RecoverPoint for VMs 4.2 Administrators Guide_01

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ADMINISTRATOR’S GUIDE

This document contains instructions for using EMC RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines

release 4.2. Topics include:

◆ Revision history ........................................................................................................ 2

◆ RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines ............................................................................. 3

◆ RecoverPoint for VMs protection................................................................................ 7

◆ Managing and monitoring ....................................................................................... 12

◆ Testing and Recovery............................................................................................... 20

◆ Troubleshooting...................................................................................................... 26

◆ Getting help ............................................................................................................ 29

EMC RecoverPoint®

for Virtual MachinesRelease 4.2

Administrator’s GuideP/N 302-001-541REV 01

November 17, 2014


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2 EMC RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Administrator’s Guide

Revision history

Revision history

The following table presents the revision history of this document:

Revision Date Description

01 November 2014 First release of RecoverPoint for VirtualMachines


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RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines

EMC RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Administrator’s Guide 3


RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines enables local or remote replication allowing recovery to

any point in time. RecoverPoint for VMs consists of a VMware® vSphere Web Client

plug-in, a RecoverPoint write-splitter embedded in the ESXi hypervisor, and a virtual

appliance, integrated in the VMware ESXi server environment.

You should be familiar with the following terms and concepts:

◆ RecoverPoint for VMs splitter: The RecoverPoint for VMs splitter is proprietary software

installed on every ESXi server in an ESXi cluster involved in RecoverPoint replication

or running virtual RPAs. The RecoverPoint for VMs splitter splits every write to the

VMDK and sends it first to the vRPA.

◆ Virtual RecoverPoint appliance: The virtual RecoverPoint appliance (vRPA) is a virtual

data appliance that manages all aspects of data replication.

◆vRPA cluster:

A vRPA cluster is a group of 2-8 vRPAs that work together to replicate and

protect data. There are one or two clusters in a RecoverPoint for VMs system; onecluster is used for local replication and two are used for remote replication. To

scale-up and support a higher throughput rate, you can have up to eight vRPAs in your

clusters.

◆ RecoverPoint for VMs system: A RecoverPoint for VMs system includes all

RecoverPoint for VMs components at all clusters in one installation.

vSphere Web Client Plug in: The RecoverPoint for VMs plug-in within the vSphere Web

Client. This is the user interface for managing VM replication. Access the vSphere Web

Client at: https:// : /vsphere-client/

Where is the IP address of the vCenter and is the port selected in

the installation of the web client plug-in. The default port is 9443.

RecoverPoint replication

The following logical entities constitute the replication environment:

◆ Consistency groups: A consistency group is a container for virtual machines and all

their copies whose application data needs to be replicated to a consistent point in

time. For instance, if you replicate a database and its transaction log, you need both

files, and you always need both files to be at the exact same point in time. You can

achieve this by placing the virtual machine running the database and the virtual

machine running the transaction log in one consistency group or in one group set. The

consistency group comprises virtual machines, their copies, and their journals.

◆ Copies: In RecoverPoint for VMs, a copy is an image of a virtual machine and its

application data accessible at a vRPA cluster.The application data is immediately

usable. The following types of copies exist:

• Production copy: The production copy consists of all of the virtual machines with

their application data that are the source for replication (that is, protected by

RecoverPoint).


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•Local copy:

A local copy is a copy of production virtual machines with their

application data that is accessible on the vRPA cluster running production. The

local copy is used for continuous data protection, such as recovering from logical

errors and data corruption. A virtual machine that is replicated to a local copy is

identified by the .copy extension at the end of the virtual machine name.

• Remote copy: A remote copy is a copy of production virtual machines with theirapplication data that is accessible on a remote vRPA cluster. ( Remote denotes

clusters that are connected only by WAN.) The remote copy is used for disaster

recovery. A virtual machine that is replicated to a remote copy is identified by the

.copy

extension at the end of the virtual machine name.

