Dell EMC RecoverPoint for Virtual

Machines
Version 5.1

Installation and Deployment Guide

P/N 302-003-968
REV 03
Copyright © 2017-2018 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved.

Published April 2018

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2 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

CONTENTS

Figures 7

Tables 9

Preface 11

Chapter 1 Introduction to RecoverPoint for VMs 13

RecoverPoint for VMs system.....................................................................14

Chapter 2 Preparing to install RecoverPoint for VMs 17

RecoverPoint for VMs networking example................................................ 18
Planning your system.................................................................................. 19
System limitations.......................................................................... 19
Allocating IP addresses..................................................................20
Documenting the installation settings ........................................... 20
Choosing a vRPA topology............................................................ 20
Choosing a vRPA performance profile............................................21
Splitter communication mode........................................................ 22
Choosing a network adapter topology........................................... 22
Preparing the VMware environment........................................................... 24
Supported vSphere versions..........................................................24
Preparing the network................................................................... 24
Preparing the storage....................................................................25
Understanding the installation flow............................................................ 26

Chapter 3 Installing the RecoverPoint for VMs system 29

Download the installation package..............................................................30
Deploy vRPAs.............................................................................................30
Install vRPA clusters................................................................................... 31
Connect vRPA clusters...............................................................................33
Change default passwords..........................................................................34
Register and license the system................................................................. 35
Register ESXi clusters................................................................................ 35
Protect VMs............................................................................................... 36

Chapter 4 Maintaining RecoverPoint for VMs 37

Collect logs.................................................................................................38
Migrate to IP communication mode............................................................ 38
Modify vRPA cluster network settings....................................................... 39
Modify the network topology..................................................................... 39
Add vRPAs to a vRPA cluster..................................................................... 40
Remove a vRPA from a vRPA cluster......................................................... 40
Replace a vRPA...........................................................................................41

RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide 3

CONTENTS

Chapter 5 Upgrading RecoverPoint for VMs 43

Upgrade overview.......................................................................................44
The Upgrade and Maintenance package..................................................... 44
Upgrade a vRPA Cluster............................................................................. 44
Upgrade splitters ....................................................................................... 45
Upgrade the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in................................................ 46

Chapter 6 Uninstalling RecoverPoint for VMs 49

Using the RecoverPoint for VMs Uninstall tool...........................................50
What the RecoverPoint for VMs uninstall tool does................................... 50
Preparing to uninstall vRPA clusters.......................................................... 50
Unprotect VMs..............................................................................50
Remove ESXi clusters from vRPA clusters.....................................51
Uninstall a vRPA cluster................................................................. 51
Run the RecoverPoint for VMs uninstall tool.............................................. 52
Finishing up the uninstall............................................................................ 53
Uninstall the RecoverPoint for VMs splitters................................. 53
Removing unused directories.........................................................53

Chapter 7 Installing in VxRail environments 55

Deploying RecoverPoint for VMs in a VxRail™ environment........................56
Downloading from the VxRail market place....................................56
Preparing the network for VxRail...................................................56
Create vRPAs for VxRail................................................................56
Create and configure VMkernel ports for VxRail............................ 57
Create a vRPA cluster for VxRail................................................... 57
Adding VxRail appliances or nodes.................................................58

Chapter 8 Troubleshooting RecoverPoint for VMs installation 59

Troubleshooting vRPAs.............................................................................. 60
vRPA is down................................................................................ 60
vRPA is detached from the vRPA cluster...................................... 60
vRPA cannot detect storage or splitter.......................................... 61
Troubleshooting splitters............................................................................ 61
Splitter is not visible or in error state............................................. 61
Troubleshooting the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in.................................... 62
vSphere Web client does not contain plug-in.................................62
Plug-in does not detect the vRPA cluster......................................62
Troubleshooting RecoverPoint for VMs replication.................................... 63
CG in high-load transfer state or initialization not completing....... 63
Consistency group is in Error state................................................ 63
Validating ESXi connectivity.......................................................................64
ESXi UUID duplication ............................................................................... 65
Working with vCenter Server Linked Mode................................................ 66
Getting help............................................................................................... 66

Appendix A RecoverPoint for VMs installation form 69

Installation data forms................................................................................ 70

Appendix B Support procedures for uninstalling vRPA clusters 73

Uninstalling a single vRPA cluster from a vCenter manually........................74
Uninstalling all vRPA clusters from a vCenter manually.............................. 75

4 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 CONTENTS

Unprotect VMs........................................................................................... 76
Remove ESXi clusters from vRPA clusters................................................. 76
Remove a vRPA from a vRPA cluster......................................................... 76
Detaching vRPAs........................................................................................ 77
Powering off vRPAs....................................................................................77
Deleting the repository folder..................................................................... 77
Verifying that the configuration parameters are empty...............................77
Removing the vRPA iSCSI IPs.................................................................... 78
Removing custom tokens from the Managed Object Browser.................... 78
Unregistering the RP extension from the Managed Object Browser........... 79
Unregistering the plug-in from the Managed Object Browser.....................79
Removing unused directories......................................................................80
Uninstall the RecoverPoint for VMs splitters..............................................80

Appendix C vSphere upgrades 83

Upgrading vCenter..................................................................................... 84
Upgrading ESXi.......................................................................................... 84

Appendix D Configuring iSCSI communication 87

Adding the iSCSI software adapter.............................................................88
Binding VMkernel ports to iSCSI software adapters................................... 88

Appendix E Installing on Nutanix 91

Installing RecoverPoint for VMs on Nutanix............................................... 92

RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide 5

CONTENTS

6 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

FIGURES

1 RecoverPoint for VMs system.....................................................................................15

2 Networking example....................................................................................................19
3 Stages of the installation flow.................................................................................... 26

RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide 7

FIGURES

8 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

TABLES

1 Procedures in the installation flow..............................................................................26

2 Procedures in the protection flow.............................................................................. 26
3 Validation tests and fixes............................................................................................ 64
4 Certificate locations................................................................................................... 66
5 Example: vRPA cluster/site form................................................................................70
6 Example: vRPA IP form............................................................................................... 71
7 Example: Site map...................................................................................................... 72

RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide 9

TABLES

10 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

Preface

As part of an effort to improve product lines, we periodically release revisions of

software and hardware. Therefore, some functions described in this document might
not be supported by all versions of the software or hardware currently in use. The
product release notes provide the most up-to-date information on product features.
Contact your technical support professional if a product does not function properly or
does not function as described in this document.

Note

This document was accurate at publication time. Go to Online Support (https://

support.emc.com) to ensure that you are using the latest version of this document.

Purpose
This document describes how to install and configure a Recoverpoint for Virtual
Machines system.
Audience
This document is intended for Virtualization Administrators who manage, maintain and
scale their virtual environments, and Application Administrators who monitor
application performance.
Related documentation
The following publications provide additional information:
l RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Release Notes
l RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Quick Start Installation Poster
l RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Basic Configuration Installation Guide
l RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Installation and Deployment Guide
l RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Product Guide
l RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Administrator's Guide
l RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines CLI Reference Guide
l RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Deployment REST API Programming Guide
l RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines REST API Programmer's Guide
l RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Security Configuration Guide
l RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Scale and Performance Guide
l RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines FAQ
l Recoverpoint for Virtual Machines Simple Support Matrix
In addition to the core documents, we also provide White papers and Technical Notes
on applications, arrays, and splitters.
Typographical conventions
This document uses the following style conventions:

Bold Used for names of interface elements, such as names of windows,

dialog boxes, buttons, fields, tab names, key names, and menu paths
(what the user specifically selects or clicks)

RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide 11

Preface

Italic Used for full titles of publications referenced in text

Monospace Used for:
l System code
l System output, such as an error message or script
l Pathnames, filenames, prompts, and syntax
l Commands and options

Monospace italic Used for variables

Monospace bold Used for user input

[] Square brackets enclose optional values

| Vertical bar indicates alternate selections - the bar means “or”

{} Braces enclose content that the user must specify, such as x or y or
z

... Ellipses indicate nonessential information omitted from the example

Where to get help

Technical support, product, and licensing information can be obtained as follows:
Product information
For documentation, release notes, software updates, or information about
products, go to Online Support at https://support.emc.com.

Technical support
Go to Online Support and click Service Center. You will see several options for
contacting Technical Support. Note that to open a service request, you must
have a valid support agreement. Contact your sales representative for details
about obtaining a valid support agreement or with questions about your account.

Your comments
Your suggestions will help us continue to improve the accuracy, organization, and
overall quality of the user publications. Send your opinions of this document to
[email protected].

12 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

CHAPTER 1
Introduction to RecoverPoint for VMs

RecoverPoint for VMs is a virtualized solution that provides data replication,

protection, and recovery within the VMware vSphere environment. Definition of key
terms and a system diagram help you to understand the system operation.

l RecoverPoint for VMs system............................................................................ 14

Introduction to RecoverPoint for VMs 13

Introduction to RecoverPoint for VMs

RecoverPoint for VMs system

Key components of the RecoverPoint for VMs system are defined and illustrated.
Key system components that are involved in this installation include:
vRPA
The virtual RecoverPoint Appliance is a data appliance that manages data
replication. You will create the vRPAs you need by using the vSphere Web Client
from the vCenter Server.

vRPA cluster
A group of up to 8 vRPAs that work together to replicate and protect data. You
will create the vRPA clusters and connect them to the system by using the
RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer wizards.

RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in

The vSphere Web Client user interface for managing VM replication.
Automatically installed after you create the vRPA cluster.

RecoverPoint for VMs splitter

Proprietary software installed on every ESXi host in an ESXi cluster involved in
RecoverPoint replication or running virtual RPAs. Splits every write to the VMDK
and sends a copy of the write to the vRPA and then to the designated storage
volumes. Automatically installed after you register the ESXi cluster.

RecoverPoint for VMs system

One or more connected vRPA clusters.

Figure 1 on page 15 provides a reference diagram that shows the vRPA and vRPA
clusters within the RecoverPoint for VMs system. The diagram shows how these
components interconnect within the VMware vSphere environment.

14 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Introduction to RecoverPoint for VMs

Figure 1 RecoverPoint for VMs system

RecoverPoint for VMs system 15

Introduction to RecoverPoint for VMs

16 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

CHAPTER 2
Preparing to install RecoverPoint for VMs

Guidelines help you choose the number of vRPAs and vRPA clusters, vRPA
performance profile, splitter communication mode (IP is preferred), and network
adapter topology. Preparing the VMware network and determining storage capacity
sets the stage for a successful installation.

l RecoverPoint for VMs networking example........................................................ 18

l Planning your system..........................................................................................19
l Preparing the VMware environment...................................................................24
l Understanding the installation flow.................................................................... 26

Preparing to install RecoverPoint for VMs 17

Preparing to install RecoverPoint for VMs

RecoverPoint for VMs networking example

A reference diagram is a valuable tool for planning your RecoverPoint for VMs system.
The diagram shows an example of the network that interconnects key system
components.
For clarity, Figure 2 on page 19 shows the components and interconnections of only
one site in a small system. The IP addresses are for illustration purposes only.
The remaining sections of this chapter will help you to plan a system that meets your
specific requirements.

18 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Preparing to install RecoverPoint for VMs

Figure 2 Networking example

Planning your system

System limitations
Understanding system limitations facilitates the installation of the RecoverPoint for
VMs system.
Successful operation of RecoverPoint for VMs depends on a persistent vSphere
deployment.

Planning your system 19

Preparing to install RecoverPoint for VMs

For a comprehensive and up-to-date list of system limitations, see the RecoverPoint
for Virtual Machines Release Notes.

Allocating IP addresses
Knowing how many IP addresses you need for the RecoverPoint for VMs system helps
you to allocate the IP addresses before the installation is scheduled.
The RecoverPoint for VMs system requires these IP addresses:
l Cluster management IP address for each vRPA cluster
l An IP address for each vRPA network adapter (see Choosing a network adapter
topology on page 22)
l An IP address for each VMkernel port
To allocate the necessary IP addresses for the RecoverPoint for VMs system, consult
with the network administrator.
Document these addresses in an installation data form or spreadsheet before you
begin the installation.

Documenting the installation settings

Creating an inventory of the RecoverPoint for VMs system ensures that you have all
the required settings before the installation begins.
As you perform the required planning, create an installation data form or spreadsheet
to record the values that you type during the installation. See Installation data forms
on page 70 for examples.
Adhere to a consistent naming and numbering convention for the components of the
RecoverPoint for VMs system. For example:
l For vRPAs: <vRPA_name>_1, <vRPA_name>_2, ... <vRPA_name>_8
l For vRPA clusters: <vRPA_cluster_site_name_1>, <vRPA_cluster_site_name_2>
(for example: London_1 or New York_2)

Choosing a vRPA topology

The first step in planning the RecoverPoint for VMs system is to determine how many
vRPAs you need in each vRPA cluster and how many vRPA clusters you need in the
system.

How many vRPAs?

Determining the number of vRPAs in the system is based on existing storage capacity,
VMware infrastructure, and replication requirements such as high availability or
product evaluation.
For typical installations, two vRPAs per vRPA cluster is sufficient. Two vRPAs per
vRPA cluster provide the high availability that most production environments require.
For production environments that do not require high availability or for product
evaluation in non-production environments, a single vRPA per cluster is also possible.
To scale up and support higher throughput, you may non-disruptively add vRPAs (up
to 8) to each vRPA cluster.
All vRPA clusters in a system must have the same number of vRPAs.

20 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Preparing to install RecoverPoint for VMs

The actual number of vRPAs that you need for each vRPA cluster depends on the
capabilities of your storage, network, ESXi hosts, and the scale and performance
requirements of your system.
For specific details and examples, refer to the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Scale
and Performance Guide.

