctly to support

vSphere Replication.

You use SQL Server Management Studio to create and configure an SQL Server database for

vSphere Replication.

This information provides the general steps that you must perform to configure an SQL Server database

for vSphere Replication. For instructions about how to perform the relevant steps, see the SQL Server

documentation.

Prerequisites

Verify that the SQL Server Browser service is running.

Procedure

1 Select Mixed Mode Authentication when you create the database instance.

The vSphere Replication appliance and the database server run on different hosts, so you must use

mixed mode authentication and not Windows Authentication.

2 Use either a named instance or the default instance of SQL Server.

If you intend to use dynamic TCP ports, you must use a named instance of SQL Server.

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3 Enable TCP on the database instance.

4 Set a TCP port.

Option Action

Static TCP port Set the TCP port to the default of 1433.

Dynamic TCP port a Use a named instance of SQL Server. You can only use dynamic ports with a

named instance of SQL Server.

b Select the Show DB URL check box in the virtual appliance management

interface (VAMI) of the vSphere Replication appliance.

c Modify the DB URL value. Replace port=port_number with

instanceName=instance_name in the URL.

d Use the PortQuery command from a remote machine to check that the port

on which the SQL Server Browser service runs is not blocked by a firewall.

The SQL Server Browser runs on port 1434. Type the PortQuery command

in a terminal window.

PortQry.exe -n Machine_Name -p UDP -e 1434

5 Verify that the firewall on the database server permits inbound connections on the TCP port.

6 Create the vSphere Replication security login.

7 Create the vSphere Replication database and set the vSphere Replication security login as the

database owner.

8 Keep the dbo user and dbo schema settings.

Because the vSphere Replication security login is the database owner, it maps to the database user

dbo and uses the dbo schema.

Conﬁgure Oracle Server for vSphere Replication

You must configure an Oracle Server database correctly to support vSphere Replication.

You create and configure an Oracle Server database for vSphere Replication by using the tools that

Oracle Server provides.

This information provides the general steps that you must perform to configure an Oracle Server

database for vSphere Replication. For instructions about how to perform the relevant steps, see the

Oracle documentation.

Procedure

1 When creating the database instance, specify UTF-8 encoding.

2 Create the vSphere Replication database user account.

3 If they are not selected already, select the CONNECT and RESOURCE roles.

These roles provide the privileges that vSphere Replication requires.

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Use the Embedded vSphere Replication Database

If you configured vSphere Replication to use an external database, you can reconfigure

vSphere Replication to use the embedded database.

The vSphere Replication appliance includes an embedded vPostgreSQL database. The embedded

database is preconfigured for use with vSphere Replication and is enabled if you accept the default

Performs initial configuration of the appliance using an embedded database option when you

deploy the vSphere Replication appliance. If you reconfigured vSphere Replication to use an external

database after deployment, you can switch to the embedded database. After switching databases, you

must manually configure replications again as the replication management data is not migrated to the

database. You can use the reset feature in the embedded database to drop replications, site connections

and external vSphere Replication registrations.

Prerequisites

Verify that the vSphere Replication appliance is powered on.

You must have administrator privileges to configure the vSphere Replication appliance.

You must have reconfigured vSphere Replication to use an external database.

Procedure

1 Connect to the VAMI of the vSphere Replication appliance in a Web browser.

The URL for the VAMI is https://vr-appliance-address:5480.

2 Type the root user name and password for the appliance.

You configured the root password during the OVF deployment of the vSphere Replication appliance.

3 Select the VR tab and click Configuration.

4 Select Configure using the embedded database.

5 (Optional) Click Reset Embedded Database to reset the database.

6 Click Save and Restart Service to apply the changes.

You configured vSphere Replication to use the embedded vSphere Replication database.

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Replicating Virtual Machines 8

With vSphere Replication you can replicate virtual machines from a source site to a target site.

You can set a recovery point objective (RPO) to a certain time interval depending on your data protection

needs. vSphere Replication applies all changes made to virtual machines configured for replication at the

source site to their replicas at the target site. This process reoccurs at the RPO interval that you set.

To replicate a virtual machine using vSphere Replication, you must deploy the vSphere Replication

appliance at the source and target sites. A vSphere Replication infrastructure requires one

vSphere Replication appliance at each site.

The source and target sites must be connected for you to be able to configure replications. If one of the

sites is unreachable from the other site, is offline, if authentication fails, or if the certificates have changed,

it shows the disconnected state in the vSphere Replication interface. You cannot perform replications if

one of the sites is in the disconnected state due to these reasons. The sites can also appear in the

disconnected state if you log in to the vSphere Web Client when a previous login session has expired.

