VMware vSphere Replication - 8.1 Administrator’s Guide
VMware vSphere
Replication
Administration
vSphere Replication 8.1
VMware vSphere Replication Administration
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Contents
vSphere Replication Administration 6
Overview of VMware vSphere Replication 7
1
Contents of the vSphere Replication Appliance 8
Site Recovery Client Plug-In 8
Local and Remote Sites 9
How vSphere Replication Works 10
Replication Data Compression 13
vSphere Replication System Requirements 16
2
vSphere Replication Licensing 16
vSphere Replication Network Ports 17
Operational Limits of vSphere Replication 17
Compatibility of vSphere Replication with Other vSphere Features 18
vSphere Replication Compatibility with Other Software 19
Bandwidth Requirements for vSphere Replication 19
Installing and Uninstalling vSphere Replication 22
3
Install vSphere Replication 23
Uninstall vSphere Replication 31
Unregister vSphere Replication from vCenter Server If the Appliance Was Deleted 32
Configuring the Customer Experience Improvement Program 34
4
Categories of Information That VMware Receives 34
Join or Leave the Customer Experience Improvement Program in the vSphere Web Client 34
Isolating the Network Traffic of vSphere Replication 35
5
Set Up a VMkernel Adapter for vSphere Replication Traffic on a Source Host 36
Set Up a VMkernel Adapter for vSphere Replication Traffic on a Target Host 37
Create a VM Network Adapter to Use for Incoming Replication Traffic on the Combined
vSphere Replication Appliance 38
Create VM Network Adapters to Isolate the Network Traffic of a vSphere Replication Server 39
Deploying Additional vSphere Replication Servers 41
6
Deploy an Additional vSphere Replication Server 41
Register an Additional vSphere Replication Server 42
Replication Server Connection States 43
Reconfigure vSphere Replication Server Settings 43
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Unregister and Remove A vSphere Replication Server 45
Disable the Embedded vSphere Replication Server 45
Upgrading vSphere Replication 47
7
Order of Upgrading vSphere and vSphere Replication Components 48
Upgrade Additional vSphere Replication Servers 48
Upgrade the vSphere Replication Appliance 50
Upgrade vSphere Replication 8.0 to Version 8.1 52
Update the vCenter Server IP Address in the vSphere Replication Management Server 54
Reconfigure the vSphere Replication Appliance 55
8
Reconfigure General vSphere Replication Settings 56
Change the SSL Certificate of the vSphere Replication Appliance 57
Change the Password of the vSphere Replication Appliance 60
Change the Keystore Passwords of the vSphere Replication Appliance 61
Change the Truststore Passwords of the vSphere Replication Appliance 62
Configure vSphere Replication Network Settings 63
Configure vSphere Replication System Settings 64
Update the NTP Server Configuration 65
Reconfigure vSphere Replication to Use an External Database 66
Use the Embedded vSphere Replication Database 69
vSphere Replication Roles and Permissions 71
9
vSphere Replication Roles Reference 71
Assign vSphere Replication Roles to Users 74
Assign VRM Replication Viewer Role 74
Assign VRM Virtual Machine Replication User Role 75
Assign VRM Virtual Machine Recovery User Role and Perform a Recovery Operation 75
Clone Existing VRM Administrator Role and Modify Privileges 76
Replicating Virtual Machines 77
10
How the Recovery Point Objective Affects Replication Scheduling 78
How the 5 Minute Recovery Point Objective Works 78
How Retention Policy Works 79
Replicating a Virtual Machine and Enabling Multiple Point in Time Instances 80
Using vSphere Replication with vSAN Storage 81
Using vSphere Replication with vSphere Storage DRS 83
How vSphere Replication Synchronizes Data Between vCenter Server Sites During Initial
Configuration 83
Replicating Virtual Machines Using Replication Seeds 85
Replicating a Virtual Machine in a Single vCenter Server Instance 85
Best Practices for Using and Configuring vSphere Replication 85
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Configure Replication 87
Move a Replication to a New vSphere Replication Server 89
Stop Replicating a Virtual Machine 89
Reconfiguring Replications 91
Monitoring and Managing Replications in vSphere Replication 95
11
Monitor Replication for Virtual Machines 95
View Replication Reports for a Site 97
Identifying Replication Problems 99
Manage vSphere Replication Connections 99
Manage vSphere Replication Servers 100
Performing a Recovery with vSphere Replication 102
12
Recover Virtual Machines with vSphere Replication 102
Failback of Virtual Machines in vSphere Replication 104
Troubleshooting vSphere Replication 105
13
Generate vSphere Replication Support Bundle 105
vSphere Replication Events and Alarms 106
Solutions for Common vSphere Replication Problems 110
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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 data center operations.
