VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration vSphere Replication 6.
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Contents 1 vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 5 Updated Information 6 2 Overview of VMware vSphere Replication 7 Contents of the vSphere Replication Appliance vSphere Replication Client Plug-In Source and Target Sites 8 8 9 How vSphere Replication Works Replication Data Compression 9 12 3 vSphere Replication System Requirements 14 vSphere Replication Licensing 14 vSphere Replication Network Ports 15 Operational Limits of vSphere Replication 15 Compatibility of vSphere Replicati
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration Reconfigure vSphere Replication Server Settings 41 Unregister and Remove a vSphere Replication Server Disable the Embedded vSphere Replication Server 43 43 8 Upgrading vSphere Replication 45 Order of Upgrading vSphere and vSphere Replication Components 46 Upgrade vSphere Replication by Using the Downloadable ISO Image 46 Update the vCenter Server IP Address in the vSphere Replication Management Server 48 9 Reconfigure the vSphere Replicat
vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 1 vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration provides information about installing and configuring 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.
Updated Information This vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration document is updated with each release of the product or when necessary. This table provides the update history of the vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration document. Revision Description 7 NOV 2017 Updated the information about vSphere High Availability in topic Compatibility of vSphere Replication with Other vSphere Features.
Overview of VMware vSphere Replication 2 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration n Contents of the vSphere Replication Appliance The vSphere Replication appliance provides all the components that vSphere Replication requires. n vSphere Replication Client Plug-In The vSphere Replication appliance adds a plug-in to the vSphere Web Client. n Source and Target Sites In a typical vSphere Replication installation, the source site provides business-critical data center services.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration n Deploy and register additional vSphere Replication servers. n Configure the replication of individual or multiple virtual machines. n View incoming and outgoing replications. n Monitor and manage the status of the replications. n Recover virtual machines. Source and Target Sites In a typical vSphere Replication installation, the source site provides business-critical data center services.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration Figure 2‑3.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration Table 2‑1. Support for Data Compression Depending on Other Product Versions Source ESXi host ESXi Host that Manages the Target Datastore Earlier than 6.0 Any supported version vSphere Replication does not 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.
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 is configured to use a dual core CPU, a 16 GB and a 2 GB hard disk, and 4 GB of RAM. Additional vSphere Replication servers require 716 MB of RAM.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration vSphere Replication does not have a separate license as it is a feature of certain vSphere license editions. n vSphere Essentials Plus n vSphere Standard n vSphere Enterprise n 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration n 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration Table 3‑1. Compatibility of vSphere Replication with Other vSphere Features (Continued) vSphere Feature Compatible with vSphere Replication Description VMware vSphere Flash Read Cache Yes You can protect virtual machines that contain disks that use VMware vSphere Flash Read Cache storage.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 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: n Between the host running the replicated virtual machine and the vSphere Replication server. n Between the vSphere Replication server and a host with access to the replication target datastore.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 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.