In this case, scheduled replications continue as normal. See vSphere Replication Sites Appear in the

Disconnected State.

vSphere Replication does not support the recovery of multiple virtual machines from the same workflow.

Each recovery workflow is for an individual virtual machine.

You cannot replicate powered-off virtual machines. Replication begins when the virtual machine is

powered on. You cannot use vSphere Replication to replicate virtual machine templates.

This section includes the following topics:

How the Recovery Point Objective Affects Replication Scheduling

Replicating a Virtual Machine and Enabling Multiple Point in Time Instances

Using vSphere Replication with Virtual SAN Storage

Replicating Virtual Machines Using Replication Seeds

Replicating a Virtual Machine in a Single vCenter Server Instance

Configure Replication for a Single Virtual Machine

Configure Replication for Multiple Virtual Machines

Move a Virtual Machine to a New vSphere Replication Server

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Stop Replicating a Virtual Machine

Reconfiguring Replications

How the Recovery Point Objective Aects Replication Scheduling

The Recovery Point Objective (RPO) value you set during replication configuration affects replication

scheduling.

If you set an RPO of x minutes, the latest available replication instance can never reflect a state that is

older than x minutes. A replication instance reflects the state of a virtual machine at the time the

replication starts.

You set the RPO during replication configuration to 15 minutes. If the replication starts at 12:00 and it

takes five minutes to transfer to the target site, the instance becomes available on the target site at 12:05,

but it reflects the state of the virtual machine at 12:00. The next replication can start no later than 12:10.

This replication instance is then available at 12:15 when the first replication instance that started at 12:00

expires.

If you set the RPO to 15 minutes and the replication takes 7.5 minutes to transfer an instance,

vSphere Replication transfers an instance all the time. If the replication takes more than 7.5 minutes, the

replication encounters periodic RPO violations. For example, if the replication starts at 12:00 and takes 10

minutes to transfer an instance, the replication finishes at 12:10. You can start another replication

immediately, but it finishes at 12:20. During the time interval 12:15-12:20, an RPO violation occurs

because the latest available instance started at 12:00 and is too old.

The replication scheduler tries to satisfy these constraints by overlapping replications to optimize

bandwidth use and might start replications for some virtual machines earlier than expected.

To determine the replication transfer time, the replication scheduler uses the duration of the last few

instances to estimate the next one.

Replicating a Virtual Machine and Enabling Multiple Point in Time Instances

You can recover virtual machines at specific points in time (PIT) such as the last known consistent state.

When you configure replication of a virtual machine, you can enable multiple point in time (PIT) instances

in the recovery settings in the Configure Replication wizard. vSphere Replication retains a number of

snapshot instances of the virtual machine on the target site based on the retention policy that you specify.

vSphere Replication supports maximum of 24 snapshot instances. After you recover a virtual machine,

you can revert it to a specific snapshot.

During replication, vSphere Replication replicates all aspects of the virtual machine to the target site,

including any potential viruses and corrupted applications. If a virtual machine suffers from a virus or

corruption and you have configured vSphere Replication to keep PIT snapshots, you can recover the

virtual machine and then revert it to a snapshot of the virtual machine in its uncorrupted state.

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You can also use the PIT instances to recover the last known good state of a database.

Note vSphere Replication does not replicate virtual machine snapshots.

Figure 8‑1. Recovering a Virtual Machine at Points in Time (PIT)

Using vSphere Replication with Virtual SAN Storage

You can use VMware Virtual SAN datastores as a target datastore when configuring replications. Follow

the guidelines when using vSphere Replication with Virtual SAN storage.

Note VMware Virtual SAN is a fully supported feature of vSphere 5.5u1.

You can use Virtual SAN in production environments with vSphere Replication 5.5.1 and vSphere

5.5u1.

Virtual SAN is an experimental feature in vSphere 5.5. You can perform testing with Virtual SAN with

vSphere Replication 5.5.0 and vSphere 5.5, but it is not supported for use in production

environments. See the release notes for the vSphere Replication 5.5.0 release for information about

how to enable Virtual SAN in vSphere 5.5.

vSphere Replication does not support replicating or recovering virtual machines to the root folders with

user-friendly names on Virtual SAN datastores. These names can change, which causes replication

errors. When selecting Virtual SAN datastores, always select folders with UUID names, which do not

change.

Conﬁguring Replications

When configuring replications for a single virtual machine, vSphere Replication creates the destination

folder that you choose, obtains the UUID reference for that folder, and then uses the UUID name rather

than the user-friendly name. The UUID name is visible when vSphere Replication displays the target

folders when reconfiguring replications.

When configuring replication for multiple virtual machines, create a root folder in the Virtual SAN

datastore, obtain its UUID name, and use the folder that is identified by the UUID in the replication wizard.

Configure vSphere Replication on batches of a maximum of 30 virtual machines at a time.