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Overview of
VMware vSphere Replication 1
VMware vSphere Replication is an extension to VMware vCenter Server that provides a 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:
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From a source site to a target site
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Within a single site from one cluster to another
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From multiple source sites to a shared remote target site
vSphere Replication provides several benefits as compared to storage-based replication.
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Data protection at a lower cost per virtual machine.
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A replication solution that allows flexibility in the storage vendor selection at the source and target
sites.
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Lower overall 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 data center 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 the 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.
You can use VMware vSAN datastores as target datastores and choose destination storage profiles for
the replica virtual machine and its disks when configuring replications.
Note vSAN is a fully supported feature of vSphere 5.5 Update 1 and later.
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.
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VMware vSphere Replication Administration
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Contents of the vSphere Replication Appliance
The vSphere Replication appliance provides all the components that vSphere Replication requires.
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Site Recovery Client Plug-In
The vSphere Replication appliance adds a plug-in to the vSphere Web Client and vSphere Client.
The plug-in is also shared with Site Recovery Manager and is named Site Recovery.
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Local and Remote Sites
In a typical vSphere Replication installation, the local site provides business-critical data center
services. The remote site is an alternative facility to which you can migrate these services.
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How vSphere Replication Works
With vSphere Replication, you can configure the 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.
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Replication Data Compression
You can configure vSphere Replication to compress the data that it transfers through the network.
Contents of the vSphere Replication Appliance
The vSphere Replication appliance provides all the components that vSphere Replication requires.
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Site Recovery user interface that provides full functionality for working with vSphere Replication.
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A plug-in to the vSphere Web Client and vSphere Client that provides a user interface for
troubleshooting vSphere Replication health status and links to the Site Recovery standalone user
interface.
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An embedded database that stores replication configuration and management information.
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A vSphere Replication management server:
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Configures the vSphere Replication server.
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Enables, manages, and monitors replications.
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Authenticates users and checks their permissions to perform vSphere Replication operations.
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A vSphere Replication server that provides the core of the vSphere Replication infrastructure.
The vSphere Replication appliance provides a virtual appliance management interface (VAMI). You can
use the VAMI to configure the appliance after deployment. 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.
Site Recovery Client Plug-In
The vSphere Replication appliance adds a plug-in to the vSphere Web Client and vSphere Client. The
plug-in is also shared with Site Recovery Manager and is named Site Recovery.
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You use the Site Recovery client plug-in to perform all vSphere Replication actions.
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View the vSphere Replication status for all vCenter Server instances that are registered with the
same vCenter Single Sign-On.
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Open the Site Recovery user interface.
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View a summary of the replication configuration parameters on the Summary tab of virtual machines
that are configured for replication.
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Reconfigure the replications of one or more virtual machines by selecting the VMs and using the
context menu.
Note Site Recovery user interface opens in a new browser tab.
Local and Remote Sites
In a typical vSphere Replication installation, the local site provides business-critical data center services.
The remote site is an alternative facility to which you can migrate these services.
The local site can be any site where vCenter Server supports a critical business need. The remote site
can be in another location, or in the same facility to establish redundancy. The remote site is usually
located in a facility that is unlikely to be affected by environmental, infrastructure, or other disturbances
that might affect the local site.
vSphere Replication has the following requirements for the vSphere® environments at each site:
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Each site must have at least one data center.
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The remote site must have hardware, network, and storage resources that can support the same
virtual machines and workloads as the local site.
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The sites must be connected by a reliable IP network.
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The remote site must have access to networks (public and private) comparable to the ones on the
local site, although not necessarily the same range of network addresses.
Connecting Local and Remote Sites
Before you replicate virtual machines between two sites, you must connect the sites. When connecting
sites, users at both sites must have the VRM remote.Manage VRM privilege assigned.
When you connect sites that are part of the same vCenter Single Sign-On domain, you must select the
remote site only, without providing authentication details, because you are already logged in.