How many vRPA clusters?

The number of vRPA clusters you need is based on whether you require local or
remote replication, or both.
For most installations, you will install two vRPA clusters in your RecoverPoint for VMs
system.
For local replication, you need only one vRPA cluster. To support remote replication,
two vRPA clusters are required. The maximum number of vRPA clusters in a system is
five.
A vRPA cluster is confined to a single ESXi cluster. All vRPAs in a vRPA cluster must
be in the same ESXi cluster.
A vRPA cluster protects VMs on the same or a different vRPA cluster. This capability
requires connections between the vRPA cluster and the ESXi hosts (see Preparing the
network on page 24).
For specific details and examples, refer to the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Scale
and Performance Guide.

Choosing a vRPA performance profile

The vRPA performance profile defines the number of virtual CPUs, RAM, and VMDK
capacity allocated to each vRPA. You choose a performance profile depending on the
number of protected VMs and expected throughput.
For most installations, 2 CPUs and 4 GB of RAM is sufficient.
The actual vRPA performance profile that you need depends on these factors:
l IOPS and throughput of protected VMs
l The number of VMs protected by the vRPA cluster
You can change the resource allocation later by using the vSphere vCenter Web
Client.
Decide which of these vRPA performance profiles you need:
Bronze, low performance, < 256 VMs
2 virtual CPUs
4 GB RAM
35 GB VMDK capacity

Bronze +, low performance, 256+ VMs

2 virtual CPUs
8 GB RAM
35 GB VMDK capacity

Silver, medium performance, 256+ VMs

4 virtual CPUs
8 GB RAM

Choosing a vRPA performance profile 21

Preparing to install RecoverPoint for VMs

35 GB VMDK capacity

Gold, high performance, 256+ VMs

8 virtual CPUs
8 GB RAM
35 GB VMDK capacity

This selection is made when you create vRPAs from the OVF wizard in the vSphere
Web Client.

NOTICE

By default, all RAM is reserved and vCPU reservation is set to 3400MHz.

If required, memory and CPU resources can be added after OVA deployment by
submitting a service request for scaled environments.
For details and examples, refer to the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Scale and
Performance Guide.

Splitter communication mode

RecoverPoint for VMs supports TCP/IP or iSCSI communication modes between the
splitters and the vRPAs. IP splitter communication mode is preferred.
The IP splitter communication mode requirements include:
l vCenter must be version 6.0 or later
l ESXi clusters or hosts to be protected must be at ESXi version 6.0 or later.
l Splitters and connected vRPA clusters must be at RecoverPoint for VMs version
5.1.1 or later.
l The preceding requirements must be enforced when adding ESXi clusters or hosts
to be protected.
For new installations, the Install a vRPA cluster wizard in the RecoverPoint for VMs
Deployer automatically validates the environment to determine if it supports the IP
splitter communication mode. If validations succeed, the IP splitter communication
mode is selected by default with an option to choose iSCSI mode, if desired. If
validations fail, the environment is not IP-ready, and the splitter communication mode
defaults to iSCSI.
For existing iSCSI installations, the user may choose to non-disruptively migrate the
iSCSI environment to the IP splitter communication mode. A migration wizard and
procedure are provided. The migration automatically pauses consistency groups and
resumes them with the IP communication mode active. When you successfully migrate
from iSCSI to IP communication mode, all communication occurs over IP, and iSCSI
communication is rejected. iSCSI paths and targets are automatically removed from
the ESXi iSCSI software adapters, and iSCSI configurations (for example, VMkernel
port binding) can be removed.

Choosing a network adapter topology

RecoverPoint for VMs supports LAN, WAN, and data interfaces distributed across
multiple network adapters or combined into one. The choice depends on the
requirements for high availability and performance.
Combining multiple interfaces on one network adapter is recommended for small
environments. The advantage is a smaller network footprint and ease of installation
and management.

22 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Preparing to install RecoverPoint for VMs

Where high availability and performance are desired, separate the LAN and WAN
interfaces from the data interfaces (recommended for most installations). For even
better performance, place each network on a separate virtual switch.
Decide which of these network adapter topologies you need:
One network adapter
WAN + LAN + Data combined
Fewer IP addresses to create and manage
Not for high availability solutions
IPv6 is not supported for iSCSI

Two network adapters (the default and recommended configuration)

WAN + LAN combined, Data separated
Better performance, high availability
IPv6 is not supported for iSCSI

Two network adapters

LAN + Data combined, WAN separated
Better performance, high availability
DHCP for LAN is not supported
IPv6 is not supported for iSCSI

Three network adapters

WAN, LAN, and Data separated
Better performance, high availability
DHCP for LAN is not supported
IPv6 is not supported for iSCSI

Four network adapters

WAN and LAN separated, Data separated on two dedicated network adapters
Compatible with previous releases
Best performance and high availability
DHCP for LAN is not supported
IPv6 is not supported for iSCSI

This selection is made when you run the Install a vRPA cluster wizard in the
RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer.
For high-availability deployments in which clients have redundant physical switches,
route each data card to a different virtual switch with a separate network adapter.
For each network adapter, you have the option to assign a dynamic or static IP
addresses.
When using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP):
l Separating WAN and LAN interfaces on different network adapters is supported
only when using static IP addresses for the LAN interface

Choosing a network adapter topology 23

Preparing to install RecoverPoint for VMs

l Redundant, highly available DHCP servers in the network ensure that when a
vRPA restarts, it acquires an IP address

Preparing the VMware environment

Supported vSphere versions
For the most up-to-date information on supported VMware vCenter and vSphere
versions, refer to the Simple Support Matrix available online at https://
support.emc.com.

Preparing the network

To enable communications between the ESXi hosts and the vRPAs in the
RecoverPoint for VMs system, you must prepare the VMware network.
If you are using IP communication, you are required only to set up the VMkernel ports.
The number of VMkernel ports you need is based on the network adapter topology you
previously selected. If you decided to use four network adapters for the topology,
create two VMkernel ports. Otherwise, one VMkernel port is required.
If you require iSCSI communication, the preparation requires adding iSCSI software
adapters, then setting up VMkernel ports, and optionally binding the ports to the
adapters. See Configuring iSCSI communication on page 87.

Set up VMkernel ports

Setting up VMkernel ports is the best practice for isolating splitter traffic from other
network traffic. You isolate the traffic by placing the vRPA data interface and a
dedicated VMkernel port on a private (separate) subnet. Do not use the same subnet
for high availability (vMotion) and hosts (applications).
Procedure
1. For each ESXi host, click Manage > Networking > VMkernel adapters.
2. Add/edit the VMkernel adapters.
l Assign IP addresses that are on a routable subnet or on the same subnet as
the vRPA data interfaces.
l Configure each VMkernel port on each vSwitch/dvSwitch.
l If you encounter messages about the VMkernel port teaming policy, refer to
VMware KB2009119.
l Ensure that all ESXi HBA drivers and firmware are up to date and supported
by VMware and respective storage vendors. See VMware KB1002598.

The vRPA data IP addresses are assigned when deploying the vRPA cluster.

Establishing vCenter-to-vRPA communication

During installation, the vCenter server communicates to the vRPAs over port 443 to
acquire the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in. The ESXi clusters communicate over the
network with the vRPA targets.
Procedure
l Ensure that you open port 443 between the vCenter and the vRPAs.

24 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Preparing to install RecoverPoint for VMs

l Ensure that ESXi clusters can communicate with their vRPA targets. Configure
the ESXi firewall profile to allow communication through the network.
l See the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Security Configuration Guide for more
information.

Preparing the storage

Determining the amount and types of storage you need requires careful planning,
guidelines, and sizing tools.
RecoverPoint for VMs replicates VMs on any type of storage that VMware supports
including VMFS, NFS, vSAN, and VVols.
Ensure that all ESXi hosts in the cluster where the vRPAs reside share the data store
for the repository VMDK.
RecoverPoint for VMs requires additional storage for journal VMDKs to store point-in-
time history. This storage is needed at local and remote sites. The amount of journal
storage you need depends on site-specific installation and replication requirements
and requires careful planning. A general guideline is to begin with a number that is 15–
25 % of the total protected VM capacity. If required, you may add additional storage
later. To size the system according to estimated workloads, use the RecoverPoint
Sizer tool. See https://help.psapps.emc.com/display/HELP/RecoverPoint+Sizer.
The total storage capacity that is required includes:
l Storage for production VMs at the production site
l Storage for replica VMs at the replica site
l Storage for journal VMDKs
l 35 GB for each vRPA in the RecoverPoint for VMs system
A persistent scratch location on the ESXi host is required for storing splitter
configuration information. The scratch location (/scratch/log) requires at least 50
MB of free storage space on a permanently available persistent storage device.
For more details and examples, refer to the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Scale and
Performance Guide.
For additional guidelines and sizing tools, contact Customer Support.

Note

Shared virtual disks (VMDK/RDM) are not supported.

Note

The vSCSI splitter does not support using VVols for journal storage.

Disabling delayed ACK

Disabling delayed acknowledgement (ACK) on ESXi servers that are used in the
RecoverPoint for VMs system is recommended.
Disable delayed ACK on all ESXi servers in all ESXi clusters that may be hosting vRPAs
and/or protected VMs. For more information and for instructions on disabling delayed
ACK, refer to VMware KB1002598.

Preparing the storage 25

Preparing to install RecoverPoint for VMs

Understanding the installation flow

The complete work flow includes installation and protection. Understanding the stages
of the work flow helps you to successfully install the RecoverPoint for VMs system
and protect VMs.
Figure 3 on page 26 shows the major stages of the installation flow. Table 1 on page
26 provides details of the required procedures for each stage of the installation flow.
Table 2 on page 26 lists the tasks that are performed in the RecoverPoint for VMs
plug-in to protect VMs.
Figure 3 Stages of the installation flow

Table 1 Procedures in the installation flow

Stage of installation flow Sequence of procedures Interface

in the installation flow
Download installation package Download the installation Online support site
package on page 30

Deploy vRPAs Deploy vRPAs on page 30 vSphere Web Client

Install and connect vRPA Install vRPA clusters on page RecoverPoint for VMs
clusters 31 Deployer
Connect vRPA clusters on
page 33

Table 2 Procedures in the protection flow

RecoverPoint for VMs Sequence of procedures Interface

plug-in step
Registration and licensing Register and license the vSphere Web Client >
system on page 35 RecoverPoint for VMs
plug-in

26 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Preparing to install RecoverPoint for VMs

Table 2 Procedures in the protection flow (continued)

RecoverPoint for VMs Sequence of procedures Interface

plug-in step
Register ESXi clusters Register ESXi clusters on vSphere Web Client >
page 35 RecoverPoint for VMs
plug-in
Protect VMs Protect VMs on page 36 vSphere Web Client >
RecoverPoint for VMs
plug-in

Understanding the installation flow 27

Preparing to install RecoverPoint for VMs

28 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

CHAPTER 3
Installing the RecoverPoint for VMs system

Installing the RecoverPoint for VMs system involves deploying the vRPAs, installing
the vRPA clusters, and connecting the vRPA clusters together. You register and
license the system, register the ESXi clusters, and then begin protecting VMs.

l Download the installation package..................................................................... 30

l Deploy vRPAs.................................................................................................... 30
l Install vRPA clusters........................................................................................... 31
l Connect vRPA clusters...................................................................................... 33
l Change default passwords................................................................................. 34
l Register and license the system.........................................................................35
l Register ESXi clusters........................................................................................35
l Protect VMs...................................................................................................... 36

Installing the RecoverPoint for VMs system 29

Installing the RecoverPoint for VMs system

Download the installation package

Download the installation software kit and uncompress the .zip file.

Note

To complete a registration form requesting a download for evaluation, Try and Buy
customers should go to http://www.emc.com/products-solutions/trial-software-
download/recoverpointforvms.htm.

Procedure
1. Browse to https://support.emc.com/downloads.
2. Perform a search in the Type a Product Name text box for RecoverPoint for
Virtual Machines.
3. Locate and download RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines <version>
Installation Kit.
Example of downloaded file:
RecoverPoint_for_Virtual_Machines_<version>_Installation_K
it_<md5_checksum>.zip
4. Uncompress the .zip file.
The .zip file contains the OVA file that is needed for the installation.
5. (Recommended) Obtain documentation for RecoverPoint for VMs.
6. Continue to the next section, "Deploy vRPAs."

Deploy vRPAs
Deploy a standard OVA to create vRPAs for RecoverPoint for VMs.
Before you begin
Ensure that you have completed:
l Preparations for installation.
l Installation data form or spreadsheet to facilitate entering requested information
(recommended). See Installation data forms on page 70.
Procedure
1. In the vSphere Web Client, right-click an ESXi host and select Deploy OVF
Template....
2. In the Select source screen, specify the vRPA OVF package location.
3. In the Review details screen, review the general properties of the OVF
template. To accept, click Next.
4. In the Accept License Agreements screen, if you accept the terms of the End-
User License Agreement, click Accept and Next.
5. In the Select name and folder screen, type a name for this vRPA and select a
folder or data center.
If you type the name of an existing vRPA, you are not permitted to continue.
6. In the Select configuration screen, select the desired vRPA performance
profile.

