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Migrating from SRM 8.3 Windows to SRM 8.4 Virtual Appliance

   19 August 2021

It is time to leave Windows machines and change your SRM to Virtual Appliance. SRM 8.4 runs on Photon OS and it is deployed as OVF template.

Depend on the version of SRM you are running, you may need few steps upgrade.

Appliance starts from version 8.2.0 build 13481390

If you run SRM 8.1.X Windows you need to upgrade to SRM 8.2.0 Windows and then upgrade to Appliance

If you run SRM 8.2.0 Windows you need to upgrade to 8.2 Appliance and then to higher Appliance version.

NOTE: It is always recommended to first upgrade to appliance within same release and then upgrade.

Prerequisites:

  1. Download ISO file for SRM appliance 8.3 and 8.4.
  2. Export the data and database of SRM from the Windows server.
  3. Take a snapshot of your SRM VM.
  4. Deploy SRM appliance (same IP address and host name as SRM Windows) -> here is an article how to do it.

Procedure:

  1. Stop the VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager Server service on Windows host.
    • Menu start,
    • Service,
    • Find VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager Server,
    • Stop the service,
  1. Open a command prompt (cmd).
  2. Navigate to the bin folder of the the Site Recovery Manager installation.
NOTE: %SRM_INSTALL_DIR%\bin will not work, you need to know where the installation directory is.
      In my case I installed it on D:\ drive
  1. Execute the command export-srm-data.bat <export_dir> to export the SRM data.
  2. Provide the passwords if prompted.
NOTE: You must have write access to the <export_dir>
  1. Transfer the exported directory to the Site Recovery Manager Virtual Appliance host machine using for example WinSCP to /tmp
  2. Shut down the Windows host machine.
  3. SSH in to the Site Recovery Manager Virtual Appliance host machine as root.
  4. Go to /opt/vmware/srm/bin and execute script import-srm-data.sh
./import-srm-data.sh /tmp/SRM_data/
  1. Enter the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user name.
  2. Enter the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator password.
  3. Enter the password set during the export of the data for the credentials file.
NOTE: If in a trusted environment, import the user-specific root CA certificates and the Site Recovery Manager Server certificates by using the Site Recovery Manager Appliance Management Interface.
  1. Repeat the procedure on the recovery site.

Configuring SRM:

  1. Login to SRM
  2. The Pair is disconnected
  1. Reconnect Site Pair

Upgrading to Appliance:

Prerequisites:

  1. Have sufficiently backed up your environment.
  2. Take a backup of your SRM configuration by using the Export/Import SRM Configuration Tool within SRM.
  1. Verify that there are no pending cleanup operations on recovery plans.
  2. Verify that there are no configuration issues for the virtual machines.
  3. Check if:
    • All recovery plans are in the Ready state.
    • The protection status of all the protection groups is OK.
    • The protection status of all the individual virtual machines in the protection groups is OK.
    • The recovery status of all the protection groups is Ready.
NOTE: During the upgrade, SRM does not retain any advanced settings that you configured in the previous installation, so make sure you have made a note of any modified advanced settings such as timeouts etc before beginning

NOTE: Protection groups and recovery plans that are not in a valid state will not be preserved.

Procedure:

  1. Mount the SRM 8.4 ISO to the appliance .
  2. Login to SRM VAMI using admin account
  3. Go to UPDATE section
  4. Change Update Source to use CD-ROM
  1. Click on INSTALL
  1. Accept the agreement and click INSTALL.
  1. After installation we will see en error, please RECONFIGURE.
  1. Follow the wizard to reconnect to your vCenter and PSC.
  1. After completion, refresh the browser and log back in. You may need to clear cookies from the browser.
  2. Repeat the process for recovery site.
  3. Finally you should see this:

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