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When you connect sites that belong to different vCenter Single Sign-On domains, the
vSphere Replication Management Server must register with the Platform Services Controller on the
remote site. You must provide authentication details for the remote site, including IP or FQDN of the
server where Platform Services Controller runs, and user credentials. See Configure vSphere Replication
Connections.
After connecting the sites, you can monitor the connectivity state between them in the Site Recovery user
interface.
How vSphere Replication Works
With vSphere Replication, you can configure the 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. The changed blocks 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 network traffic that is generated by data transfer during
the initial full synchronization.
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
forward and reverse replications, local and remote 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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(Further VR
Servers)
vCenter vCenter
VR Agent
VR vSCSI Filter
VR Appliance VR Appliance
Site Recovery UI
Protected Site Recovery Site
NFC Service
ESX
VMware vSphere Replication Administration
Figure 1‑1. Replication Between Two Sites
You can also replicate a virtual machine between datastores at the same vCenter Server. In that topology
one vCenter Server manages hosts at the source and at the target. Only one vSphere Replication
appliance is deployed on the single vCenter Server. You can add multiple Additional vSphere Replication
servers in a single vCenter Server to replicate virtual machines to other clusters.
To perform recovery, the vCenter Server managing the target datastore, the vSphere Replication
appliance, and any additional vSphere Replication Servers managing the replication must be up and
running.
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Network
FileCopy
ESXi
Network
FileCopy
ESXi
vCenter Server
ESXi ESXi
VR Server VR Server
VR Appliance
Site Recovery UI
Replication
Cluster 1 Cluster 2
VMware vSphere Replication Administration
Figure 1‑2. Replication in a Single vCenter Server
You can replicate virtual machines to a shared target site.
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Network
FileCopy
ESXi
Network
FileCopy
ESXi
vCenter
Server
ESXi
VR Agent
ESXi
VR Agent
ESXi
VR Agent
VR Appliance
VR Appliance
vCenter
Server
vSphere
Web Client
Source Site
vCenter
Server
ESXi
VR Agent
ESXi
VR Agent
ESXi
VR Agent
VR Appliance
Source Site
Target Site
Replicate
Replication
Replication
VMware vSphere Replication Administration
Figure 1‑3. Replication to a Shared Target Site
Replication Data Compression
You can configure vSphere Replication to compress the data that it transfers through the network.
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VMware vSphere Replication Administration
Compressing the replication data that is transferred through the network saves network bandwidth and
might help reduce the amount of buffer memory used on the vSphere Replication server. However,
compressing and decompressing data requires more CPU resources on both the source site and the
server that manages the target datastore.
Data Compression Support
vSphere Replication 6.x supports end-to-end compression when the source and target ESXi hosts are
version 6.0. The support of data compression for all other use cases depends on the versions of source
and target ESXi hosts. The vSphere Replication servers on both the source and target sites must be 6.x.
Table 1‑1. Support for Data Compression Depending on Other Product Versions
ESXi Host that Manages the Target
Source ESXi host
Earlier than 6.0 Any supported version vSphere Replication does not support
Datastore Data Compression Support
data compression for the source ESXi
host, so the option Enable network
compression for VR data is disabled in
the Configure Replication wizard.
6.0 Earlier than 6.0 The ESXi host on the source site sends
compressed data packets to the
vSphere Replication server on the target
site. The vSphere Replication server
searches the target site for ESXi 6.0 hosts
that can decompress the data. If no 6.0
hosts are available for the target
datastore, the vSphere Replication server
uses the resources of the
vSphere Replication appliance to
decompress the data, and sends the
uncompressed data to the ESXi host.
6.0 6.0 This is an environment that supports full
end-to-end compression. The ESXi host
on the source site compresses the data,
and the vSphere Replication server on the
target site passes the data off to the ESXi
host where the host decompresses the
data and writes it to disk.
Data Compression and vSphere vMotion
If data compression is disabled, you can perform vMotion operations on replication source machines
between any pair of hosts that support vMotion and vSphere Replication.
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When data compression is enabled, if both the source and the target ESXi hosts support data
compression, vMotion operations can be performed as usual. However, if the target ESXi host is earlier
than 6.0, vSphere Replication prevents vMotion from moving replication source VMs to that host because
it does not support data compression. This prevents DRS from performing automated vMotion operations
to hosts that do not support compression. Therefore, if you need to move a replication source VM to an
ESXi host earlier than 6.0, before you perform the vMotion operation, you must reconfigure the replication
to disable data compression.