Installing and Uninstalling 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. 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration You deploy the vSphere Replication appliance by using the standard vSphere OVF deployment wizard. 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 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 Set the password for the root account for the customized template, and click Next. The password must be at least eight characters long.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 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 Configuration tab. 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration Table 4‑1. 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. If a vSphere Replication appliance is deployed on this vCenter Server, restart the appliance or the vSphere Replication Management service on the appliance.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 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. If the source and target vCenter Server instances use the same SSO domain, the connection is considered local. vSphere Replication uses the SSO service on the local site to authenticate with each vCenter Server in the SSO domain.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 5 Select a target site option. Option Description Connect to a local site Select this option to connect to a vCenter Server that uses the same SSO domain as the source vCenter Server. If the domain contains no vCenter Server systems to which you can connect, this option is disabled. For local connections, vSphere Replication uses the SSO service on the local site to authenticate with each vCenter Server in the SSO domain.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration Table 4‑2. Site Connection States Icon Status Description Remediation Connected The connection between the source site and the target site is working properly. Not needed. Not authenticated The remote site is online, but your user session has expired. Reconnect the sites. See topic vSphere Replication Sites Appear in the Not Authenticated State of the vSphere Replication Administration document.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration Prerequisites Verify that the vCenter Server and the vSphere Replication Management Server on the target site are up and running, and that the Connection issue status is not caused by a network problem. Procedure 1 From the list of target sites, select the connection that indicates Connection issue status. 2 Click the Reconnect to the selected site icon ( reconnect.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration What to do next Note If a vSphere Replication appliance is deleted before all replications that it manages are stopped, target datastores remain tagged with the com.vmware.vr.HasVrDisks tag. If a target datastore that is tagged with com.vmware.vr.HasVrDisks is part of a datastore cluster where Storage DRS is enabled, some operations, like Enter maintenance mode, might not succeed when the vSphere Replication Management server is missing.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration Unregister vSphere Replication from vCenter Server if the Appliance Was Deleted If the vSphere Replication appliance was deleted before you unregistered it form the environment , you cannot use the virtual appliance management interface (VAMI) to unregister vSphere Replication from vCenter Server. Only a vSphere administrator can clean up the environment.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration What to do next You can deploy a new vSphere Replication appliance. Note If a vSphere Replication appliance is deleted before all replications that it manages are stopped, target datastores remain tagged with the com.vmware.vr.HasVrDisks tag. If a target datastore that is tagged with com.vmware.vr.
Configuring the Customer Experience Improvement Program 5 When you choose to participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP), VMware receives anonymous information to improve the quality, reliability, and functionality of VMware products and services.
Isolating the Network Traffic of vSphere Replication 6 You can isolate the network traffic of vSphere Replication from all other traffic in a data center's network. Isolating the replication traffic helps you ensure that sensitive information is not routed to the wrong destination, and helps you enhance the network performance in the data center, because the traffic that vSphere Replication generates does not impact other types of traffic.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration This chapter includes the following topics: n Set Up a VMkernel Adapter for vSphere Replication Traffic on a Source Host n Set Up a VMkernel Adapter for vSphere Replication Traffic on a Target Host n Create a VM Network Adapter to Use for Incoming Replication Traffic on the Combined vSphere Replication Appliance n Create VM Network Adapters to Isolate the Network Traffic of a vSphere Replication Server Set Up a VMkernel Adapter for vSphere R
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 8 Apply the IP settings, click Next, and Finish to complete the wizard. The VMkernel adapter that you created for outgoing vSphere Replication traffic appears in the list of adapters. The outgoing replication data from the ESXi host is sent to the vSphere Replication server through this adapter. What to do next You can add a vNIC to the vSphere Replication appliance and use the VAMI to configure an IP address to use for incoming replication data.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration The VMkernel adapter that you tagged for NFC traffic appears in the list of adapters. The vSphere Replication Server routes the replication data to the adapter, and the ESXi host saves the data to a datastore.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 5 On the VR tab, click Configuration. 6 In the IP Address for Incoming Storage Traffic text box, enter the IP address of the new network adapter that you added. 7 Click Apply Network Settings. The vSphere Replication appliance uses the IP address that you assigned only for incoming replication traffic.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 5 Use a supported browser to log in to the vSphere Replication VAMI. The URL for the VAMI is https://vr-appliance-address:5480. 6 On the VRS tab, click Configuration. 7 Enter the IP addresses of the new VM NICs that you want to use to isolate the network traffic of vSphere Replication. 8 Option Description IP Address for Incoming Storage Traffic The IP address to be used by the vSphere Replication Server for incoming replication data.
Deploying Additional vSphere Replication Servers 7 Depending on replication traffic, you might need to deploy one or more additional vSphere Replication servers.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 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 click Finish.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration Option Action Configure proxy server Click Proxy, select the Use a proxy server check box, and type the proxy server address and port number. Save Settings If you do not click Save Settings, changes are discarded. Note After the IP address of the vSphere Replication server on the target site changes, you must manually reconfigure replications on the source site to point to the new IP address.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration You can now unregister the embedded vSphere Replication server from the vSphere Replication user 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/bin/hms-configtool -cmd reconfig -property hms-embedded-hbr=true # service hms restart VMware, Inc.
