Can't register vSphere Replication plugin

[CHJamey]

Environment:

vCenter 6

vSphere Replication 6.1

Enhanced linked mode

Issue:

I can't get the vSphere Replication plugin to register with vCenter.  When I configure the appliance and then save and restart the service, it says it was successful.  Then I restart all vCenter services.  I tried deploying 2 different appliances and both have the same issue.  The weird thing is, I can log into the vCenter that the appliance is NOT registered to, and "manage" the appliance from there.

How can I get this plugin to show in the actual vCenter\External PSC it is registered to?  I've been combing logs to try and find something but haven't been successful yet.

Thanks!

Jamey

[CHJamey]

I know it can be a pretty vague issue but has anyone ran into this before and have any idea's on some things to try?  Here is what I have tried so far.

1.  Re-deploy the replication appliance from the Web Client.

2.  Confirmed that no firewall or proxy is configured on the vCenter or PSC.

3.  Manually removed the replication manager extension(com.vmware.vcHms) from the MOB.  I also removed the Update manager extension as well since it was having issues in the Web Client too.  So really there are two plugin issues.  Update Manager and Replication.

4.  Cleared the SerenityDB items.

5.  I ran the "Save and Restart" option in the appliance configuration screen.  I also tried to un-register it as well and then re-register by pressing "Save and Restart".

6.  Confirmed that the Lookup service has the correct system which is the External PSC in my case.

I restarted all vCenter services with service-control --stop --all and then service-control --start --all after any changes to the config.

Any recommendations would be great!  Need to start replicating our VMs to DR ASAP.

Thanks!

Jamey

[CHJamey]

Something else to note...

When I try to unregister the replication appliance I get a message that says "The object or item referred to could not be found". 

[admin]

Is the problem that the Replication icon is completely missing from the Web Client view?

If so, can you try the following:

1. Verify that you have connectivity from the machine where Web Client is installed to the Replication appliance over port 8043. After installing Replication, the Web Client must download the plugin files from the Replication appliance, and it needs access over this port.

2. Restart the Web Client service

[MZirbes]

I have the exact same problem as described in this thread. I have noticied that my functioning Replication Plugin is version: 6.1.0.603656323 the version not functioning is: 6.1.0.603051487 both VR appliances are version: 6.1.0.12929 Build 3656323.

So how do I force the older non-working Plugin to update on the Vcenter Server? To fix the problem that the Icon for managing VR returns to VCenter.

[admin]

I've seen that other plugins can interfere with the Replication plugin in the web client. I had a case recently where a customer had installed the esxtop plugin for the web client at one stage, but never removed it properly. That was preventing the Replication plugin from displaying. Do you have any other plugins installed in the web client?

The virgo log for the web client can give a good indication of the problem here. I would recommend restarting the web client service then taking a look at the virgo log at ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\logs\vsphere-client\logs

Try searching for vr or vchms and see if there are specific errors.

[MZirbes]

Verified I could access and download the plugin manually. I didn't know what to do with it so I extracted and copied it to the plugins directory on the VCenter server. Still no go. Then I rebooted the VCenter Server and the plugin loads.

All is well with the Plug-in loading

Now I have some other problems discovered regarding the appliances and connections. UGH! I love IT!