30 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Installing the RecoverPoint for VMs system

7. If prompted to select a resource, in the Select a resource screen, select a

cluster, host, or resource pool.
8. In the Select storage screen, select a disk format, storage policy, and high-
performance data store (best practice) to host the vRPA virtual machine files.
All ESXi hosts in the cluster where the vRPAs reside must share the data store
where the repository VMDK resides.
9. In the Setup networks screen, select a destination network for the
RecoverPoint Management Network, and select an IP protocol.
10. In the Customize template screen, type these vRPA LAN settings: IP address,
subnet mask, and gateway.
Follow instructions on the screen for using DHCP or static IP addresses
depending on the network adapter topology.
11. The Ready to Complete screen summarizes all the selections. Select Power on
after deployment. To create the vRPA, click Finish.
The Deploying vRPA screen appears, showing the progress.
12. To create additional vRPAs, repeat this procedure.
13. When you finish creating vRPAs, continue to the next section, "Install vRPA
clusters."
Results
When a vRPA is created, the vRPA Summary tab shows the vRPA package contents
as specified. The selected IP policy is implemented automatically when the vRPA is
powered on.
After you finish
To enable redundancy in case an ESXi host or data store fails, ensure that vRPAs do
not share the same ESXi host or data store.

Install vRPA clusters

Follow the Install a vRPA cluster wizard to create one or more vRPA clusters for
RecoverPoint for VMs.
When you are prompted to type data, consult the installation data form or spreadsheet
that you created when planning the system (recommended). See Installation data
forms on page 70.
Procedure
1. In a web browser, type https://<LAN-ip-address> where <LAN-ip-address>
is the LAN IP address of vRPA 1 or vRPA 2 in the cluster you are installing. In
the home page, click RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer.
If you are using DHCP, obtain the LAN IP address from the vSphere Web Client
by selecting the vRPA and clicking the Summary tab.
2. If prompted, type the login details for the boxmgmt user and click Sign in.
The RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer home page appears.
3. Select the Install a vRPA cluster wizard.
4. On the Version Requirements page, the version requirements file is
automatically downloaded and validated to ensure that the system meets the

Install vRPA clusters 31

Installing the RecoverPoint for VMs system

requirements. If you have a .json configuration file that you want to import,
click the Settings icon and then click Import.
If version requirements verification is successful, click Next to continue. If
issues are found, analyze and fix blocking issues before continuing.
If the version requirements file fails to download, you are prompted to select
one of these options:
l Retry downloading the up-to-date requirements from EMC Online
Support
l Provide version requirements file manually
l Do not check version requirements

Note

To obtain the version requirements file for offline installation, browse to

https://rplicense.emc.com/download. This page provides an option to
download or email the a-cca.xml file. If this option is not available, open a
Service Request with Customer Support Services (severity level 3). In the
request, ask for the latest version requirements file for the RecoverPoint for
VMs Deployer. The file is provided within one (1) business day and must be used
within 30 days.

5. On the Installation Prerequisites page, type the requested information for the
vCenter on which the current vRPA is running, and then click Connect.
If the SSL Certificate window appears, verify the vCenter's SSL certificate and
click Confirm.
6. Review the Pre-installation Validation Results area. If validation errors are
listed, fix them before proceeding.
If an error can be automatically fixed, the Fix button appears in the Auto-Fix
column.
7. On the Environment Settings page, define the required settings.
l Type a name for the vRPA cluster.
l For better security, select the Authenticated and encrypted
communication between vRPAs checkbox (recommended). For better
performance, clear this checkbox.
l Ensure that the splitter communication mode that you require is selected. (If
the environment does not support the communication mode, the option is
unavailable.)
l Type IP addresses for DNS and NTP servers.

8. On the vRPA Settings page:

a. Select the vRPAs for the vRPA cluster and click the Apply Selection button.
b. Select a repository volume from the list. All ESXi hosts in the cluster where
the vRPAs reside must share this volume.
9. On the Network Settings page, provide the requested settings for the vRPA
cluster and its vRPAs.
l In the Network Adapters Configuration area, keep the default setting or
click Edit to choose a different network adapter topology.

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 Installing the RecoverPoint for VMs system

l In the Network Mapping area, for each network adapter, select a value and
whether to use DHCP. Type a Cluster Management IP address.
l In the vRPA Settings area, type the requested IP addresses. If the network
configuration requires gateways to communicate with remote vRPA
clusters, click Add to insert each gateway. For each gateway that you add at
the current cluster, add a gateway at the remote cluster.
l In the Advanced Settings area, change the MTU values only if required.
MTU values must be consistent across the communication interface from
source to target. See KB article 484259 for more information.

10. On the Deployment progress page, on reaching 100%, click Finish to return to
the home page. To export a configuration file of the vRPA cluster settings, click
the Settings icon (upper right), and then click Export. This file provides a
record of the vRPA cluster configuration for the major version you have
installed. You use it to restore the vRPA cluster settings after an installation
failure (requiring the installation to be repeated).
If installation fails:
l To identify the cause of failure, review the displayed error messages.
l To return to the step in the wizard where you can fix the problem, click
Back. Fix the problem and retry the installation.
l Alternatively, you can retry the operation that failed by clicking Retry the
operation.
l If installation continues to fail, contact Customer Support.

11. To enable multi-site replication, create additional vRPA clusters by repeating

this procedure for each site.
12. When all vRPA clusters are created, continue to the next section, "Connect the
vRPA clusters."

Results
Installation of the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in for vSphere vCenter is initiated.
The plug-in installation usually occurs immediately, but it might take some time for the
vCenter to identify the plug-in. If you experience issues with the RecoverPoint for
VMs plug-in, log out and log in again to the vSphere Web Client as described in
"Troubleshooting the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in."
Splitters are pushed to all ESXi hosts in the ESXi cluster where the vRPAs are
installed.

Connect vRPA clusters

To enable replication between any two vRPA clusters, use the Connect vRPA
clusters wizard to establish a connection between them.
Before you begin
In this procedure, the "current" cluster is defined as the vRPA cluster to which the
Connect vRPA clusters wizard is currently pointed. The "remote" cluster is the vRPA
cluster at a remote site. This wizard helps you to connect a remote vRPA cluster to
the current vRPA cluster.
The remote vRPA cluster must not:
l Be in maintenance mode.

Connect vRPA clusters 33

Installing the RecoverPoint for VMs system

l Be an existing, configured vRPA cluster.

l Have protected VMs, consistency groups, or group sets.
l Have user or journal volumes.
l Have a license other than a vCenter license.
l Have been previously connected to a vRPA cluster

Note

A remote vRPA cluster that meets these requirements is called a "clean" cluster.

Ensure that you have a completed installation data form or spreadsheet

(recommended).
Do not exceed the maximum number of five vRPA clusters per system.
If you require a gateway for communication between vRPA clusters, add a gateway at
each vRPA cluster before connecting between the clusters.
Procedure
1. In a web browser, type https://<cluster_management-ip-address>/WDM for
the vRPA cluster that you want to connect.
2. In the RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer home page of the current cluster, select
the Connect vRPA clusters wizard.
3. On the Environment Settings page, type the requested information for the
remote cluster.
4. In the Current Cluster Settings area, review the list of gateways that are
configured for this vRPA cluster. If required, add one or more gateways on the
current vRPA cluster. Remember that for each additional gateway at the
current cluster, you must add a gateway at the remote cluster.
5. On the Add Cluster Progress page, the remote cluster connects to the current
cluster.
6. To connect additional vRPA clusters, repeat this procedure.
7. Continue to the next section, "Change default passwords."

Change default passwords

To align with security best practices, change the default passwords of your
RecoverPoint for VMs system.
Procedure
1. Connect to the RecoverPoint for VMs CLI by using SSH and the cluster
management IP address.
For more details, see the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines CLI Reference Guide.
2. Log in with security-admin credentials (user/password).

User Default password

admin admin

boxmgmt boxmgmt

security-admin security-admin

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 Installing the RecoverPoint for VMs system

3. Run the set_user command to change the default passwords for the admin
and boxmgmt users.
4. Run the set_password command to change the default password for the
security-admin user.
5. Continue to the next section, "Register and license the system."

Register and license the system

Use the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in to register and license your system.
Registration and licensing enables support and provides important product updates to
keep your system running optimally.
Procedure
1. Ensure that you activate your entitlements.
This procedure is in the "Activating your entitlements" section of the
RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Administrator's Guide.
2. Use the Getting Started Wizard to add licenses and register your
RecoverPoint for VMs system.
This procedure is in the "Licensing, support, and registration" section of the
RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Administrator's Guide.
3. Continue to the next section, "Register ESXi clusters."

Register ESXi clusters

Use the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in to register ESXi clusters. You cannot protect
VMs unless you first register the ESXi clusters.
Procedure
1. To register an ESXi cluster:
a. In the vSphere Web Client home page, select RecoverPoint for VMs >
Administration > vRPA Clusters.
b. Select the vRPA cluster at which you want to register ESXi clusters.
c. Select the ESX Clusters tab.
d. Click Add.
e. In the Register ESX Clusters dialog box, select the ESXi cluster that you
want to register, and then click OK.
The system validates the ESXi cluster for communication compliance.
2. If using iSCSI communication mode, and the cluster detects connectivity issues,
click Validate. See "Validating ESXi connectivity."

3. Repeat this procedure for each vRPA cluster.

4. Continue to the next section, "Protect VMs."
Results
The RecoverPoint for VMs splitter automatically installs on all ESXi hosts of registered
ESXi clusters.

Register and license the system 35

Installing the RecoverPoint for VMs system

Protect VMs
The RecoverPoint for VMs system is ready for operation. Use the RecoverPoint for
VMs plug-in to begin protecting VMs.
Procedure
1. Protect the VMs by right-clicking each VM and selecting the protection option.
Detailed instructions are in the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Administrator's
Guide.
2. After protection is enabled, monitor the system as described in the
RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Administrator's Guide.

36 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

CHAPTER 4
Maintaining RecoverPoint for VMs

Maintaining the RecoverPoint for VMs system involves tasks such as collecting logs,
migrating from iSCSI to IP communication mode, modifying vRPA cluster network
settings and topology, and adding, removing, or replacing vRPAs.

l Collect logs........................................................................................................ 38
l Migrate to IP communication mode....................................................................38
l Modify vRPA cluster network settings............................................................... 39
l Modify the network topology............................................................................. 39
l Add vRPAs to a vRPA cluster.............................................................................40
l Remove a vRPA from a vRPA cluster.................................................................40
l Replace a vRPA.................................................................................................. 41

Maintaining RecoverPoint for VMs 37

Maintaining RecoverPoint for VMs

Collect logs
During deployment, collecting logs for the current cluster and its vRPAs provides
information that may be helpful in troubleshooting the installation.
Procedure
1. In a web browser, type https://<LAN-ip-address> where <LAN-ip-address>
is the LAN IP address of the first vRPA in the cluster. In the vRPA home page,
click RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer.
2. If prompted, type the login details for the boxmgmt user and click Sign in.
3. At the upper right of the home page, click the Settings icon, and then click
Collect Logs.
4. In the Collect Cluster Logs dialog box, type start and end times for log
collection.
5. If required, under the Advanced section, you may add one or more vRPAs from
other clusters to the log collection.
6. To begin the log collection, click Collect Logs.
Depending on the size of the environment, log collection may take several
minutes to complete. A message in the Collect Cluster Logs dialog box
indicates when the log collection is complete. Collected logs are stored in the
vRPA file system.
7. To download a log file, click the name of the cluster in the Location column of
the Collect Cluster Logs dialog box.
This action opens a browser window to the downloadable log file. To download
it, click the .tar file.

Migrate to IP communication mode

After upgrading to Release 5.1.1 (or later), you can migrate an existing RecoverPoint
for VMs iSCSI environment to the IP communication mode.
Before you begin
For more information about the IP communication mode, review the information in the
"Splitter communication mode" topic in the planning section of this guide.
Procedure
1. In a web browser, type https://<cluster_management-ip-address>. In the
vRPA home page, click RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer.
2. If prompted, type the login details for the boxmgmt user and click Sign in.
3. From the RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer home page, click Changing splitter
communication mode to IP.
4. In the Migrate to IP communication mode dialog box, verify that the listed
prerequisites are satisfied. If the environment:
l Does not satisfy the listed prerequisites, click Cancel, and perform the
necessary upgrades.
l Satisfies the listed prerequisites, click OK.
Deployer tries to migrate the environment to IP communication mode.

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 Maintaining RecoverPoint for VMs

5. If the migration is:

l Successful, click Close.
l Not successful, fix the errors that are listed, and retry the migration
procedure. If still unsuccessful, collect logs and contact Customer Support.
Results
The environment has successfully migrated to IP communication mode. RecoverPoint
for VMs no longer requires iSCSI adapters on the ESXi and you may remove them.

Modify vRPA cluster network settings

Use the Modify vRPA cluster network wizard to change network settings.
Before you begin
To modify the network adapter topology, refer to Modify the network topology on
page 39.
Procedure
1. In a web browser, type https://<cluster_management-ip-address>/WDM for
the vRPA cluster that you want to modify.
2. In the home page, click RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer.
3. If prompted, type the login credentials for the boxmgmt user and click Sign in.
4. Under More actions, select Modify vRPA cluster network.
5. Make the desired changes to the Environment Settings page. If you have
a .json configuration file that you want to import, hover over the Settings
icon and click Import.
6. Make the desired modifications changes to the Network Settings page.
Some settings cannot be modified.
7. To apply the changes, click Modify. To export a configuration file of the vRPA
cluster settings, click the Settings icon (upper right), and then click Export.
This file provides a record of the vRPA cluster configuration.

Modify the network topology

Use this procedure to modify the existing network topology.
Procedure
1. Pause transfer between the production and copies of the consistency groups
for the vRPA cluster that you are modifying.
2. From the vSphere Web Client, add the vNIC on all vRPA VMs. Ensure that the
type is VMXNET3.
3. Use an SSH client to log in to the vRPA as a boxmgmt user.
a. Detach the vRPA from the vRPA cluster. From the Main menu, select
Cluster operations > Detach RPA from cluster.
b. From the Main menu, select Setup > Modify settings > Enter cluster
details > Network Interface and IPs Configuration.
c. Select the network topology that you want to use.