Upgrading vSphere Replication 8 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 6.0.0.3 or 6.1.1 to vSphere Replication 6.5. You cannot upgrade vSphere Replication from version 6.0.0.3 or 6.1.1 to version 6.5 by using vSphere Update Manager or the virtual appliance management interface (VAMI) of the vSphere Replication appliance.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration Order of Upgrading vSphere and vSphere Replication Components To upgrade vSphere Replication, you must upgrade certain components of your vSphere environment in the correct order. Upgrade the components on the protected site before you upgrade the components on the recovery site. If you encounter problems that prevent you from using the protected site when you upgrade the protected site, you can use the recovery site to perform a recovery.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration Procedure 1 Right-click the vSphere Replication virtual machine and select Edit Settings. 2 If you are upgrading a vSphere Replication Server appliance, reconfigure the virtual machine to increase its memory from 512 MB to 716 MB RAM. 3 On the Virtual Hardware tab, select CD/DVD Drive > Datastore ISO File. 4 Navigate to the ISO image in the datastore. 5 For File Type, select ISO Image and click OK.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration If your infrastructure uses more than one vSphere Replication Server, you must upgrade all vSphere Replication Server instances to version 6.5. Important If the vSphere Replication appliance that you upgraded uses the embedded database, you must apply additional configuration to enable the support of up to 2000 replications. See http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2102463.
Reconfigure the vSphere Replication Appliance 9 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration n Update the NTP Server Configuration Change the NTP server configuration of your vSphere Replication server if you change the NTP servers that your vSphere Replication server uses. n 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 6 7 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 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 n Verify that the vSphere Replication appliance is powered on. n Verify that you have administrator privileges to configure the vSphere Replication appliance.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 2 Obtain the current hms-keystore password. # /opt/vmware/hms/bin/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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 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. 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 6 Click Save Settings. If you do not click Save Settings, changes are discarded. Note After the IP address of the vSphere Replication server on the target site changes, you must manually reconfigure replications on the source site to point to the new IP address. 7 8 Click Proxy to review or modify proxy settings. a Select Use a proxy server to use a proxy server. b Enter a proxy server name in the HTTP Proxy Server text box.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 4 Click Information. You can review information about vSphere Replication, and reboot or shutdown the appliance.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration Your vSphere Replication server is synchronized with the new NTP server. 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 6 7 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 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, select UTF-8 encoding.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 7 Click Save and Restart Service to apply the changes. You configured vSphere Replication to use the embedded vSphere Replication database. VMware, Inc.
vSphere Replication Roles and Permissions 10 You can use any predefined roles or clone an existing role, and add or remove privileges from it based on your needs.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration 4 Log in as the user with the assigned VRM replication viewer role. The user with the VRM replication viewer role cannot perform modifications on the configured replication, nor on the replication sites. The following error message appears when this user tries to run an operation: Permission to perform this operation was denied.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration Procedure 1 Log in as the Administrator user on the target site. 2 Select vCenter > 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration Table 10‑1. vSphere Replication Roles Role Actions that this Role Permits Privileges that this Role Includes VRM replication viewer n View replications. VRM remote.View VR n Cannot change replication parameters. VRM remote.View VRM VRM datastore mapper.View Host.vSphere Replication.Manage replication Virtual machine.vSphere Replication.Monitor replication VRM virtual machine replication user n View replications. Datastore.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration Table 10‑1. vSphere Replication Roles (Continued) Role Actions that this Role Permits Privileges that this Role Includes 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.
VMware vSphere Replication Installation and Configuration Table 10‑1. vSphere Replication Roles (Continued) Role Actions that this Role Permits Privileges that this Role Includes VRM target datastore user Configure and reconfigure replications. Datastore.Browse datastore Datastore.Low level file operations Used on target site in combination with the VRM virtual machine replication user role on both sites. VRM virtual machine recovery user Recover virtual machines. Datastore.