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Conﬁguring Replications by Using Replication Seeds

When copying replication seed files to the target datastore, you can use the vSphere Web Client to create

a new root folder on a Virtual SAN datastore, or place the files in an existing folder. When you configure

replications that use replication seeds, you must select the folder by using its UUID name. Selecting the

user-friendly folder names is not supported.

Reconﬁguring Replications

If you want to change the destination folder for a disk or the virtual machine config files, you must use the

following options:

Select the UUID name of an existing folder.

Allow vSphere Replication to create a new folder and obtain its UUID name.

Limits of Using vSphere Replication with Virtual SAN Storage

For reasons of load and I/O latency, Virtual SAN storage is subject to limits in terms of the numbers of

hosts that you can include in a Virtual SAN cluster and the number of virtual machines that you can run

on each host. See the Limits section in the VMware Virtual SAN Design and Sizing Guide at

http://www.vmware.com/products/virtual-san/resources.html.

Using vSphere Replication adds to the load on the storage. Every virtual machine generates regular read

and write operations. Configuring vSphere Replication on those virtual machines adds another read

operation to the regular read and write operations, which increases the I/O latency on the storage. The

precise number of virtual machines that you can replicate to Virtual SAN storage by using

vSphere Replication depends on your infrastructure. If you notice slower response times when you

configure vSphere Replication for virtual machines in Virtual SAN storage, monitor the I/O latency of the

Virtual SAN infrastructure. Potentially reduce the number of virtual machines that you replicate in the

Virtual SAN datastore.

Retaining Point-in-Time Snapshots when Using Virtual SAN Storage

Virtual SAN storage stores virtual machine disk files as a set of objects and components. Each disk object

in Virtual SAN storage has mirror and witness objects. In the default Virtual SAN storage policy, a disk

object has 2 mirrors and one witness. The number of mirror components is determined by the size of the

virtual machine disk and the number of failures to tolerate that you set in your Virtual SAN storage policy.

A mirror object is divided into components of a maximum size of 256 GB each.

If a virtual machine has one 256 GB disk and you use the default Virtual SAN storage policy, the disk

object will have 2 mirror components of 256 GB each and 1 witness, to make a total of 3 components.

If a virtual machine has one 512 GB disk and you use the default Virtual SAN storage policy, the disk

object will have 4 mirror components of 256 GB each and 1 witness, to make a total of 5 components.

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See the VMware Virtual SAN Design and Sizing Guide at

http://www.vmware.com/products/virtual-san/resources.html for explanations of objects, components,

mirrors, witnesses, and Virtual SAN storage policies.

If you enable multiple point-in-time (PIT) snapshots, you must make allowances for the additional

components that each snapshot creates in the Virtual SAN storage, based on the number of disks per

virtual machine, the size of the disks, the number of PIT snapshots to retain, and the number of failures to

tolerate. When retaining PIT snapshots and using Virtual SAN storage, you must calculate the number of

extra components that you require for each virtual machine:

Number of disks x number of PIT snapshots x number of mirror and witness components

Examples of using this formula demonstrate that retaining PIT snapshots rapidly increases the number of

components in the Virtual SAN storage for every virtual machine that you configure for

vSphere Replication:

You have a virtual machine with two 256 GB disks for which you retain 10 MPIT snapshots, and you

set the default Virtual SAN storage policy:

2 (number of disks) x 10 (number of PIT snapshots) x 3 (2 mirror components + 1 witness) = 60

components for this one virtual machine.

You have a virtual machine with two 512 GB disks for which you retain 10 PIT snapshots, and you set

the default Virtual SAN storage policy:

2 (number of disks) x 10 (number of PIT snapshots) x 5 (4 mirror components of 256 GB each + 1

witness) = 100 components for this one virtual machine.

The number of PIT snapshots that you retain can increase I/O latency on the Virtual SAN storage.

Replicating Virtual Machines Using Replication Seeds

You can use replication seeds if a duplicate file is found for the virtual machine on the destination

datastore. vSphere Replication compares differences and replicates only the changed blocks.

To avoid network bandwidth consumption for the amount of data that has to be replicated on initial full

synchronization, vSphere Replication allows you to copy your virtual disk files to the remote datacenter

and point those as replication seeds during configuring replication. vSphere Replication compares the

differences and replicates only the changed blocks.

When configuring replication for a virtual machine, vSphere Replication looks for a disk with the same

filename in the target datastore. If a file with the same name exists, vSphere Replication prompts you with

a warning and offers you the option to use the target disk as a seed for replication. If you accept the

option, vSphere Replication compares the differences and replicates only the changed blocks after the

virtual machine replication is fully configured and enabled. If you do not accept the prompt, then you must

change the target location for your replication.