◆ Shadow VM: For internal RecoverPoint use only. A shadow VM is identified by the

period at the front of the virtual machine name and the .recoverpoint extension at the

end of the virtual machine name.

◆Journals:

Each copy of a consistency group must contain a resource pool that is

dedicated to holding marking information or point-in-time history.

• Production journal: Production journals store information about the replicationprocess that makes synchronization between the production and copies more

efficient. After failing over, the production journal becomes a copy journal.

• Copy journal: The copy journal receives successive writes written to production.

Since the write-order is maintained, it is possible to apply or undo writes so that

the copy image can reflect any point in time.

◆ Snapshot: A snapshot is the difference between one consistent image of stored data

and the next. Snapshots are stored in the copy journal.

◆ Snapshot consolidation: A process that consolidates the data of multiple snapshots

into a single snapshot to allow a longer history to be retained in the journal.

Automatic snapshot consolidation settings can be specified in the copy protectionpolicy.

◆ Bookmark: A bookmark is a manual snapshot with a label you apply to it to identify it.

Parallel bookmarks are bookmarks with the same name applied at the same time to

multiple consistency groups in a group set.

◆ Group set: A group set is a collection of consistency groups to which the system

applies parallel bookmarks at a user-defined frequency. Group sets are useful for

consistency groups that are dependent on one another or that must work together as

a single unit.

◆ Link: A link is the communication connection between RecoverPoint copies. When the

link is open, data can be transferred between copies.

RecoverPoint for VMs protection

The following concepts are integral in RecoverPoint for VMs protection and recovery:

◆ Protection: Protection is the replication of a VM to a copy by adding it to a consistency

group. Protection can be used to recover from logical data corruption by selecting a

point in time before the corruption; or from a physical disaster by failing over to the

copy.


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◆ Protection policies: RecoverPoint protection is policy-driven. A protection policy is

uniquely specified for each consistency group, copy, and link and defines how

replication is carried out. The protection settings defined in the policy will affect how

replication behavior changes depending on the level of system activity and the

availability of network resources.

◆Policy templates: Policy templates are defined protection policies that are saved andcan be reused. Three default policy templates are included in RecoverPoint for VMs:

Default local link; default remote link; default copy.

◆ Image access: Image access mode allows you read/write-access to a selected point in

time at a copy. Image access mode is used to test a copy to verify that it is a reliable

and consistent replica of production. It is also the first step in restoring production

from the copy, rolling back to a previous point in time, recovering data, and failing

over to the copy.

◆Failover and disaster recovery:

Failing over a consistency group to a local or remote

copy sets that copy to be the production and the original production becomes the

copy. Failing over to a copy can be used to recover from a disaster at the production

site and allows system operations to continue from the copy. Failing over erases the

copy journal. During failover, transfer is paused and access to the original production

is blocked. System operations can be resumed at the original production source by

failing back.

◆ Recovering production: Recovering production restores the production from the copy

at the selected point in time.

◆ Initialization: Initialization is the RecoverPoint process used to synchronize the data of

the copy VMs with their corresponding production VMs to ensure consistency. A full

sweep is an initialization that is performed on all of the VMs in a consistency group. A

full sweep initialization occurs when a consistency group is created. Full sweeps are

also required when you enable a disabled consistency group and when there isproduction journal loss.

Supported VMware actions

◆ vMotion:

• Host and Storage vMotion are supported.

• Applies to both vRPAs and protected VMs.

◆ Memory and CPU changes to protected VMs are allowed:

• These changes are not replicated.

• You can manually adjust resources on copy VMs.

◆ VMDK source insertion:

• RecoverPoint for VMs auto-provisions VMDK at the copy VM and adds it to

consistency group as a new replication set.

• The journal history is deleted and a volume sweep is performed.

◆ VMDK source removal:

• VMDK is not removed from the copy VM to protect against accidental removal.

◆ Source VM deletion:

• When the RecoverPoint for VMs detects a deletion of a VM, it recognizes it as a

disaster for all relevant VMDKs which were lost.