Modify vRPA cluster network settings 39

Maintaining RecoverPoint for VMs

d. Attach the vRPA back to the cluster. From the Main menu, select Cluster
operations > Attach RPA to cluster.
4. Repeat step 3 on page 39 for each vRPA in the vRPA cluster.
5. Start transfer between the production and copies of the consistency groups for
the modified vRPA cluster.

Add vRPAs to a vRPA cluster

Use this procedure to add a vRPA to an existing vRPA cluster. A vRPA cluster can
have up to 8 vRPAs, and new vRPAs must have the same RecoverPoint for VMs ISO
image as existing vRPAs.
Procedure
1. In a web browser, type https://<cluster_management-ip-address>/WDM for
the vRPA cluster to which you want to add vRPAs.
2. In the home page, click RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer.
3. If prompted, type the login credentials for the boxmgmt user and click Sign in.
4. Under More actions, click Add vRPAs to vRPA cluster.
5. In the Add Prerequisites step, acknowledge that you have met the listed
conditions by selecting the checkbox.
6. In the Add vRPAs step, select one or more VMs/vRPAs to add to the cluster.
l New vRPAs must have the same RecoverPoint software ISO image as the
existing vRPAs in the cluster.
l A cluster can have a maximum of 8 vRPAs.

7. In the vRPA Cluster Settings and vRPA Settings sections, type required
information for the vRPAs you are adding.
8. In the Add vRPAs Progress step, on reaching 100%, click Finish to return to
the Home Page.
If adding a vRPA fails:
l To identify the cause of failure, review the displayed error messages.
l To return to the step in the wizard where you can fix the problem, click
Back. Fix the problem, and then retry the installation wizard from that point.
l Alternatively, you can retry the operation that failed by clicking Retry the
operation.
l If adding a vRPA continues to fail, contact Customer Support.

Remove a vRPA from a vRPA cluster

Use this procedure to remove a vRPA from a vRPA cluster. You cannot remove a
vRPA if the cluster has 2 or fewer vRPAs.
Procedure
1. In a web browser, type https://<cluster_management-ip-address>/WDM for
the vRPA cluster from which you want to remove a vRPA.
2. In the home page, click RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer.

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 Maintaining RecoverPoint for VMs

3. If prompted, enter the login credentials for the boxmgmt user and click Sign in.
4. Under More actions, click Remove vRPA from vRPA cluster.
l The highest numbered vRPA (the last one added) will be removed.
l The consistency groups of the removed vRPA will be non-disruptively moved
to a different vRPA.
l The preferred vRPA setting for those consistency groups will be
automatically updated.

Replace a vRPA
Use this procedure and wizard to replace a vRPA with a different vRPA.
Before you begin
This wizard does not support replacing a vRPA within a vRPA cluster that has only one
vRPA. If you must replace a vRPA in a single-vRPA cluster, contact Customer
Support.
Deploy the new, replacement vRPA with the same IP settings as the faulty vRPA you
want to replace. Ensure that the replacement vRPA is shut down. To shut down the
replacement vRPA, login as boxmgmt user and select Main Menu > Shutdown /
Reboot operations > Shutdown RPA.
Procedure
1. In a web browser, type https://<cluster_management-ip-address>/WDM for
the vRPA cluster in which you want to replace a vRPA.
2. In the home page, click RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer.
3. If prompted, type the login credentials for the boxmgmt user and click Sign in.
4. Under More actions, click Replace vRPA.
5. In the Prerequisites step, acknowledge that you have met the listed conditions
by selecting the checkbox.
6. In the Replace vRPA step, select the vRPA that you want to replace.
7. Select the vRPA you want to add as a replacement.
8. In the Replacement Progress step, on reaching 100% click Finish to return to
the home page.
If replacing a vRPA fails:
l To identify the cause of failure, review the displayed error messages.
l To return to the step in the wizard where you can fix the problem, click
Back. Fix the problem, and then retry the installation wizard from that point.
l Alternatively, you can retry the operation that failed by clicking Retry the
operation.
l If replacing a vRPA continues to fail, contact Customer Support.

Replace a vRPA 41
Maintaining RecoverPoint for VMs

42 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

CHAPTER 5
Upgrading RecoverPoint for VMs

Upgrading RecoverPoint for VMs involves downloading the upgrade package and
sequentially upgrading the vRPA clusters, the splitters, and the RecoverPoint for VMs
plug-in.

l Upgrade overview.............................................................................................. 44
l The Upgrade and Maintenance package.............................................................44
l Upgrade a vRPA Cluster.....................................................................................44
l Upgrade splitters ...............................................................................................45
l Upgrade the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in........................................................46

Upgrading RecoverPoint for VMs 43

Upgrading RecoverPoint for VMs

Upgrade overview
Upgrade the RecoverPoint for VMs system to a later version by downloading the
desired upgrade package. Then upgrade the vRPA clusters, splitters, and
RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in.
When upgrading RecoverPoint for VMs, all existing RecoverPoint for VMs settings are
preserved. There is no journal loss and no full sweep.
Upgrading RecoverPoint for VMs consists of:
l Downloading the upgrade package
l Upgrading the vRPA clusters
l Upgrading the RecoverPoint for VMs splitters
l Upgrading RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in
After completing the upgrade, observe the following:
l Force the browser to reload updated files. From the Deployer home page, type
CTRL + F5.
l If the environment meets requirements, you can migrate vSCSI splitter-based
clusters from iSCSI to IP communication mode.
l Shadow VMs are not required. The copy VM is used in low resources mode. After
upgrading to Release 5.1 and later, shadow VMs are automatically removed.

The Upgrade and Maintenance package

Download the RecoverPoint for VMs Upgrade and Maintenance Kit. The Upgrade and
Maintenance Kit is a zip file that consists of multiple components required for the
upgrade.
Download the RecoverPoint for VMs Upgrade and Maintenance Kit from http://
support.emc.com.

Upgrade a vRPA Cluster

The RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer supports non-disruptive upgrades for clusters
with two or more vRPAs and enables upgrading an ISO image without re-protecting
VMs.
Before you begin
If you are upgrading a cluster that has only one vRPA, the upgrade is disruptive to
replication, but the upgrade occurs without full sweep or journal loss. Also, during the
vRPA restart, the Upgrade Progress report may not update, and Deployer may
become temporarily unavailable. When the vRPA completes its restart, the user can
log back in to Deployer and observe the Upgrade Progress to completion.
When you upgrade a cluster that has two or more vRPAs and is connected to a cluster
with a single vRPA, a partially disruptive upgrade occurs. When the first vRPA is
upgraded, all consistency groups move to another RPA. However, for consistency
groups that are replicated in the single vRPA, replication stops while the first vRPA is
upgraded.

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 Upgrading RecoverPoint for VMs

Procedure
1. In a web browser, type https://<cluster_management-ip-address>/WDM for
the vRPA cluster that you want to upgrade.
2. In the home page, click RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer.
3. If prompted, type the login credentials for the boxmgmt user, and click Sign in.
4. Click Upgrade a vRPA cluster.
The wizard performs a system check.
5. In the Upgrade Prerequisites step, ensure that you meet the conditions that
are listed on the screen. Select the checkbox: I have fulfilled these conditions.
6. In the ISO step, choose how you want to provide the ISO image for upgrading
RecoverPoint for VMs.
7. In the Change Version Requirements step, the version requirements file is
automatically downloaded and validated to ensure that the system meets the
requirements. If the version requirements file fails to download, select one of
these options:
l Retry downloading the up-to-date requirements from Online Support
l Provide version requirements file manually
l Do not check version requirements
Issues that are found are displayed for you to analyze. It is recommended that
you fix blocking issues before continuing.
8. In the System Diagnostics step, Deployer checks for tweak modifications and
signed scripts on the vRPAs. If discovered, these modifications are collected
and the user is prompted to send the modifications file to Customer Support for
analysis.
9. In the Upgrade Progress step, the progress bar displays the replacement
progress. On reaching 100%, click Finish to return to the Deployer home page.
10. If upgrading fails, review the displayed error message to identify the cause of
the failure. To correct the issue and retry the upgrade, click Back.
If upgrading a vRPA continues to fail, contact Customer Support.

Upgrade splitters
Use this procedure to upgrade splitters on the ESXi host.
Before you begin
You may need to enable ESXi Shell and SSH access before proceeding. Refer to
VMware documentation for more information.
To keep vRPAs working during the splitter upgrade, ensure that at least two ESXi
hosts have an installed splitter.
Procedure
1. On the ESXi host, vMotion all VMs to another ESXi host.
2. At the ESXCLI, enter maintenance mode. From the ESXi host console, use SSH
to run the following command:
esxcli system maintenanceMode set -e=true

Upgrade splitters 45
Upgrading RecoverPoint for VMs

Note

For VSAN environments, this command requires an additional switch (refer to

the vSphere documentation for the vSphere version that you are using).

3. Remove the old RecoverPoint vSphere Installation Bundle on the ESXi host.
esxcli software vib remove -n "RP-Splitter"

4. Install the splitter by using this method:

a. To copy the RecoverPoint VIB to the tmp directory, use an SSH client with
secure copy protocol:
scp <vib name> <username>@<ESXi host IP>:/scratch

NOTICE

Do not erase the /scratch space during the upgrade.

Example:
scp kdriver_RPESX-00.5.0.0.0.0.h.152.000.vib
[email protected]:/scratch

b. To install the splitter, in the ESXi host console, run the following command:
esxcli software vib install -v /<vib_full_path> --no-sig-check

If installation is successful, the following message appears:

Installation Result
Message: Operation finished successfully.
Reboot Required: false
VIBs Installed: EMC_Recoverpoint_bootbank_RP-Splitter_RPS-
<version number>
VIBs Removed:
VIBs Skipped:

c. Confirm installation of the splitter in the ESXi host console by using SSH to
run the following command:
esxcli software vib list

The RecoverPoint for VMs splitter installation bundle name should appear at
the top of the list.
5. On the ESXi host, exit maintenance mode by running the following command:
esxcli system maintenanceMode set -e=false

6. vMotion the VMs back to this ESXi host.

7. Repeat this procedure for each ESXi host.

Upgrade the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in

Use the vSphere Web Client to upgrade the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in.
Before you begin
The vRPA is backward-compatible, but the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in is not. New
vRPAs work with older plug-ins, but a new RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in might not be
able to communicate with older vRPAs. Therefore, the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in
version must correspond with the version of the oldest vRPA cluster.

46 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Upgrading RecoverPoint for VMs

Upgrade the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in for each vCenter in the system.
Procedure
1. Access the vSphere Web Client at: https://<vCenter-ip-address>:
9443/vsphere-client/. In the vSphere Web Client home page, click the
RecoverPoint for VMs icon.
2. Click the Help... link at the top right of the RecoverPoint for VMs
Management screen, and select Upgrade RecoverPoint for VMs.
3. In the Upgrade RecoverPoint for VMs window, select the upgrade version and
click OK.
4. Log out all active user sessions of the vSphere Web Client, and log back in.
Verify that the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in is listed under Inventories.
5. If the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in is not listed under Inventories, restart the
vCenter Web Client service to ensure that all active user sessions are
disconnected.
After upgrading the plug-in, you will not be able to access vRPA clusters that
are running earlier versions of RecoverPoint for VMs.

Upgrade the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in 47

Upgrading RecoverPoint for VMs

48 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

CHAPTER 6
Uninstalling RecoverPoint for VMs

You can uninstall a single vRPA cluster or all vRPA clusters from a vCenter. The
uninstall tool scans the vCenter, datastores, and ESXi hosts. It removes vRPAs
(production and copy VMs), configuration objects, and repository and journal volumes.

l Using the RecoverPoint for VMs Uninstall tool.................................................. 50

l What the RecoverPoint for VMs uninstall tool does........................................... 50
l Preparing to uninstall vRPA clusters.................................................................. 50
l Run the RecoverPoint for VMs uninstall tool......................................................52
l Finishing up the uninstall.................................................................................... 53

Uninstalling RecoverPoint for VMs 49

Uninstalling RecoverPoint for VMs

Using the RecoverPoint for VMs Uninstall tool

The Uninstall tool removes vRPA clusters and their configuration entities from a
vCenter.
The Uninstall tool has two options:
l uninstall - Uninstalls a single vRPA cluster from a vCenter. Use this option to:
n Replace a Try and Buy or Beta version with a supported production version
n Remove a vRPA cluster (after data migration)
n Remove unwanted elements from the vCenter environment
l full_rp_uninstall - Uninstalls all vRPA clusters from a vCenter. Use this option
to completely remove all RecoverPoint entities and clusters from the vCenter.

What the RecoverPoint for VMs uninstall tool does

The RecoverPoint fo VMs uninstall tool removes vRPAs, shadow VMs, configuration
objects, and repository and journal volumes.
Running the RecoverPoint for VMs Uninstall tool does the following:
1. Scans the vCenter, datastores, and ESXi hosts.
2. Displays a list of all detected vRPA clusters and marks them either active or
suspected inactive. Active clusters are clusters that have registered vCenter
tokens during the last hour.
3. After you select which vRPA clusters the tool should uninstall, the tool removes
the following from the selected vRPA clusters: production and replica VMs that
were running vRPAs, shadow VMs (if they exist), RecoverPoint configuration
objects, and the repository and journal volumes.
In addition to all the actions performed when uninstalling one vRPA cluster,
uninstalling all vRPAs removes all vRPA clusters on the selected vCenter with all
related elements. It also removes from the vCenter RecoverPoint elements not
belonging to a specific vRPA cluster, such as the RecoverPoint vCenter plug-in.

