Replication now not working

[mikekemp1234567]

Hi all,

I've recently updated my hosts and restarted them.  The Replication service is now "Enabled (in accessible) in the Vcenter console.  I believe that the main sites replication appliance might have been DHCP and it's been allocated a different IP.  Is this an easy fix?

TIA

[mvalkanov]

Hi,

There are a couple of steps:

1. Ensure that the VR appliance has been started via client connected to vCenter. If the appliance has been started through client connected directly to the host, the OVF environment (/opt/vmware/etc/vami/ovfEnv.xml) will be empty and various issues can occur (VRMS won't be able to update its extension data in vCenter).

If the /opt/vmware/etc/vami/ovfEnv.xml is empty, shutdown the appliance (not simply restart) and power it on via client connected to vCenter.

2. Verify that Extension data in vCenter is up to date - https://vcenter_ip/mob/ navigate to ExtensionManager and look for com.vmware.vcHms key. Inside the server element, the url should point to vCenter reverse proxy address, followed by '|' character, followed by VRMS address.

If the VRMS address is not up to date - open the VAMI UI at https://vrms_address:5480/, Configuration tab and click on "Save and Restart".

3. If VRMS is not running (/etc/init.d/hms status) and https://vrms_ip:8043/mob/ can not be opened, check /opt/vmware/hms/logs/hms.log towards the end.

4. Once VRMS is up and running, you might need to re-connect the remote site, so that any address change is propagated.

5. If there were any incoming replications to the embedded VR server at the appliance, you will need to reconfigure them -> just change nothing, but walk through the reconfigure replication wizard, so that the VR server address at the source VM's .vmx file is updated by VRMS.

If possible, please share what you had to do, once you resolve the issue.

Regards,

Martin

[mikekemp1234567]

Thanks for helping out here - much appreciated.

I have now put the appliances on the same IP Addresses they had previously and it's working - however, I've had to setup the replication again.  Anyway around that do you think?

TIA

[mvalkanov]

Hi,

The VR filter within the source ESXi can not perform DNS lookups. It talks to the destination VR server only via literal IP address.

If the destination VR server address changes, you would need to manually reconfigure the replication from the UI -> just next, next, next, finish. In current releases VRMS does not attempt to automatically reconfigure the source VM .vmx, if VR server at the remote site changes its IP address.

Still, the workaround should be just reconfigure, without any loss of replication data and no need to start new replication from scratch.

Regards,

Martin

[mikekemp1234567]

The configurations have all gone.... so the only option is to set it up again?