To replicate VMs for Auto Recovery, you can create a replication group using the replication group configuration tool to perform either periodic or continuous recovery operations. The configuration tool is a quick configuration method that includes only the values that are required to enable periodic or continuous recovery.
Before You Begin
-
Verify that you have a hypervisor and a recovery target or plan to add these components when you create the replication group.
-
Review the configuration options for adding source and destination hypervisors, adding a recovery target, and configuring a replication group:
-
To use Distributed Storage datastores as destination sites for recovery, you must set up Distributed Storage clusters as storage targets. For instructions, see Configuring Distributed Storage for Auto Recovery.
-
Verify that the Command Center has a storage pool that can be used as a temporary cache for the VMs before they move to the destination site. You can use disk, cloud, tape, or a HyperScale storage pool as the temporary cache. For more information, see Storage.
-
For information about using replication groups in a Managed Service Provider (MSP) environment, see Requirements for Replication groups in Managed Service Provider.
-
For Hyper-V to Azure Stack Hub replication groups, you cannot use VMs that contain user-created snapshots as a source for replication. Replication jobs fail if the source VM contains user-created snapshots.
Procedure
-
From the navigation pane, go to Auto recovery > Replication groups.
The Replication groups page appears.
-
In the upper-right area of the tab, click Add replication group > Virtualization.
The Configure replication group page appears.
-
On the Content tab, enter the required information for the source hypervisor:
-
Name: Enter a descriptive name for the replication group.
-
Source Hypervisor: Select the hypervisor where the VMs are configured.
-
Contents: Click Add virtual machines, select the content that you want to include in the replication group, and then click OK.
-
Click Next.
-
-
On the Target tab, enter the required information for the destination hypervisor:
-
Recovery target: Select the previously-defined recovery target you want to use for this replication group.
-
Advanced options: These options vary among hypervisor types. See the hypervisor-specific documentation page for replication group options.
-
Click Next.
-
-
On the Recovery options tab, configure storage for the replication group
-
Storage: Select the storage to use for the replication group.
-
Replicate using secondary copy: To perform replication using a secondary copy of the data instead of the primary copy, move this toggle key to the right, and then in the Storage list, select a storage pool.
-
Click Next.
-
-
To override settings for VMs, on the Override options tab, click Yes.
-
To change the destination settings for VMs, from the Virtual machine list, select the VMs, and then under General Settings, configure the options you want to change.
-
Click Next.
-
-
On the Summary tab, review the settings you configured, and then click Finish.
Results
-
The configuration tool creates a recovery schedule and a replication group that includes the selected source VMs.
-
The properties page for a replication group includes a Replication monitor page that you can use to monitor the replication status and to perform operations.