Preparing to uninstall vRPA clusters

Unprotect VMs
To stop replication for a vRPA, unprotect the associated VM.
Procedure
1. In the vSphere Web Client home page, click the RecoverPoint for VMs
Management icon > Protection tab. Click Virtual Machines.
2. Select the VM you wish to stop replicating. Click the Unprotect icon. Repeat
for each protected VM.

50 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Uninstalling RecoverPoint for VMs

Remove ESXi clusters from vRPA clusters

Use the vSphere Web Client and this procedure to remove a ESXi cluster from a vRPA
cluster.
Procedure
1. In the vSphere Web Client home page, click the RecoverPoint for VMs
Management icon > Administration tab.
2. Click vRPA Clusters.
3. Select the relevant vRPA cluster.
4. Click the ESX Clusters tab.
5. Click the garbage can icon next to each ESXi cluster to remove that ESXi
cluster from the selected vRPA cluster.

Uninstall a vRPA cluster

The Uninstall a vRPA cluster from this system wizard guides you in uninstalling a vRPA
cluster. Use the uninstall tool to uninstall the last vRPA cluster.
Before you begin
l You cannot uninstall a cluster from a single-cluster system.
l After you uninstall a vRPA cluster, you cannot reuse the cluster or its vRPAs.
l When you uninstall a vRPA cluster, the vRPAs are shut down and cannot be
restored.
l If required, collect logs before you uninstall the cluster. Log collection for the
cluster is not possible later.
If you want to remove only one vRPA cluster from a system with two or more clusters,
perform these steps from a vRPA cluster that is remaining in the system (and not
from the cluster that you want to remove).
If you want to remove all of the vRPA clusters, perform these steps from one of the
clusters. The last remaining cluster must be removed by using the uninstall tool.
Procedure
1. In a web browser, type https://<cluster_management-ip-address>/WDM for
the vRPA cluster that you want to uninstall.
2. In the home page, click RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer.
3. If prompted, type the login credentials for the boxmgmt user and click Sign in.
4. Under More actions, click Uninstall a vRPA cluster from this system.
5. Select the vRPA cluster that you want to remove. Click OK.
If cluster removal does not succeed, try again. If cluster removal fails, contact
Customer Support.

Results
The vRPA cluster is successfully uninstalled. Continue to the next procedure.

Remove ESXi clusters from vRPA clusters 51

Uninstalling RecoverPoint for VMs

Run the RecoverPoint for VMs uninstall tool

Download the uninstall tool, uncompress the .bat file, and run the tool in the command
line.
Before you begin
Obtain the IP and TCP port number of the vCenter (or vCenters) you want to scan,
the vCenter username (and domain name, if one exists), and the vCenter password.
System requirements for the computer running the Uninstall tool:
l Microsoft Windows
l Java 7 or higher

Note

If a time difference of more than 30 minutes exists between the vRPA and the
computer running the Uninstall tool, the tool may recognize the vRPA cluster as
inactive when it is not. (The time difference is not influenced by different time zones.)

Procedure
1. Navigate to the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines download page under the
Tools & Utilities section and click the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines
Uninstaller Tool link. The link is also referenced from the Customer Installation
kit.
2. From a computer with IP connectivity to the vCenters managing the
RecoverPoint VMs you want to uninstall, unzip the zip file.
3. Double click on uninstaller.bat.
The RecoverPoint for VMs Uninstall Tool opens in a command line.
4. Perform one of the following actions:

Option Description
If uninstalling a single vRPA cluster from a …type uninstall.
vCenter
If uninstalling all vRPA clusters from a vCenter …type full_rp_uninstall.

Type --h after a command to view an explanation of that command. Type help
to view a short explanation of all available commands.
5. Enter the IP address of the vCenter.
6. Enter the vCenter's TCP port number or press Enter for the default port (443).
7. Enter the vCenter's username.
8. Enter the vCenter's password.
The tool tests connectivity and logs in to the vCenter.
9. Type y if you want to add another vCenter. Type n if you do not.
If you have remote vRPA clusters connected to a different vCenter, type that
vCenter's IP address if you want to uninstall that cluster as well.

The tool displays a list of detected vRPA clusters.

52 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Uninstalling RecoverPoint for VMs

10. Perform one of the following actions:

Option Description
If uninstalling a single vRPA Type the index number of the vRPA cluster that
cluster from a vCenter you want to uninstall. To remove more than one
cluster, type the index numbers separated by
commas (for example: 1,4,9).
If uninstalling all vRPA Type y to perform the uninstallation.
clusters from a vCenter

Results
The tool begins to scan and uninstall the cluster (or clusters).
If the process notifies you that it did not uninstall all objects, you may run the uninstall
operation again.
RecoverPoint splitters are not removed by the uninstall tool. They can be manually
removed from each ESXi host. For instructions, see Uninstall the RecoverPoint for
VMs splitters on page 53.

Finishing up the uninstall

Uninstall the RecoverPoint for VMs splitters
Use the ESXCLI to uninstall the RecoverPoint for VMs splitters.
Procedure
1. Use ESXCLI to obtain a list of all installed vSphere Installation Bundles (VIBs):
esxcli software vib list

2. Ensure that a bundle named RP-Splitter is installed.

3. On the ESXi host, enter maintenance mode:
esxcli system maintenanceMode set -e=true

Note

For VSAN environments, this command requires an additional switch (refer to

the vSphere documentation for the vSphere version that you are using).

4. To uninstall the splitter, type:

esxcli software vib remove -n "RP-Splitter"

5. On the ESXi host, exit maintenance mode:

esxcli system maintenanceMode set -e=false

Removing unused directories

From the vCenter, remove RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in directories which are no
longer being used.
Procedure
1. Connect to the vCenter server (using a local network mapping or Remote
Desktop Connection). Delete the following folder:

Finishing up the uninstall 53

Uninstalling RecoverPoint for VMs

l vCenter 5.5 and Windows vCenter: C:\ProgramData\VMware\vSphere

Web Client\vc-packages\vsphere-client-serenity
\com.emc.recoverpoint.vwc-<version>
l vCenter 5.5 and vCSA: /var/lib/vmware/vsphere-client/vc-
packages/vsphere-client-serenity/
com.emc.recoverpoint.vwc-<version>
l vCenter 6.0/6.5 and Windows vCenter: C:\ProgramData\VMware
\vCenterServer\cfg\vsphere-client\vc-packages\vsphere-
client-serenity\com.emc.recoverpoint.vwc-<version>
l vCenter 6.0/6.5 and vCSA: /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/vc-
packages/vsphere-client-serenity/
com.emc.recoverpoint.vwc-<version>
2. Restart the vSphere Web Client. For instructions, refer to VMware KB1003895
(Windows), VMware KB2109887 (Linux - vCenter 6.x), or VMware KB2147152
(Linux - vCenter 6.5).

54 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

CHAPTER 7
Installing in VxRail environments

Installing RecoverPoint for VMs in VxRail environments is similar to a standard

installation but includes a few specific requirements for preparing the network,
configuring VMkernel ports, creating vRPAs and vRPA clusters, and adding VxRail
appliances or nodes.

l Deploying RecoverPoint for VMs in a VxRail™ environment............................... 56

Installing in VxRail environments 55

Installing in VxRail environments

Deploying RecoverPoint for VMs in a VxRail™ environment

Follow specific guidelines when deploying Recoverpoint for VMs in a VxRail
environment.
When deploying RecoverPoint for VMs on VxRail appliances, follow the guidelines in
this chapter along with the instructions that are listed in Preparing the network on
page 24, Deploy vRPAs on page 30, and Install vRPA clusters on page 31.

Downloading from the VxRail market place

Download the latest qualified RecoverPoint for VMs release from the VxRail manager
marketplace.

Preparing the network for VxRail

Prepare the network for the VxRail environment by choosing a network adapter
topology and defining the required ports.
VxRail supports adding a PCIe NIC to the node in E, P, S, and V Series. VxRail
initialization does not impact the PCIe NIC. You can connect unused ports to the
VxRail system vSphere Distributed switch. Alternatively, you can create a vSphere
Standard Switch (VSS)/vSphere Distributed switch and connect the unused ports
after initialization. The ports are available for uses such as RecoverPoint traffic. VxRail
G-Series 2x10G models have only 2x10G ports.
In VxRail 4.0 and later, vSphere Network I/O Control (NIOC) is enabled during
initialization, and vSAN traffic has the highest priority to consume the bandwidth in
contention. If NIOC is enabled with the default VxRail setting, you can use the vSAN
port for other traffic.
The configuration described here uses the G-Series 2x10G model uplink configuration
and VxRail system vSphere Distributed switch default name ("VMware HCIA
Distributed Switch") as an example. Choose a vSwitch and uplink name according to
the VxRail model and uplink configuration.
Prepare the required port groups on the VMware HCIA Distributed Switch.
Procedure
l Use the default configuration of two network adapters (WAN + LAN on one
adapter and data on the other) unless required to use a different network adapter
topology.
l If using a single network adapter, define one port group: RP_ALL.
l If using four network adapters, define four port groups: RP_WAN, RP_LAN,
RP_iSCSI1, RP_iSCSI2.

Create vRPAs for VxRail

Use the OVA file and guidelines in this procedure to create vRPAs for VxRail
environments.
When creating vRPAs:
Procedure
l In the Select storage screen, in the VM Storage Policy drop down, select
MARVIN-STORAGE-PROFILE. The compatible VSAN datastore will be selected.

56 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Installing in VxRail environments

l Deploy two vRPAs and configure VM-Host affinity rules to avoid running both
vRPAs on the same ESXi node (recommended).

Create and configure VMkernel ports for VxRail

Create and configure VMkernel ports for VxRail environments.
Best practice recommends VxRail deployments use vSCSI splitter with the IP
communication mode.
If you are using:
l IP communication mode, do not configure software iSCSI adapters
l iSCSI communication mode, configure software iSCSI adapters on all ESXi nodes
Procedure
1. Create one or two VMkernel ports on each ESXi node by selecting an existing
distributed vSwitch “VMware HCIA Distributed Switch.”
A single VMkernel port is required when using the default of two network
adapters (WAN + LAN on one network adapter and data on the other network
adapter). This configuration is standard. Two VMkernel ports are required when
you are using two network adapters for data.
2. To select one network adapter (uplink) as active, override the NIC teaming
policy. The other network adapter should be marked as unused.
When using a single VMKernel port, assign uplink1 to the port and, if using iSCSI
communication mode, bind it to the software iSCSI adapter.
When using two VMkernel ports:
l Assign uplink1 to one VMkernel port and uplink2 to the second VMkernel
port.
l For uplink2, use traffic shaping to limit bandwidth to no more than 1Gb/s (if
NIOC is enabled with the default VxRail setting, traffic shaping is optional):
a. Locate the port group, right-click it, and select Edit Settings.
b. In the Edit Settings window, change traffic shaping for the port group:

Traffic shaping Field Value

Ingress Peak bandwidth (kb/s) 1048576

Burst size (KB) 102400

Egress Status Enabled

Average bandwidth (kb/s) 1048576

Peak bandwidth (kb/s) 1048576

Burst size (KB) 102400

3. If using iSCSI communication mode, bind the VMkernel ports to the software
iSCSI adapter.

Create a vRPA cluster for VxRail

Use the Install a vRPA cluster wizard to create a vRPA cluster for the VxRail
environment.
When creating a vRPA cluster:

Create and configure VMkernel ports for VxRail 57

Installing in VxRail environments

Procedure
l In the Environment Settings step, select the vSAN data store from the table of
available data stores.
l In the Network Settings step of the wizard, specify the vRPA iSCSI network
addresses (and not the VMkernel port IP addresses that were created earlier).

Adding VxRail appliances or nodes

Adding a VxRail appliance or node requires verifying the node addition, configuring
ESXi nodes, registering the new ESXi clusters, and adjusting VM-host affinity rules.
After adding a VxRail appliance or a node to an existing appliance:
Procedure
1. Verify that the nodes are added into the same vSAN cluster and under the same
vCenter.
2. Configure each ESXi node with the required iSCSI network adapters for
enabling splitter-to-vRPA communication.
3. Register the new ESXi clusters within the vRPA cluster.
This action installs the RecoverPoint for VMs splitters on the new ESXi nodes.
4. Adjust VM-host affinity rules for the vRPAs to ensure that they are running on
separate ESXi servers.

58 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

CHAPTER 8
Troubleshooting RecoverPoint for VMs
installation

When the RecoverPoint for VMs installation is not successful, knowing how to
troubleshoot the vRPAs, splitters, RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in, and replication helps
you to fix the problem.

l Troubleshooting vRPAs......................................................................................60
l Troubleshooting splitters.................................................................................... 61
l Troubleshooting the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in........................................... 62
l Troubleshooting RecoverPoint for VMs replication............................................ 63
l Validating ESXi connectivity.............................................................................. 64
l ESXi UUID duplication .......................................................................................65
l Working with vCenter Server Linked Mode........................................................66
l Getting help....................................................................................................... 66

Troubleshooting RecoverPoint for VMs installation 59

Troubleshooting RecoverPoint for VMs installation

Troubleshooting vRPAs
This section describes how to troubleshoot these vRPA conditions:
l vRPA is down
l vRPA is detached from cluster
l vRPA does not see storage or splitter

vRPA is down
If a vRPA is down (powered off), check for vRPA errors, vRPA cluster status, and
conflicts in the vRPA resource reservation. To investigate the root cause, collect and
analyze logs. From the vSphere Web Client, power on the vRPA.
Procedure
1. Check the RecoverPoint for VMs dashboard for Error events indicating that the
vRPA is not online.
2. Log in to a surviving vRPA and type the RecoverPoint username and password
to log in to the CLI. To check the cluster status, use the get_system_status
command. Choose to retrieve the status of all categories.
3. Use SSH to log in to the failed vRPA with boxmgmt credentials. Confirm that
the failed vRPA cannot be reached.
4. Check any conflicts in the vRPA resource reservation that might have led to the
vRPA being powered off. Resolve any issues before proceeding.
5. In the vSphere Web Client, right-click the vRPA that is down and select All
vCenter Actions > Power > Power On.
6. To ensure that the vRPA was powered on successfully, monitor the vRPA
console in the vSphere Web Client.
7. To investigate the root cause of the vRPA failure, collect logs.

vRPA is detached from the vRPA cluster

If the vRPA is detached from the vRPA cluster, check for vRPA errors and cluster
status. Use the boxmgmt menu to log in to the detached vRPA and attach it to the
cluster.
Procedure
1. Check the RecoverPoint for VMs dashboard for Error events indicating that the
vRPA cannot access storage or communicate with the splitters.
2. Log in to a surviving vRPA and type the RecoverPoint username and password
to log in to the CLI. Use the get_system_status command to check the
cluster status. Choose to retrieve the status of all categories.
3. From the surviving vRPA, use SSH to try logging in to the failed vRPA with
boxmgmt credentials.
a. From the boxmgmt Main Menu, select Diagnostics > Run internal
command.
b. At the prompt, type: ssh boxmgmt@<ip_address_of_detached_vrpa>
c. Confirm that the vRPA cannot be reached.

