Symptoms


An administrator may need to perform host maintenance on a host with a VRA.  This article explains the necessary steps to do so, so as not to affect replication with Zerto Virtual Replication.

Solution


If a host is a source for replication, in order to allow for host maintenance, and avoid affecting replication, follow these steps:

  1. vMotion all protected VMs off of the host and onto other hosts.

  2. Shut down the VRA VM.

  3. Place the host into Maintenance Mode.

  4. Perform host maintenance.

  5. Take the host out of Maintenance Mode.

  6. Power on the VRA VM.

  7. vMotion any desired VMs back to the host.

If a host is a target for replication, in order to allow for host maintenance, and avoid affecting replication, follow these steps:

  1. Use the Change Host functionality, to change the target hosts for any protected VMs currently using the relevant host a target for replication.

  2. Shut down the VRA VM.

  3. Place the host into Maintenance Mode.

  4. Perform host maintenance.

  5. Take the host out of Maintenance Mode.

  6. Power on the VRA VM.

  7. If desired, use the Change Host functionality to utilize the host as a target for replication again.

If a host is a both a source and target for replication, in order to allow for host maintenance, and avoid affecting replication, follow these steps:

  1. vMotion all protected VMs off of the host and onto other hosts.

  2. Use the Change Host functionality, to change the target hosts for any protected VMs currently using the relevant host a target for replication.

  3. Shut Down the VRA VM.

  4. Place the host into Maintenance Mode.

  5. Perform host maintenance.

  6. Take the host out of Maintenance Mode.

  7. Power on the VRA VM.

  8. Optionally, use the Change Host functionality to utilize the host as a target for replication again.

  9. Optionally, vMotion protected VMs back to the host.