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vSphere Replication System
Requirements 2
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 is
configured to use a dual-core or quad-core CPU, a 13 GB and a 9 GB hard disk, and 8 GB of RAM.
Additional vSphere Replication servers require 716 MB 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.
Note vSphere Replication can be deployed with either IPv4 or IPv6 address. Mixing IP addresses, for
example having a single appliance with an IPv4 and an IPv6 address, is not supported. To register as an
extension, vSphere Replication relies on the VirtualCenter.FQDN property of the vCenter Server. When
an IPv6 address is used for vSphere Replication, the VirtualCenter.FQDN property must be set to a
fully qualified domain name that can be resolved to an IPv6 address or to a literal address. When
operating with an IPv6 address, vSphere Replication requires that all components in the environment,
such as vCenter Server and ESXi hosts are accessible using the IPv6 address.
This chapter includes the following topics:
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vSphere Replication Licensing
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vSphere Replication Network Ports
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Operational Limits of vSphere Replication
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Compatibility of vSphere Replication with Other vSphere Features
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vSphere Replication Compatibility with Other Software
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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.
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vSphere Replication does not have a separate license as it is a feature of certain vSphere license
editions.
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vSphere Essentials Plus
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vSphere Standard
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vSphere Enterprise
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vSphere Enterprise Plus
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/2087769.
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.
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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.
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Each newly deployed vSphere Replication appliance can manage a maximum of 2000 replications.
See http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2102453 for more information.
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Upgraded vSphere Replication appliances that use the embedded vSphere Replication database
require additional configuration to enable the support of a maximum of 2000 replications. See
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2102463. No additional configuration is required for vSphere Replication
appliances that are configured to use an external database.
Compatibility of vSphere Replication with Other vSphere Features
vSphere Replication is compatible with certain other vSphere management features.
You can safely use vSphere Replication 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.
Note You cannot upgrade VMware Tools in the vSphere Replication appliance.
Table 2‑1. Compatibility of vSphere Replication with Other vSphere Features
Compatible with
vSphere Feature
vSphere Replication Description
vSphere vMotion Yes You can migrate replicated virtual machines by using vMotion. Replication
continues at the defined recovery point objective (RPO) after the migration is
finished.
vSphere Storage
vMotion
vSphere High
Availability
vSphere Fault
Tolerance
vSphere DRS Yes Replication continues at the defined RPO after resource redistribution is
vSphere Storage
DRS
vSAN datastore Yes You can use vSAN datastores as the source and target datastore when
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. You can protect the
vSphere Replication appliance itself by using HA.
No vSphere Replication cannot replicate virtual machines that have fault tolerance
enabled. You cannot protect the vSphere Replication appliance itself with FT.
finished.
Yes On the source site, Storage DRS can move the disk files of replicated virtual
machines with no impact on the ongoing replication.
On the target site, you must register the vSphere Replication appliance with the
vCenter Single Sign-On service to enable the communication between Storage
DRS and the vSphere Replication Management server. See Register the
vSphere Replication Appliance with vCenter Single Sign-On.
configuring replications.
Note vSAN is a fully supported feature of vSphere 5.5 Update 1 and later.
vSphere
Distributed Power
Management
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Yes vSphere Replication coexists with DPM on the source site. vSphere Replication
does not perform any special DPM handling on the source site. You can disable
DPM on the target site to allow enough hosts as replication targets.
VMware vSphere Replication Administration
Table 2‑1. Compatibility of vSphere Replication with Other vSphere Features (Continued)
Compatible with
vSphere Feature
vSphere Replication Description
VMware vSphere
Flash Read Cache
vCloud APIs Not applicable No interaction with vSphere Replication.
vCenter
Chargeback
VMware Data
Recovery
Yes You can protect 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 recovery
site. vSphere Replication sets the reservation to zero. Before performing a
recovery on a virtual machine that is configured to use vSphere Flash Read
Cache, take note of the virtual machine's cache reservation from the
vSphere Web Client. 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 manually.
Not applicable No interaction with vSphere Replication
Not applicable No interaction with vSphere Replication.
vSphere Replication Compatibility with Other Software
vSphere Replication is compatible with certain versions of ESXi, 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 later. See the following documents for more information.