Note The source virtual machine must be powered off before downloading the vmdk files that are used

as seeds for the replication.

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Replicating a Virtual Machine in a Single vCenter Server Instance

You can use vSphere Replication to replicate a virtual machine in a single vCenter Server even if the

vCenter Server instance has only one host in its inventory.

When you configure replication in a single vCenter Server instance, you can select the source site as the

target site for replication. You then configure replication in the same way as for an infrastructure with a

source and a target site. For example, you can replicate a virtual machine to a different datastore

attached to the same host or another host. vSphere Replication prevents you from using the source or

replicated virtual machine's vmdk files as the target of the replication.

The virtual machine name must be unique in the same folder in the vCenter Server inventory. In the

recovery wizard, vSphere Replication does not allow you to select a folder if there is already a virtual

machine with the same name registered to it. During recovery if there is a virtual machine with the same

name, you might see an error message. See Error Recovering Virtual Machine in a Single vCenter Server

Instance for more information.

Note If you install vSphere Replication as part of a vCenter Site Recovery Manager (SRM) deployment,

any replications that you configure in the same vCenter Server instance are not visible in the SRM user

interface. You can still monitor and manage these replications in the vSphere Replication user interface in

the vSphere Web Client.

Conﬁgure Replication for a Single Virtual Machine

vSphere Replication can protect individual virtual machines and their virtual disks by replicating them to

another location.

When you configure replication, you set a recovery point objective (RPO) to determine the period of time

between replications. For example, an RPO of 1 hour seeks to ensure that a virtual machine loses no

more than 1 hour of data during the recovery. For smaller RPOs, less data is lost in a recovery, but more

network bandwidth is consumed keeping the replica up to date.

Every time that a virtual machine reaches its RPO target, vSphere Replication records approximately

3800 bytes of data in the vCenter Server events database. If you set a low RPO period, this can quickly

create a large volume of data in the database. To avoid creating large volumes of data in the

vCenter Server events database, limit the number of days that vCenter Server retains event data. See

Configure Database Retention Policy in the vCenter Server and Host Management Guide. Alternatively,

set a higher RPO value.

vSphere Replication guarantees crash consistency amongst all the disks that belong to a virtual machine.

If you use VSS quiescing, you might obtain a higher level of consistency. The available quiescing types

are determined by the virtual machine's operating system. See Compatibility Matrixes for vSphere

Replication 5.5 for Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) quiescing support for Windows virtual

machines.

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You can configure virtual machines to replicate to a Virtual SAN datastore on the target site. See Using

vSphere Replication with Virtual SAN Storage for the limitations when using vSphere Replication with

Virtual SAN.

Note VMware Virtual SAN is a fully supported feature of vSphere 5.5u1.

You can use Virtual SAN in production environments with vSphere Replication 5.5.1 and vSphere

5.5u1.

Virtual SAN is an experimental feature in vSphere 5.5. You can perform testing with Virtual SAN with

vSphere Replication 5.5.0 and vSphere 5.5, but it is not supported for use in production

environments. See the release notes for the vSphere Replication 5.5.0 release for information about

how to enable Virtual SAN in vSphere 5.5.

Prerequisites

Verify that you have deployed a vSphere Replication appliance at both sites.

Procedure

1 On the vSphere Web Client Home page, click VMs and Templates.

2 Browse the inventory to find the single virtual machine to replicate using vSphere Replication.

3 Right-click the virtual machine and select All vSphere Replication Actions > Configure replication.

4 Select the target site.

If you have already connected the source and target sites, select the target site from the list.

If you have not connected the source and target sites, and the target site is local, select the target

site from the list.

If you have not connected the source and target sites, and the target site is remote, click Add

Remote Site and enter the IP or name, and credentials to connect to the site.

5 Accept the automatic assignment of a vSphere Replication server or select a particular server on the

target site.

6 Select the target location datastore. Optionally, you can select the virtual machine storage policy.

7 If you select Advanced disk configuration, you can configure the virtual machine's individual disks

one at a time.

For each disk you can select its virtual format, storage policy, and specify a datastore where it is

replicated. Disable replication of the disk by deselecting Enable disk replication.

8 Select a Guest OS Quiescing configuration, if applicable to the source virtual machine operating

system.

9 Use the RPO slider or enter a value to configure the maximum amount of data that can be lost in the

case of a site failure. Optionally, enable point in time instances and specify instance retention policy.

The available RPO range is from 15 minutes to 24 hours.

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10 Review the settings and click Finish to establish replication.

vSphere Replication starts an initial full synchronization of the virtual machine files to the designated

datastore on the target site.

Conﬁgure Replication for Multiple Virtual Machines

You can configure replication for multiple virtual machines using the multi-VM configure replication wizard.