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 Troubleshooting RecoverPoint for VMs installation

4. Log in to the detached vRPA using boxmgmt and select Cluster operations >
Attach RPA to Cluster. To ensure that the vRPA was powered on successfully,
monitor the vRPA console in the vSphere Web Client.
5. To investigate the root cause of the vRPA detachment from the cluster, collect
logs.
6. If you are using a licensed version of RecoverPoint for VMs, contact Customer
Support.

vRPA cannot detect storage or splitter

When a vRPA cannot detect the storage or the splitters, investigate the status of the
vRPA and splitters. Collect and analyze the logs.
Procedure
1. Ensure the vRPA is online.
2. Ensure the vRPA is attached to the cluster.
3. Verify that the splitters are running:
a. Login to ESXi hosts.
b. Run: ps |grep kdriver
c. Ensure that splitter processes are running.
4. To investigate the root cause of why the vRPA went down, collect logs.
5. If you are using a licensed version of RecoverPoint for VMs, contact Customer
Support.

Troubleshooting splitters
The section describes how to troubleshoot the splitter when it is not visible or is in
error state.

Splitter is not visible or in error state

To determine why the splitter is not visible or in error, check splitter processes, verify
iSCSI software adapter configuration, and investigate logs.
Procedure
1. If possible, vMotion any protected VMs from ESXi hosts with splitters in error
state continue or resume replication.
2. Ensure that the splitter processes are running on the host you are
troubleshooting:
a. Login to the ESXi host and use the following command: ps |grep kdriver
b. If processes are not running, place the ESXi node in maintenance mode and
restart.
3. Verify Software iSCSI Adapter configuration:
a. Ensure that the VMkernel ports are bound to the Software iSCSI Adapter on
every host in the ESXi cluster.
b. Verify that the Software iSCSI Adapter sees all paths and vRPA iSCSI
targets.

vRPA cannot detect storage or splitter 61

Troubleshooting RecoverPoint for VMs installation

c. Verify that the iSCSI paths to the vRPAs are active and used.
4. Verify that the vRPAs can ping the Software iSCSI VMkernel ports:
a. Log in to boxmgmt and select Diagnostics > Run Internal Command > ping
-I eth2 (or eth3)<VMkernel IP address>
b. If the ping tests fail, validate the IP address, netmask, and gateway
assignments on the vRPA iSCSI interfaces and on the Software iSCSI
Adapter VMkernel ports.
5. To investigate the root cause of the splitter failure, collect logs.
6. If you are using a licensed version of RecoverPoint for VMs, contact Customer
Support.

Troubleshooting the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in

This section describes how to troubleshoot these conditions:
l vSphere Web client does not contain plug-in
l Plug-in does not see the vRPA cluster

vSphere Web client does not contain plug-in

Go through the following steps until the problem is resolved:
Procedure
1. Log out of vSphere Web client and log back in. Check if the RecoverPoint for
VMs plug-in is listed under Inventories.
2. If the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in is not listed, close all active vSphere Web
client user sessions. Then check if the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in is listed
under Inventories.
3. If the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in is still not listed, restart the vCenter Web
Client service.
4. If the plug-in is still not visible in the vSphere Web Client, validate the vCenter
Credentials configuration. You may need to reconfigure vCenter credentials.
Consult Customer Support if protected VMs exist.
5. If the plug-in is still not visible in the vSphere Web Client, collect logs to
investigate the root cause of why the plug-in is not visible.

Plug-in does not detect the vRPA cluster

Go through the following steps until the problem is resolved:
Procedure
1. Log out of the vSphere Web Client and log back in.
2. Refresh the vSphere Web Client.
3. Log out all users from the vSphere Web Client.
4. Restart the vSphere Web Client.
5. Log in to the Managed Object Browser at https://<vSphere Web
Client>/mob. Ensure the vCenter credentials are configured correctly.
Access to the Managed Object Browser is disabled by default in vSphere 6.0
and later. For instructions on how to enable access, refer to VMware
KB2108405.

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 Troubleshooting RecoverPoint for VMs installation

6. Restart vRPA1.
7. Restart vRPA2.
8. To investigate the root cause of the vRPA failure, collect logs.
9. If you are using a licensed version of RecoverPoint for VMs, contact Customer
Support.

Troubleshooting RecoverPoint for VMs replication

This section describes how to troubleshoot these conditions:
l Consistency group is in high-load transfer state or initialization is not completing
l Consistency group is in error state

CG in high-load transfer state or initialization not completing

Procedure
1. Create an SSH connection to the vRPA management IP address, and type the
RecoverPoint username and password to log in to the CLI. Run the
detect_bottlenecks command and collect the created reports to determine
the root cause of the high-load condition. For more information about detecting
bottlenecks, see the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Administrator’s Guide.
2. Resolve issues that are highlighted by the detect_bottlenecks reports such
as WAN or journal issues.
3. If consistency groups are not balanced across vRPAs, create an SSH
connection to the vRPA management IP address, and type the RecoverPoint
username and password to log in to the CLI. Run the balance_load command
and change consistency group assignments. For more information about load
balancing, see the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Administrator’s Guide.
4. If the throughput required by a consistency group exceeds the availability on a
single vRPA, review the vRPA profile to see if additional resources can be added
to meet higher IOPS requirements.
5. Check link policies such as compression and deduplication. These policies can
add additional load on the vRPA. For more information about these link policies,
see the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Administrator’s Guide.
a. If the consistency group contains more than one VM, consider moving VMs
to dedicated consistency groups and using group sets as needed.
b. Consider adding vRPAs (up to 8) to the vRPA cluster for additional
resources.
c. Review ESXi resources to ensure that there is no contention.
6. If needed, create an SSH connection to the vRPA management IP address, and
type the RecoverPoint username and password to log in to the CLI. Run the
config_io_throttling command to slow down production storage reads
during full sweep process.

Consistency group is in Error state

Procedure
1. Perform all of the procedures suggested for a consistency group in high-load
state.

Troubleshooting RecoverPoint for VMs replication 63

Troubleshooting RecoverPoint for VMs installation

2. If the consistency group is still in Error state, try the following:

a. Check if the image access buffer is full. If so, disable image access.
b. Resolve any WAN issues.
c. Check if the consistency group is in a permanent high-load state.
3. To investigate why the consistency group is in error state, collect logs.
4. If you are using a licensed version of RecoverPoint for VMs, contact Customer
Support.

Validating ESXi connectivity

During ESXi cluster registration, you can validate iSCSI connectivity issues by clicking
the Validate wizard. IP connectivity issues are not part of these validations.

Table 3 Validation tests and fixes

Validation test Description Fix (manual or automatic)

No old RecoverPoint All ESXi hosts are ready for a Pass: No splitters are installed or the installed splitters match the
splitters installed on new splitter installation. This test new version.
any ESXi in the ESXi validates that no splitters exist
Warning: A 4.3 splitter is installed.
cluster where the on any of the ESXi nodes or, if
vRPA cluster is there is an installed splitter, that Error: A 4.2 splitter is installed.
deployed. its version matches (such as Fix: If an ESXi node is listed, manually remove the splitter from that
when deploying a second vRPA node and retry.
cluster on the same ESXi
cluster).

All ESXis in the ESXi All hosts on the ESXi cluster are Pass: All ESXi hosts are connected to the vCenter.
cluster are connected to the vCenter.
Warning: There is at least one ESXi host that is disconnected from
communicating with
the vCenter.
the vCenter.
Fix: Manually ensure that all hosts in the ESXi cluster are connected
to the vCenter.

Supported ESXi All ESXi hosts meet the minimum Pass: All ESXis in the ESXi cluster meet the minimum required
versions in the ESXi supported version for version.
cluster. RecoverPoint for VMs.
Error: There exists an ESXi whose version is less than 5.1 Update 1.
Fix: Manually upgrade the ESXi.

Persistent scratch A persistent scratch location was Pass: A persistent scratch location is configured on all ESXi nodes.
locations are found for each ESXi in the
Error: There is a non-persistent scratch location configured.
available on all ESXis cluster.
in the ESXi cluster. Fix: Adjust the vSphere deployment to configure a persistent
scratch location.

iSCSI software To allow the ESXi host to Pass: There is an iSCSI software adapter that is installed on the
adapter that is communicate with vRPAs, a ESXi.
installed on the ESXi. software iSCSI adapter is
Error: There is no iSCSI software adapter that is installed on the
needed on each ESXi host that is
ESXi.
running vRPAs.
Fix: Automatically install an iSCSI software adapter on the ESXi.

64 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Troubleshooting RecoverPoint for VMs installation

Table 3 Validation tests and fixes (continued)

Validation test Description Fix (manual or automatic)

Sufficient vNIC ports Ensure that each ESXi host has a Pass: All ESXs have at least two VMkernel ports.
available on the ESXi. VMkernel port available for iSCSI
Warning: Some ESXs have only one VMkernel port.
communication.
Error: Some ESXs have no VMkernel ports.
Fix: Manually add VMkernel ports to the relevant ESXs.

Ping to the splitter Verifies that there is Pass: There is connectivity to the ESXi's IP address.
on the ESXi cluster. connectivity to the ESXi's iSCSI
Error: There is no connectivity to the ESXi's IP address.
VM kernel ports.
Fix: Determine why there is no connectivity to the IP address.

No conflicting iSCSI Verifies that there is a supported Pass: For each ESXi host, either no port binding is configured or
ports binding on all iSCSI port binding configuration port binding is configured with a single broadcast domain in the
ESXis in the ESXi on each ESXi host. target list.
cluster.
Error: for some ESXi hosts, port binding is configured with more
than one broadcast domain in the target list.
Fix: Manually fix the port biding configuration for relevant ESX
hosts (either by removing port binding or by changing targets list).

Splitter connectivity Verifies iSCSI connectivity to Pass: Successfully communicated with all ESXi hosts in the cluster.
status each ESXi host.
Error: Failed to communicate with one or more ESXi hosts in the
cluster.
Fix: Manually check the iSCSI configuration for all ESXi hosts
and/or vRPAs to identify the communication problem.

ESXi UUID duplication

In the VMware environment, each ESXi host is assigned a Universally Unique ID
(UUID). RecoverPoint for VMs uses these UUIDs to maintain the integrity of
replicated copies and protect the ESXi hosts from data corruption.
However, in some cases, a UUID might change with results that include:
l More than one ESXi host within a cluster reporting the same UUID.
l A single ESXi host reporting a different UUID after host restart (or similar
operations).
l A single ESXi host reporting a degenerated UUID with all 0's or F's.
These cases can occur when using hardware that is not certified by VMware because
the UUID is based on the BIOS UUID reported by the underlying server hardware. For
more information about duplicate UUIDs, see VMware Knowledgebase Article
2006865.
Duplicate or degenerated UUIDs can cause the following:
l The RecoverPoint cluster can experience reboot regulation (vRPAs restarting over
and over again until they detach from the cluster).
l The RecoverPoint consistency groups may not be able to recognize, connect to, or
communicate with the splitter on the affected ESXi hosts.

ESXi UUID duplication 65

Troubleshooting RecoverPoint for VMs installation

RecoverPoint for VMs replaces the use of VMware's ESXi host UUID and creates its
own unique identifier, which ensures that no duplicate or degenerated UUIDs exist in
the system. The substitution occurs only if the:
l vRPA cluster version supports this feature
l Splitter version supports this feature
For versions that do not support this feature, RecoverPoint for VMs displays a
warning about the condition.

Working with vCenter Server Linked Mode

Multiple vCenter Servers can be linked together to share information. The vCenter
Server Linked Mode enables users to view and manage inventories of the linked
vCenter servers.
When working with vCenter Server Linked Mode, ensure that:
l All vCenter Servers are registered on all ESXi clusters in your RecoverPoint for
VMs system.
l ESXi cluster registration is based on the connectivity between vRPA clusters and
ESXi clusters in your RecoverPoint for VMs system.
When working with vCenters in Linked Mode, some users may need to run the
register_storage CLI command to manually register their vCenter. This method
requires knowledge of the vCenter certificate locations in Table 4 on page 66:

Table 4 Certificate locations

Version Certificate location

Windows C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Virtual Center\ssl\rui.crt
vCenter
5.1/5.5

Windows C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\cfg\vmware-vpx\ssl
vCenter \rui.crt
6.0/6.5

Linux vCenter /etc/vmware-vpx/ssl/rui.crt

5.1/5.5

Linux vCenter /etc/vmware-vpx/ssl/rui.crt

6.0/6.5

To follow best practices for working with vCenter Server Linked Mode, refer to
VMware KB2005481.
To resolve issues related to vCenter Server Linked Mode, refer to VMware KB2031115.