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Compatibility Matrices for vSphere Replication 8.1 at https://docs.vmware.com/en/vSphere-
Replication/8.1/rn/vsphere-replication-compat-matrix-8-1.html.
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For vSphere Replication interoperability with backup software when using VSS, see
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2040754.
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VMware Compatibility Guide at http://partnerweb.vmware.com/comp_guide2/search.php
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Browser compatibility at vSphere Client and vSphere Web Client Software Requirements in vSphere
Installation and Setup.
Bandwidth Requirements for vSphere Replication
Before configuring replications, best practice is to determine the 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 an
efficient replication.
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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:
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Between the host running the replicated virtual machine and the vSphere Replication server.
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Between the vSphere Replication server and a host with access to the replication target datastore.
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Between the host and storage.
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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.
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 2 TB 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 1 TB.
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.
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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 4 GB 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.
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, 1 hour, 4 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 and Uninstalling
vSphere Replication 3
vSphere Replication uses the replication technologies included in ESXi with the assistance of virtual
appliances to replicate virtual machines between source and target sites.
Installing vSphere Replication
To use vSphere Replication, you must deploy the vSphere Replication appliance on an ESXi host by
using the vSphere Web Client.
The vSphere Replication appliance registers as an extension 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 an embedded 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 server
with the vSphere Replication appliance on the corresponding site.
The vSphere Replication appliance provides a virtual appliance management interface (VAMI). You can
use the VAMI to perform initial configuration and reconfigure the vSphere Replication database, network
settings, public-key certificates, and passwords for the appliances.
Uninstalling vSphere Replication
To uninstall vSphere Replication from your environment, you must unregister the appliance from the
vCenter Single Sign-On service and from the vCenter Server, and then delete the vSphere Replication
appliance.
If you delete the vSphere Replication appliance before unregistering it from the vCenter Single Sign-On
server and the vCenter Server, a special procedure must be performed to clean up your environment. For
more information, see Unregister vSphere Replication from vCenter Server If the Appliance Was Deleted.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
Install vSphere Replication
n
Uninstall vSphere Replication
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VMware vSphere Replication Administration
n
Unregister vSphere Replication from vCenter Server If the Appliance Was Deleted
Install vSphere Replication
The installation procedure of vSphere Replication involves several steps.
Procedure
1 Prepare Your Environment to Install vSphere Replication
Before you deploy the vSphere Replication appliance, you must prepare the environment.
2 Deploy the vSphere Replication Virtual Appliance
vSphere Replication is distributed as an OVF virtual appliance.
3 Register the vSphere Replication Appliance with vCenter Single Sign-On
You must register the vSphere Replication Management Server with vCenter Single Sign-On on both
the source and the target sites.
4 Configure vSphere Replication Connections
To use vSphere Replication between two sites managed by different vCenter Server instances, you
must configure a connection between the two vSphere Replication appliances.
Prepare Your Environment to Install vSphere Replication
Before you deploy the vSphere Replication appliance, you must prepare the environment.
Procedure
1 Verify that you have vSphere and vSphere Web Client installations for the source and target sites.
2 In the vSphere Web Client, select the vCenter Server instance on which you are deploying
vSphere Replication, click Configure > Settings > Advanced Settings, and verify that the
VirtualCenter.FQDN value is set to a fully qualified domain name or a literal address.
Note vSphere Replication can be deployed with either IPv4 or IPv6 address. Mixing IP addresses,
for example having a single appliance with an IPv4 and an IPv6 address, is not supported. To register
as an extension, vSphere Replication relies on the VirtualCenter.FQDN property of the
vCenter Server. When an IPv6 address is used for vSphere Replication, the VirtualCenter.FQDN
property must be set to a fully qualified domain name that can be resolved to an IPv6 address or to a
literal address. When operating with an IPv6 address, vSphere Replication requires that all
components in the environment, such as vCenter Server and ESXi hosts are accessible using the
IPv6 address.
3 If you configure vSphere Replication in an IPv6 network, verify that the IPv6 address of the
vSphere Replication appliance, vCenter Server, the ESXi hosts, and an external database, if used,
are mapped to fully qualified domain names on the DNS server. Install the vSphere Replication
appliance by using FQDN and post installation, make sure that the VRM Host text box in the VAMI is
set to the FQDN of the vSphere Replication appliance. Do not use a static IPv6 address.