• The copy VM remains intact.


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◆ Target VMDK deletion:

• When a copy VMDK is removed, RecoverPoint for VMs recreates the VMDK.

• The journal history is deleted and a volume sweep is performed.

◆ Taking VMware snapshots is supported only on production virtual machines and not

on copy virtual machines. Using the VM Restore operation to restore a production

virtual machine from a VMware snapshot or clone will cause a full sweep.

◆ Promoting VMware snapshots on the copy VM is highly unrecommended.

◆ Replicating a virtual machine with fault tolerance enabled is not supported.

◆ Changing the configuration of virtual machines that are being replicated is not

supported, except changing network connections, which is supported.

◆ To clone a copy VM, it must be powered off. If it is not powered off, a VMware snapshot

will be created, which causes permanent data corruption.

◆ vCenter in Linked Mode is not supported.

◆ The resources (memory and CPU) of a running vRPA can be increased but not

decreased. The changes will take effect only when the vRPA is rebooted.

◆ Any suspend or resume tasks (or hibernation-like functionality) of a running vRPA

virtual machine is not supported and will lead to data corruption or failure.

◆ Collecting vSphere logs from a running vRPA (for instance, using vSphere File > Export >

Export System Logs command) may cause inconsistencies in the datastore or other

unexpected behavior.

◆ Before creating a VMware snapshot of a vRPA, it must be detached from the vRPA

cluster.

◆ Upgrading VMware tools on the vRPAs is strictly unsupported and may lead to

undesired results.

◆ Any online or offline porting of vRPA is supported without affecting high availability,

except for suspend or resume operations, which can lead to corruption (especially if

the vRPA is the cluster leader for the consistency groups).


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Use the procedures in this chapter to set up your RecoverPoint for VMs system and start

protecting VMs.

Licensing your system

Once your RecoverPoint for VMs sales order is approved, a LAC (License Authorization

Code) is automatically sent to the email addresses provided during order entry,

containing all of the customer’s entitlements. Each entitlement must be activated and

then saved as a license file before it can be added to the RecoverPoint system.

Before you begin, note the following:

◆ Licenses can be partially activated or fully activated.

◆ Licensing is enforced per vRPA cluster, using the RPA cluster ID.

◆ When reaching license limit, users will not be able to protect new VMs. but replicationof existing VMs will continue.

To license RecoverPoint for VMs:

1. Access your entitlements on emc.support.com:

• If you have your LAC email, open it and click the Click here link to automatically

access Powerlink Licensing on the EMC Online Support site, and search for the

entitlements associated with the LAC.

• If you do not have your LAC email but you do have your LACs or sales order

numbers, log into the EMC Online support at http://support.emc.com, and:

a. Select Support > Service Center from the main menu

b. Select Get and Manage Licenses

c. Select RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines

d. Enter the customer's LAC and click Activate to search for all inactive

entitlements associated with a customer's profile or access all of the features

of the Licensing site by clicking Manage Entitlements. Whichever option you

chose, the Search Entitlements to Activate screen is displayed.

2. Activate your entitlement(s) and download your license file(s).

The Search Entitlements to Activate screen is the first screen of a five screen wizard

that will guide you, step-by-step, through the process of turning your LACs into license

files (redeeming the entitlements). In this screen:

a. Select an entitlement to activate. Each entitlement must be selected and activated

separately.

b. Click Start Activation Process.

c. In the Search Machines dialog box, click Add a Machine.


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d. In theAdd Machine

dialog box, enter a new machine name, and clickSave

.

Note: A machine name is like a folder, it is used to group items together logically. A

unique machine name must be specified for each entitlement.

e. In the Register screen, verify the machine name, and click Next.

f. In the Activate screen, enter the Locking ID, and click Next.

Note:

TheLocking ID

is the field that is displayed under theMachine Information

column; its value is the entity the license is enforced to, namely, the RPA Cluster ID.