Getting help
Support, product, and licensing information can be obtained as follows:
l Product information — For documentation, release notes, software updates, or
information about products, access Online Support at: https://support.emc.com
l Technical support — Access to Online Support and click Service Center. You will
see several options for contacting Technical Support. Note that to open a service

66 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Troubleshooting RecoverPoint for VMs installation

request, you must have a valid support agreement. Contact your sales
representative for details about obtaining a valid support agreement or with
questions about your account.

Getting help 67
Troubleshooting RecoverPoint for VMs installation

68 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

APPENDIX A
RecoverPoint for VMs installation form

To streamline the installation tasks, create the RecoverPoint for VMs installation form
during the planning phase. The installation form is a data sheet or spreadsheet that
lists the site-specific values that you require to successfully complete the installation.

l Installation data forms........................................................................................70

RecoverPoint for VMs installation form 69

RecoverPoint for VMs installation form

Installation data forms

The best practice for successful installations is to collect and document required data
before the installation.
The forms that are provided in this section are examples of the types of information
you should collect before installation. You can create a planning spreadsheet that
matches specific requirements (number of vRPA clusters, network topology, and so
forth).
You are directed to type the data from these forms (or similar data sheet) during the
installation process.

Table 5 Example: vRPA cluster/site form

vRPA cluster vRPA cluster 1 vRPA cluster 2 vRPA cluster 3 vRPA cluster 4 vRPA cluster 5
Cluster/site name

Time zone

Local domain

Primary DNS
server (optional)

Secondary DNS
server (optional)

NTP server
(recommended)

Cluster
management IP

Management
default gateway IP

Management
subnet mask IP

WAN default
gateway

WAN subnet mask

SMTP (optional)

vCenter IP

vCenter credentials

vCenter credentials

ESXi 1

_Data1 IP

_Data2 IP

_Management IP

ESXi 2

70 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 RecoverPoint for VMs installation form

Table 5 Example: vRPA cluster/site form (continued)

vRPA cluster vRPA cluster 1 vRPA cluster 2 vRPA cluster 3 vRPA cluster 4 vRPA cluster 5
_Data1 IP

_Data2 IP

_Management IP

Table 6 Example: vRPA IP form

vRPA vRPA IPs Site: Site: Site: Site: Site:

__________ __________ __________ __________ __________
LAN IP

WAN IP
vRPA_1
Data1 IP

Data2 IP

LAN IP

WAN IP
vRPA_2
Data1 IP

Data2 IP

LAN IP

WAN IP
vRPA_3
Data1 IP

Data2 IP

LAN IP

WAN IP
vRPA_4
Data1 IP

Data2 IP

LAN IP

WAN IP
vRPA_5
Data1 IP

Data2 IP

LAN IP

WAN IP
vRPA_6
Data1 IP

Data2 IP

LAN IP

vRPA_7 WAN IP

Data1 IP

Installation data forms 71

RecoverPoint for VMs installation form

Table 6 Example: vRPA IP form (continued)

vRPA vRPA IPs Site: Site: Site: Site: Site:

__________ __________ __________ __________ __________
Data2 IP

LAN IP

WAN IP
vRPA_8
Data1 IP

Data2 IP

Table 7 Example: Site map

Site Site1 (Prod) Site2 (Remote) Site2 (Remote) Site3 (Remote) Site3 (Remote)
Cluster Cluster1 Cluster2 Cluster3 Cluster4 Cluster5

vCenter <name> <name> <name> <name> <name>

<ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address>

ESXi 1 <name> <name> <name> <name> <name>

<ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address>

ESXi 2 <name> <name> <name> <name> <name>

<ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address>

vRPA 1 <ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address>

vRPA 2 <ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address>
Cluster <ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address> <ip_address>
Mgmt

NIC1 IP <ip_address> RPA1 <ip_address> RPA1 <ip_address> RPA1 <ip_address> RPA1 <ip_address> RPA1
(WAN) <ip_address> RPA2 <ip_address> RPA2 <ip_address> RPA2 <ip_address> RPA2 <ip_address> RPA2

Data 1 <ip_address> RPA1 <ip_address> RPA1 <ip_address> RPA1 <ip_address> RPA1 <ip_address> RPA1
<ip_address> RPA2 <ip_address> RPA2 <ip_address> RPA2 <ip_address> RPA2 <ip_address> RPA2

Data 2 <ip_address> RPA1 <ip_address> RPA1 <ip_address> RPA1 <ip_address> RPA1 <ip_address> RPA1
<ip_address> RPA2 <ip_address> RPA2 <ip_address> RPA2 <ip_address> RPA2 <ip_address> RPA2

72 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

APPENDIX B
Support procedures for uninstalling vRPA
clusters

When the automated uninstall tool is unavailable, you can manually uninstall a vRPA
cluster by using support procedures to guide you.

l Uninstalling a single vRPA cluster from a vCenter manually............................... 74

l Uninstalling all vRPA clusters from a vCenter manually...................................... 75
l Unprotect VMs...................................................................................................76
l Remove ESXi clusters from vRPA clusters.........................................................76
l Remove a vRPA from a vRPA cluster................................................................. 76
l Detaching vRPAs................................................................................................77
l Powering off vRPAs........................................................................................... 77
l Deleting the repository folder.............................................................................77
l Verifying that the configuration parameters are empty...................................... 77
l Removing the vRPA iSCSI IPs............................................................................78
l Removing custom tokens from the Managed Object Browser............................ 78
l Unregistering the RP extension from the Managed Object Browser.................. 79
l Unregistering the plug-in from the Managed Object Browser............................ 79
l Removing unused directories............................................................................. 80
l Uninstall the RecoverPoint for VMs splitters..................................................... 80

Support procedures for uninstalling vRPA clusters 73

Support procedures for uninstalling vRPA clusters

Uninstalling a single vRPA cluster from a vCenter manually

Perform this procedure to uninstall one vRPA cluster from a vCenter.
Before you begin
Obtain the internal cluster name and iSCSI IP addresses of the vRPA you are
uninstalling by connecting to the vRPA as a boxmgmt user and selecting Main Menu >
Setup > View Settings.
You must perform this procedure for each vRPA cluster you want to uninstall.
If removing the last vRPA cluster on the vCenter, use the procedure Uninstalling all
vRPA clusters from a vCenter manually on page 75 instead of this one.
Procedure
1. If the vRPA cluster is active:
a. Unprotect the virtual machines. For more information, see Unprotect VMs
on page 76.
b. Remove all ESX clusters from the vRPA cluster. For more information, see
Removing ESXi clusters from vRPA clusters. Repeat this step for all ESX
clusters in the vRPA cluster.
2. If you are removing just one vRPA cluster from a system with at least two
clusters, perform the following procedure: Uninstall a vRPA cluster on page 51.
If the procedure Uninstall a vRPA cluster on page 51 was successful, skip to
step 7 on page 74. If the procedure Uninstall a vRPA cluster on page 51 failed,
continue with the next step.
3. Detach the vRPAs from the cluster. For more information, see Detaching vRPAs
on page 77.
4. Power off the vRPAs. For more information, see Powering off vRPAs on page
77.
5. Delete the vRPA iSCSI IP addresses of the vRPA you are uninstalling. For more
information, see Removing the vRPA iSCSI IPs on page 78.
6. Remove the custom tokens that correspond to the RecoverPoint for VMs
cluster ID. For more information, see Removing custom tokens from the
Managed Object Browser on page 78.
7. Delete from all datastores the repository folder of the cluster you are
uninstalling. For more information, see Deleting the repository folder on page
77.
8. Verify that the configuration parameters are empty. For more information, see
Verifying that the configuration parameters are empty on page 77.

Note

Perform this step only if you encountered problems when unprotecting the
VMs. Performing this step requires downtime of the production VM.

9. Ensure that the vRPA virtual machines are powered off, and delete them.
10. If the ESX cluster you are removing is not registered to any other vRPA cluster,
you can uninstall the RecoverPoint for VMs splitter on that ESX host. For more
information, see Uninstall the RecoverPoint for VMs splitters on page 53.

74 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Support procedures for uninstalling vRPA clusters

Uninstalling all vRPA clusters from a vCenter manually

Perform this procedure to uninstall all vRPA clusters from a vCenter.
Before you begin
Obtain the internal cluster name and iSCSI IP addresses of the vRPA you are
uninstalling by connecting to the vRPA as a boxmgmt user and selecting Main Menu >
Setup > View Settings.
You must perform this procedure for each vRPA cluster you want to uninstall.
Procedure
1. If the vRPA cluster is active:
a. Unprotect the virtual machines. For more information, see Unprotect VMs
on page 76.
b. Remove all ESX clusters from the vRPA clusters. For more information, see
Removing ESXi clusters from vRPA clusters. Repeat this step for all ESX
clusters in all vRPA clusters.
2. If you are removing just one vRPA cluster from a system with at least two
clusters, perform the following procedure: Uninstall a vRPA cluster on page 51.
If the procedure Uninstall a vRPA cluster on page 51 was successful, skip to
step 7 on page 75. If the procedure Uninstall a vRPA cluster on page 51 failed,
continue with the next step.
3. Detach the vRPAs from the cluster. For more information, see Detaching vRPAs
on page 77.
4. Power off the vRPAs. For more information, see Powering off vRPAs on page
77.
5. Delete the vRPA iSCSI IP addresses of the vRPA you are uninstalling. For more
information, see Removing the vRPA iSCSI IPs on page 78.
6. Remove the custom tokens that correspond to the RecoverPoint for VMs
Internal cluster name. For more information, see Removing custom tokens from
the Managed Object Browser on page 78.
7. Delete from all datastores the repository folders of all clusters. For more
information, see Deleting the repository folder on page 77.
8. Verify that the configuration parameters are empty. For more information, see
Verifying that the configuration parameters are empty on page 77.

Note

Perform this step only if you encountered problems when unprotecting the
VMs. Performing this step requires downtime of the production VM.

9. Ensure that the vRPA virtual machines are powered off, and delete them.
10. Unregister the plug-in from the Managed Object Browser. For more
information, see Unregistering the plug-in from the Managed Object Browser on
page 79.
11. Uninstall the RecoverPoint for VMs splitter. For more information, see Uninstall
the RecoverPoint for VMs splitters on page 53.

Uninstalling all vRPA clusters from a vCenter manually 75

Support procedures for uninstalling vRPA clusters

12. Unregister the RecoverPoint extension from the Managed Object Browser. For
more information, see Unregistering the RP extension from the Managed Object
Browser on page 79.
13. Remove the RecoverPoint datastore element. Delete the RecoverPoint.flp
file located in the RecoverPoint folder.

Unprotect VMs
To stop replication for a vRPA, unprotect the associated VM.
Procedure
1. In the vSphere Web Client home page, click the RecoverPoint for VMs
Management icon > Protection tab. Click Virtual Machines.
2. Select the VM you wish to stop replicating. Click the Unprotect icon. Repeat
for each protected VM.

Remove ESXi clusters from vRPA clusters

Use the vSphere Web Client and this procedure to remove a ESXi cluster from a vRPA
cluster.
Procedure
1. In the vSphere Web Client home page, click the RecoverPoint for VMs
Management icon > Administration tab.
2. Click vRPA Clusters.
3. Select the relevant vRPA cluster.
4. Click the ESX Clusters tab.
5. Click the garbage can icon next to each ESXi cluster to remove that ESXi
cluster from the selected vRPA cluster.

Remove a vRPA from a vRPA cluster

Use this procedure to remove a vRPA from a vRPA cluster. You cannot remove a
vRPA if the cluster has 2 or fewer vRPAs.
Procedure
1. In a web browser, type https://<cluster_management-ip-address>/WDM for
the vRPA cluster from which you want to remove a vRPA.
2. In the home page, click RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer.
3. If prompted, enter the login credentials for the boxmgmt user and click Sign in.
4. Under More actions, click Remove vRPA from vRPA cluster.
l The highest numbered vRPA (the last one added) will be removed.
l The consistency groups of the removed vRPA will be non-disruptively moved
to a different vRPA.
l The preferred vRPA setting for those consistency groups will be
automatically updated.

76 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Support procedures for uninstalling vRPA clusters

Detaching vRPAs
Procedure
1. Use an SSH client to connect to a vRPA and enter login credentials for the
boxmgmt user.
2. From the Main Menu, select Cluster Operations > Detach from Cluster.
Replication is paused.
3. Repeat this procedure on all vRPAs in all vRPA clusters in the system.

Powering off vRPAs

Procedure
1. At the vSphere Web Client, in Inventory, select VMs and Templates.
2. Select each vRPA, right-click and select All vCenter Actions > Power > Power
Off.

Deleting the repository folder

Procedure
1. At the vSphere Web Client, select Home > Storage > Manage.
2. Select the datastore where the repository folder was created.
3. In the list of files displayed in the Files subtab, locate and open the
RPvStorage folder.
4. Within the RPvStorage folder, delete all folders and/or files that include the
Internal cluster name.

Verifying that the configuration parameters are empty

Note

Performing this task requires downtime of the production VM.