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What to do next
You can deploy the vSphere Replication appliance.
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.
Important If you use the HTML5-based vSphere Client to deploy the OVF virtual appliance, the
deployment succeeds, but the vSphere Replication fails to start.
Note vSphere Replication can be deployed with either IPv4 or IPv6 address. Mixing IP addresses, for
example having a single appliance with an IPv4 and an IPv6 address, is not supported. To register as an
extension, vSphere Replication relies on the VirtualCenter.FQDN property of the vCenter Server. When
an IPv6 address is used for vSphere Replication, the VirtualCenter.FQDN property must be set to a
fully qualified domain name that can be resolved to an IPv6 address or to a literal address. When
operating with an IPv6 address, vSphere Replication requires that all components in the environment,
such as vCenter Server and ESXi hosts are accessible using the IPv6 address.
Prerequisites
Download the vSphere Replication ISO image and mount it on a system in your environment.
Procedure
1 Log in to the vSphere Web Client on the source site.
2 On the home page, select 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.
n
Select URL and provide the URL to deploy the appliance from an online URL.
n
If you downloaded and mounted the vSphere Replication ISO image on a system in your
environment, select Local file > Browse and navigate to the \bin directory in the ISO image,
and select the vSphere_Replication_OVF10.ovf, vSphere_Replication-system.vmdk, and
vSphere_Replication-support.vmdk files.
5 Accept the name, select or search for a destination folder or data center for the virtual appliance, and
click Next.
You can enter a new name for the virtual appliance. The name must be unique within each
vCenter Server virtual machine folder.
6 Select a cluster, host, or resource pool where you want to run the deployed template, and click Next.
7 Review the virtual appliance details and click Next.
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VMware vSphere Replication Administration
8 Accept the end-user license agreements (EULA) and click Next.
9 Select the number of vCPUs for the virtual appliance and click Next.
Note Selecting higher number of vCPUs ensures better performance of the vSphere Replication
Management Server, but might slow down the replications that run on ESXi host systems that have 4
or less cores per NUMA node. If you are unsure what the hosts in your environment are, select 2
vCPUs.
10 Select a destination datastore and disk format for the virtual appliance and click Next.
11 Select a network from the list of available networks, set the IP protocol and 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.
12 On the Customize template page, enter one or more NTP server host names or IP addresses.
13 Set the password for the root account for the customized template, and click Next.
The password must be at least eight characters long.
14 Review the settings and click Finish.
The vSphere Replication appliance is deployed.
15 Power on the vSphere Replication appliance. Take a note of the IP address of the appliance and log
out of the vSphere Web Client.
16 To deploy vSphere Replication on the target site, repeat the procedure.
What to do next
Register the vSphere Replication appliance with the vCenter Single Sign-On service.
Register the vSphere Replication Appliance with vCenter Single Sign-On
You must register the vSphere Replication Management Server with vCenter Single Sign-On on both the
source and the target sites.
After you deploy the vSphere Replication appliance, you use the Virtual Appliance Management Interface
(VAMI) to register the endpoint and the certificate of the vSphere Replication Management Server with the
vCenter Lookup Service, and to register the vSphere Replication solution user with the vCenter Single
Sign-On administration server.
If you do not register vSphere Replication with vCenter Single Sign-On on the target site,
vSphere Replication cannot operate as expected. In addition, storage DRS does not detect the replicated
data that vSphere Replication stores on the target site and might destroy it.
Prerequisites
n
Verify that the vSphere Replication appliance is powered on.
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VMware vSphere Replication Administration
n
Verify that you have administrator privileges to configure the vSphere Replication appliance.
n
Verify that the vSphere Replication management server is synchronized with the time of the Single
Sign-On server.
Procedure
1 Use a supported browser to log in to the vSphere Replication VAMI.
The URL for the VAMI is https://vr-appliance-address:5480.
2 Enter the root user name and password for the appliance.
You configured the root password during the OVF deployment of the vSphere Replication appliance.
3 On the VR tab, click Configuration.
4 In the LookupService Address text box, enter the IP address or domain name of the server where
the lookup service runs.
5 Enter the credentials of a user with administrator privileges to vCenter Single Sign-On.
Initially, only the user administrator@vsphere.local has these privileges.
6 Click Save and Restart Service.
7 To register vSphere Replication on the target site, repeat the procedure.
vSphere Replication appears on the Home tab in the vSphere Web Client.
What to do next
Note If you registered the vSphere Replication appliance with vCenter Single Sign-On as part of the
upgrade procedure, all existing connections will turn into Connection issue status. See Reconfigure the
Connection to a Remote Site.
If you competed this procedure as part of the installation process, you can configure connections between
the source and target sites.
Perform an optional reconfiguration of the vSphere Replication appliance by using the VAMI. You can
install a certificate, change the appliance root password, change the trust policy, or configure
vSphere Replication to use an external database.
States of vSphere Replication Displayed in the vSphere Web Client or vSphere Client
You can see the vSphere Replication status on each vCenter Server in your environment and if
vSphere Replication does not function properly, find the appropriate remediation.
Before you can begin using vSphere Replication, you must register the vSphere Replication appliance
with the vCenter Lookup Service and the Single Sign-On administration server in the environment.
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After the registration, in the vSphere Web Client or vSphere Client, when you click Site Recovery, you
can see the list of vCenter Server instances in the Single-Sign On domain and the status of
vSphere Replication on each vCenter Server instance. If you have Site Recovery Manager deployed in
your environment, you can also see the status of Site Recovery Manager. You can change the
configuration of each vSphere Replication appliance by clicking the Configure icon next to the status
icon.
The following table lists the vSphere Replication states that you can observe, their meanings, and what
you can do to change a state back to normal.
Table 3‑1. vSphere Replication States on vCenter Server Instances
Status Description Remediation
Not installed The vSphere Replication extension is not
registered in the vCenter Server
Extension Manager.
The vSphere Replication appliance is
either not deployed or the
vSphere Replication extension has been
deleted from the vCenter Server
Extension Manager.
Not configured A configuration error occurred.
The vSphere Replication Management
Server is either not registered with the
vCenter Single Sign-On components, or
the configuration is incorrect and must
be updated.
You cannot manage existing replications,
or configure new replications to this
server .
If a vSphere Replication appliance is
deployed on this vCenter Server, restart
the appliance or the vSphere Replication
Management service on the appliance.
1 Use a supported browser to log in to
the vSphere Replication VAMI as the
root user.
The URL for the VAMI is https://vr-
appliance-address:5480.
2 On the Configuration tab, click Save
and Restart Service.
Configure the vSphere Replication
appliance.
1 Point to the Enabled
(Configuration issue) status.
The detailed error message appears
in a tooltip.
2 Click the Configure icon.
The vSphere Replication VAMI opens.
3 On the VR tab, click Configuration,
and enter the parameters indicated in
the error message.
4 Click Save and Restart Service .
Not compatible There is a vSphere Replication appliance
with earlier version than 8.0, registered
in the vCenter Server.
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Table 3‑1. vSphere Replication States on vCenter Server Instances (Continued)
Status Description Remediation
Not accessible The vSphere Replication Management
Server is not accessible.
The vSphere Replication extension is
registered in the vCenter Server
Extension Manager, but the
vSphere Replication appliance is missing
or powered off, or the
vSphere Replication Management
service is not running.
You cannot manage existing replications,
or configure new replications to this
server .
OK The vSphere Replication appliance is
installed, configured, and functioning
properly.
n
Verify that the vSphere Replication
appliance exists on the vCenter
Server.
n
Verify that the vSphere Replication
appliance is powered on.
n
Restart the VRM service.
a Click the Configure icon.
b On the VR tab, click
Configuration and restart the
VRM service.
Not needed.
Configure vSphere Replication Connections
To use vSphere Replication between two sites managed by different vCenter Server instances, you must
configure a connection between the two vSphere Replication appliances.
If the source and target vCenter Server instances use the same vCenter Single Sign-On domain, the
connection is considered local. vSphere Replication uses the vCenter Single Sign-On service on the local
site to authenticate with each vCenter Server in the vCenter Single Sign-On domain.
If the source and the target vCenter Server instances use different vCenter Single Sign-On domains, the
connection is considered remote. The vSphere Replication Management Server on the source site
registers with the Platform Services Controller of the remote vCenter Single Sign-On domain.