Procedure
1. At the vSphere Web Client, in Inventory, select Hosts and Clusters. Select a
VM that was protected by RecoverPoint for VMs. Power off the VM. Right-
click and select Edit Settings...
2. In the Edit Settings dialog box, select the VM Options tab. Expand the
Advanced column. In the Configuration Parameters row, click Edit
Configuration... to edit the advanced configuration parameters.
3. In the Configuration Parameters window, ensure that all configuration
parameters with "RecoverPoint" or "esx_splitter" in the name have empty
values.
The following parameters must not exist or have empty values:
l RecoverPoint RPA number

Detaching vRPAs 77
Support procedures for uninstalling vRPA clusters

l RecoverPoint CGUID
l RecoverPoint Cluster ID
l esx_splitter.globalOptions
l esx_splitter.scsi0:1.options

Removing the vRPA iSCSI IPs

Procedure
1. At the vSphere Web Client, in Inventory, select Hosts and Clusters. Select the
ESXi host.
2. Select Manage > Storage > Storage Adapters > iSCSI Software Adapter >
Targets.
3. Delete the vRPA iSCSI IP addresses of the vRPA you are uninstalling.
4. Run Rescan storage adapter afterwards.

Removing custom tokens from the Managed Object

Browser
The custom tokens that correspond to the RecoverPoint for VMs cluster ID need to be
removed from the cluster(s) being reinstalled for all previously used vCenters.

Note

Access to the Managed Object Browser is disabled by default in vSphere 6.0. For
instructions on how to enable access, refer to VMware KB2108405.

Procedure
1. In a web browser, enter the fully-qualified domain name (or IP address) of the
vCenter Server system:
https://<hostname.yourcompany.com>/mob/?moid=CustomFieldsManager
2. Log in using your vCenter login credentials.
3. In the Methods table, select RemoveCustomFieldDef.
A new browser window opens with the void RemoveCustomFieldDef
command displayed.
4. In the Parameters table, enter the value of a custom field listed in the
Properties table that corresponds to the Internal cluster name. The custom
field may have the Internal cluster name in either hexadecimal format, for
example, RecoverPoint.0x2a9c2643b0e5d27a.rpasIscsiDiscoverySet or
decimal format, for example, config.RecoverPoint_TOKEN;
3070371118132351610 and: config.RecoverPoint_MeteringInfo;
3070371118132351610.
5. Click Invoke Method.
6. If you are reinstalling several clusters, repeat steps 3 through 5 for each custom
field listed in the Properties table that corresponds to the Internal cluster
names.

78 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Support procedures for uninstalling vRPA clusters

Unregistering the RP extension from the Managed Object

Browser
The RecoverPoint extension should be unregistered from the Managed Object
Browser at each vCenter that contains ESXi hosts that are hosting vRPA clusters.

Note

Access to the Managed Object Browser is disabled by default in vSphere 6.0. For
instructions on how to enable access, refer to VMware KB2108405.

Procedure
1. In a web browser, enter the fully-qualified domain name (or IP address) for the
ESXi or vCenter Server system:
https://<hostname.yourcompany.com>/mob/?moid=ExtensionManager
2. Log in using your vCenter login credentials.
3. In the Methods table, select UnregisterExtension.
A new browser window opens with void UnregisterExtension command
displayed.
4. In the Parameters table, enter com.emc.recoverpoint.vwc in the value field
and click Invoke Method.
5. Connect to the vCenter server (using a local network mapping or Remote
Desktop Connection). Delete the following folder:
l vCenter 5.1/5.5 and Windows vCenter: C:\ProgramData\VMware
\vSphere Web Client\vc-packages\vsphere-client-serenity
\com.emc.recoverpoint.vwc-5.0.<x.y>
l vCenter 5.1/5.5 and vCSA: /var/lib/vmware/vsphere-client/vc-
packages/vsphere-client-serenity/
com.emc.recoverpoint.vwc-5.0.<x.y>
l vCenter 6.0 and Windows vCenter: C:\ProgramData\VMware
\vCenterServer\cfg\vsphere-client\vc-packages\vsphere-
client-serenity\com.emc.recoverpoint.vwc-5.0.<x.y>
l vCenter 6.0 and vCSA: /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/vc-
packages/vsphere-client-serenity/
com.emc.recoverpoint.vwc-5.0.<x.y>
6. Restart the vSphere Web Client. For instructions, refer to VMware KB1003895
(Windows), VMware KB2109887 (Linux - vCenter 6.x), or VMware KB2147152
(Linux - vCenter 6.5).

Unregistering the plug-in from the Managed Object

Browser
Unregister the RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in from the Managed Object Browser at
each vCenter that contains ESXi hosts hosting vRPA clusters. Unregister the plug-in
while the vRPAs are detached.

Unregistering the RP extension from the Managed Object Browser 79

Support procedures for uninstalling vRPA clusters

Note

Access to the Managed Object Browser is disabled by default in vSphere 6.0. For
instructions on how to enable access, refer to VMware KB2108405.

Procedure
1. In a web browser, enter the fully-qualified domain name (or IP address) of the
ESXi or vCenter Server system:
https://<hostname.yourcompany.com>/mob/?moid=ExtensionManager

2. Log in using your vCenter login credentials.

3. In the Methods table, select UnregisterExtension.
A new browser window opens with void UnregisterExtension command
displayed.
4. In the Parameters table, enter com.emc.recoverpoint.vwc for the value and
click Invoke Method.

Removing unused directories

From the vCenter, remove RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in directories which are no
longer being used.
Procedure
1. Connect to the vCenter server (using a local network mapping or Remote
Desktop Connection). Delete the following folder:
l vCenter 5.5 and Windows vCenter: C:\ProgramData\VMware\vSphere
Web Client\vc-packages\vsphere-client-serenity
\com.emc.recoverpoint.vwc-<version>
l vCenter 5.5 and vCSA: /var/lib/vmware/vsphere-client/vc-
packages/vsphere-client-serenity/
com.emc.recoverpoint.vwc-<version>
l vCenter 6.0/6.5 and Windows vCenter: C:\ProgramData\VMware
\vCenterServer\cfg\vsphere-client\vc-packages\vsphere-
client-serenity\com.emc.recoverpoint.vwc-<version>
l vCenter 6.0/6.5 and vCSA: /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/vc-
packages/vsphere-client-serenity/
com.emc.recoverpoint.vwc-<version>
2. Restart the vSphere Web Client. For instructions, refer to VMware KB1003895
(Windows), VMware KB2109887 (Linux - vCenter 6.x), or VMware KB2147152
(Linux - vCenter 6.5).

Uninstall the RecoverPoint for VMs splitters

Use the ESXCLI to uninstall the RecoverPoint for VMs splitters.
Procedure
1. Use ESXCLI to obtain a list of all installed vSphere Installation Bundles (VIBs):
esxcli software vib list

80 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Support procedures for uninstalling vRPA clusters

2. Ensure that a bundle named RP-Splitter is installed.

3. On the ESXi host, enter maintenance mode:
esxcli system maintenanceMode set -e=true

Note

For VSAN environments, this command requires an additional switch (refer to

the vSphere documentation for the vSphere version that you are using).

4. To uninstall the splitter, type:

esxcli software vib remove -n "RP-Splitter"

5. On the ESXi host, exit maintenance mode:

esxcli system maintenanceMode set -e=false

Uninstall the RecoverPoint for VMs splitters 81

Support procedures for uninstalling vRPA clusters

82 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

APPENDIX C
vSphere upgrades

You may be required to upgrade a vCenter or an ESXi host that is used in the
RecoverPoint for VMs system. Information about these tasks helps you to
successfully perform these upgrades.

l Upgrading vCenter.............................................................................................84
l Upgrading ESXi.................................................................................................. 84

vSphere upgrades 83
vSphere upgrades

Upgrading vCenter
The vCenter upgrade is transparent to RecoverPoint for VMs provided that the
upgrade process does not cause a change in the vCenter UUID.
Use this procedure when you need to upgrade the vCenter within a RecoverPoint for
VMs system.
During the upgrade:
l vRPA clusters cannot be managed from this vCenter. Ensure you have access to
other vCenters.
l Recovery time objective (RTO) and data replication might be affected.
l vCenters in Enhanced Linked Mode might be impacted (one vCenter at a time).
l RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in should remain intact.
Procedure
1. If you are upgrading to vCenter 5.5, follow these best practices: Upgrading to
vCenter Server 5.5 best practices.
2. If you are upgrading to vCenter 6.0, follow these best practices: Upgrading to
vCenter Server 6.0 best practices.
3. If you are upgrading to vCenter 6.5, follow these best practices: Upgrading to
vCenter Server 6.5 best practices.
After you finish
If there is a change in the vCenter UUID, restore RecoverPoint for VMs operation by
applying a workaround that is available from Customer Support.

Upgrading ESXi
Use this procedure when you need to upgrade the ESXi within a RecoverPoint for VMs
system. This procedure provides pre-upgrade and post-upgrade instructions when
upgrading ESXi. Reference to VMware documentation is provided.
Procedure
1. On the ESXi host, use vMotion to migrate all VMs to a different ESXi host.
2. At the ESXCLI, enter maintenance mode. From the ESXi host console, use SSH
to run the following command:
esxcli system maintenanceMode set -e=true

Note

For VSAN environments, this command requires an additional switch (refer to

the vSphere documentation for the vSphere version that you are using).

3. Remove the ESXi host from the cluster.

4. (Optional) Verify the ESXi version before the upgrade:

84 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 vSphere upgrades

vmware -lv

VMware ESXi 6.0.0 build-2494585

VMware ESXi 6.0.0 GA

5. Login to ESXi KVM.

6. Mount the ISO file to the DVD drive.
7. Reboot the ESXi host (boot it from the mounted DVD).
8. Follow VMware instructions for ESXi upgrade.

Upgrading to 5.5 Methods for upgrading to ESXi 5.5

Upgrading to 6.0 Methods for upgrading to VMware ESXi 6.0
Upgrading to 6.5 Upgrading ESXi hosts

9. (Optional) Verify the ESXi version after the upgrade:

vmware -lv
10. Move the ESXi back to the ESXi cluster.
11. Confirm that the splitter is installed. From the ESXi host console, use SSH to
run this command:
esxcli software vib list

The RecoverPoint for VMs splitter installation bundle name appears at the top
of the list.
12. Use vMotion to migrate the VMs back to this ESXi host.

Upgrading ESXi 85
vSphere upgrades

86 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

APPENDIX D
Configuring iSCSI communication

If the environment supports it, IP communication mode is preferred. Otherwise, iSCSI

mode is required. Tasks involved in configuring iSCSI communication include adding
iSCSI software adapters, setting up VMkernel ports, and optionally binding the ports
to the adapters.

l Adding the iSCSI software adapter.................................................................... 88

l Binding VMkernel ports to iSCSI software adapters...........................................88

Configuring iSCSI communication 87

Configuring iSCSI communication

Adding the iSCSI software adapter

Adding an iSCSI software adapter is the first step in establishing iSCSI communication
between the splitters and the vRPAs.
Procedure
1. At the vSphere Web Client, under Inventory Trees, select Hosts and Clusters.
2. For each ESXi host, click Manage > Storage > Storage Adapters.
3. To add an iSCSI software adapter, click the Add icon and confirm the selection.
The iSCSI software adapter appears in the list of storage adapters. The vRPA
iSCSI target ports will automatically be discovered after RecoverPoint for VMs
has been installed and the ESXi cluster is registered.
After you finish
Set up the VMkernel ports. See Set up VMkernel ports on page 24.

Binding VMkernel ports to iSCSI software adapters

If VMkernel ports and vRPA iSCSI ports are on the same broadcast domain and IP
subnet, you must bind the VMkernel ports to the iSCSI software adapters.
Before you begin
Set up the VMkernel ports. See Set up VMkernel ports on page 24.
For more information about iSCSI VMkernel port binding, refer to VMware
KB2038869.
Procedure
1. Determine whether port binding is needed. If the iSCSI VMkernel ports and the
vRPA iSCSI ports are on:

Option Description
Different subnets/broadcast domains Do not use port binding. Skip this procedure.
Example: vRPA iSCSI vNICs on subnet
192.168.1.x and ESXi VMkernel ports subnet
172.30.90.x

The same subnet/broadcast domain Bind the VMkernel ports to the software
Example: vRPA iSCSI vNICs on subnet iSCSI adapter. Continue to use this
192.168.1.x and ESXi VMkernel ports also on procedure.
subnet 192.168.1.x

2. If port binding is needed, bind the VMkernel ports to the software iSCSI
adapters:
a. In the vSphere Web client, select the ESXi host and click Manage >
Storage > Storage Adapters.
b. Select the iSCSI software adapter. In the Adapter Details section, select
the Network Port Binding tab, and click the Add icon.
c. Select a VMkernel adapter to bind with the iSCSI adapter and click OK.

88 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

 Configuring iSCSI communication

d. Perform a full rescan on the ESXi host.

e. Repeat this step for each ESXi host in the ESXi cluster.
Results
VMkernel ports are bound to the iSCSI software adapters. Verify that the Port Group
Policy for every VMkernel you created is Compliant and that at least one of them is
Active. The paths will become active after RecoverPoint for VMs is installed. The
targets are automatically added when the ESXi cluster is registered.

Binding VMkernel ports to iSCSI software adapters 89

Configuring iSCSI communication

90 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide

APPENDIX E
Installing on Nutanix

Before you can install RecoverPoint for VMs on Nutanix, you must manually edit the
settings for storage containers that are to be used by RecoverPoint for VMs.

l Installing RecoverPoint for VMs on Nutanix....................................................... 92

Installing on Nutanix 91
Installing on Nutanix

Installing RecoverPoint for VMs on Nutanix

You must manually modify settings for Nutanix containers that will be used by
RecovePoint for VMs before you install your RecoverPoint for VMs system.
Before you begin
RecoverPoint for VMs is supported by Nutanix AOS 4.7.5 or 5.0.2, or later. If
necessary, upgrade your Nutanix installation to one of those versions.
Procedure
1. To properly modify the Nutanix container settings, follow the instructions in Dell
EMC Knowledge Base Article 495379 and its attachments.
2. Perform a normal Installlation of your RecoverPoint for VMs system, version
5.1.1 or later.

92 RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.1 Installation and Deployment Guide