You can use vSphere Replication to replicate virtual machines between ESXi hosts that the same
vCenter Server manages. In this case, you deploy only one vSphere Replication appliance and do not
need to connect the local and remote sites.
You can configure a connection 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 set up a connection between two sites while you configure a replication between them.
Prerequisites
n
Verify that you have installed vSphere Replication at the local and remote sites.
n
If you plan to configure a remote connection, obtain the IP address or domain name of the server
where the PSC runs. The address appears in the LookupService Address text box on the
Configuration tab under VR in the vSphere Replication VAMI on the remote site.
Procedure
1 On the home page, click Site Recovery and click Open Site Recovery.
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2 On the Site Recovery home page, click the New Site Pair button.
3 Select the first site from the list.
4 Enter the address of the Platform Services Controller for the vSphere Replication Management
Server on the second site, provide the user name and password, and click Next.
5 Select the vCenter Server and the services you want to pair, and click Next.
6 On the Ready to complete page, review the pairing settings, and click Finish.
The local and the remote sites are connected. The pair appears under on the home page of the
Site Recovery user interface.
vSphere Replication Site Connection States
You can view the states of the connections to target sites in the Site Recovery user interface.
The following table lists the states that you can observe, their meanings, and what you can do to change
a state back to normal. You can view the states by clicking View Details for a site pair in the
Site Recovery user interface.
Table 3‑2. Replication Server Connection States
Icon Status Description Remediation
Connected The connection between the
local and remote
vSphere Replication
management servers is
working properly.
Not Connected
n
The SSL certificate on the
local or remote
vSphere Replication
Management Server has
been changed.
n
The network connection
between the local and
remote
vSphere Replication
Management Servers is
not functioning properly or
one of the servers is
offline.
n
The user that is used for
authentication with the
Lookup Service or the
VRMS extension user in
the vCenter Single Sign-
On might be disabled or
deleted.
In this state, configured
replications might not be
running.
Not needed.
n
To reconfigure the site
connection, click
Reconfigure Site Pair.
n
In the vSphere Client or
vSphere Web Client,
navigate to the
vCenter Server, select the
Monitor tab, and select
Events under Tasks and
Events to search for
events related to
vSphere Replication.
n
Verify the status of the
remote
vSphere Replication
appliances in the
Site Recovery plug-in for
vSphere Client or
vSphere Web Client.
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Reconfigure the Connection to a Remote Site
If the state of the connection to a target site is Not connected, you must repair the connection to
manage existing replications, and to enable the creation of new replications.
The states of connections to target sites appear in the Site Recovery user interface.
For reconnecting to cloud sites, see topic Reconnect to a Cloud Provider Site in the vSphere Replication
for Disaster Recovery to Cloud documentation.
If the source and the target vCenter Server instances use different vCenter Single Sign-On domains, the
connection is considered remote. The vSphere Replication Management Server on the source site
registers with the Platform Services Controller of the remote vCenter Single Sign-On domain. To establish
a connection to a remote site, you provide the address of the vCenter Server and the
Platform Services Controller, and enter the credentials of a user that has the VRM remote.VRM
Server.Manage VRM privilege assigned. If the Platform Services Controller address changes or there is
a change in the certificate, the connection status changes to Not connected and you must reconnect the
two sites.
Note You cannot use the Reconfigure Site Pair action to add a missing pairing or a pairing that was
manually broken with Break Site Pair. If your site pair is missing a pairing, you must use New Site Pair
to configure it.
Prerequisites
Verify that the vCenter Server and the vSphere Replication Management Server on the local site are up
and running, and that the Not connected status is not caused by a network problem.
Procedure
1 Log in to the vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client.
2 On the home page, click Site Recovery and click Open Site Recovery.
3 On the Site Recovery home page, select a site pair and click View Details.
4 From the list of target sites, select the connection that indicates Not connected status.
5 Click the Reconfigure Site Pair button.
The Reconfigure Site Pair wizard starts.
6 Enter the PSC address and the credentials of a user that has the VRM remote.Manage VRM
privilege assigned, and click Next.
Note If you upgraded from an earlier vSphere Replication version, the text box for the
Platform Services Controller address may be automatically populated with the IP address of the
target vSphere Replication Management server. In this case, you must replace it with the address of
the Platform Services Controller on the target site before providing the credentials.
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