To find the RPA Cluster ID value, create an SSH connection to the cluster

management IP, log in as an admin user (user: admin password: admin ), and run

the get_internal_cluster_uids command or call EMC Licensing support.

g. In the Confirm screen, enter the email addresse(s) of the recipients of the license

file in the Email to field of the Additional Email Options section, and click Finish.

Separate multiple email addresses with commas.

h. In the Complete screen, click Save to File to download the license file and save the

file locally. The resulting license file has a *.lic extension and is in plain text format

(can be opened in any text editor).

i. Redo this procedure for all inactive entitlement in each LAC email.

3. After you have turned all of your entitlements into license files, physically transfer the

license file(s) to the computer from which you will be running RecoverPoint for VMs.

4. Install your license file(s) in RecoverPoint for VMs:

a. In the vSphere Web Client home page, click the RecoverPoint for VMs Management

icon > Administration tab > Licenses tab.

b. Select the vRPA cluster to which you wish to add a license. Click Add.

c. In theAdd license

dialog box, enter the location of the license file or clickBrowse

to locate the file. Click OK.

Enabling support

To enable support, configure the system reports and alerts mechanism (SyR) to provide

communication between your RecoverPoint for VMs system and the EMC System Reports

database (ESRS).

Before you configure system reports or alerts, note the following:

◆ To send system reports and alerts, a permanent RecoverPoint license must exist in the

system; system reports and alerts will not work with a temporary license.

◆ Best practice is to keep both system reports and alerts, and compression and

encryption enabled.

◆ System reports and alerts will only be sent provided a valid method of transfer (SMTP,

ESRS, or FTPS) is configured.

◆ ESRS is the recommended method of transfer.


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◆ To transfer system reports and alerts using SMTP or ESRS, ensure that port 25 is open

and available for SMTP traffic.

◆ To transfer system reports and alerts using FTPS, ensure that ports 990 and 989 are

open and available for FTPS traffic.

To configure system reports and alerts:1. Create an SSH connection to the floating management IP of your RecoverPoint for VMs

system and log in with your RecoverPoint username (default is admin ) and password

(default is admin ).

2. Run the set_smtp_server command and define the IP address of your SMTP sever.

3. Run the config_system_reports command. Ensure that system reports and system

alerts are enabled. Best practice is to ensure that compression and encryption are

also enabled. Define a transfer method.

Note: The recommended method of transfer is EMC Secure Remote Support (ESRS).

Check out the Top Reasons To Get Connected Using ESRS. Its free!

To ensure that the system reports mechanism was successfully configured:

1. Run the test_syr_connectivity command, and include a recipient_email.

2. Wait ten minutes.

3. Run get_events_log and look for event 1020 “Failed to send system report ”.

• If this event does not appear in your event logs, the system notifications

mechanism has been properly configured.

• If event 1020 is not logged; check whether there is an issue with your selected

method of transfer. If a problem exists, fix it, and run test_syr_connectivity again. Ifthe problem persists, contact EMC Customer Support.

Registering your datastores

Before protecting your VMs, you must register the datastores to be used for each copy

journal in your system. To register a datastore at a vRPA cluster:

1. In the vSphere Web Client home page, click the RecoverPoint for VMs Management

icon > Administration tab > Datastore Pools tab.

2. Select the vRPA cluster to which you wish to add datastores. Click Add.

3. In the Register Datastore Pools dialog box, select the vCenter server where the

datastores are located.

The candidate datastore pools are listed with their total size and available size.

4. Select the datastores you wish to register and click OK.

Protecting VMs

Before protecting VMs:

◆ Ensure you have added an appropriate RecoverPoint for VMs license.

http://uk.emc.com/collateral/software/data-sheet/h1948-secure-remote-supp-gateway-ds.pdfhttp://uk.emc.com/collateral/software/data-sheet/h1948-secure-remote-supp-gateway-ds.pdf


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◆ Register at least one datastore for the copy and production journals.

Limitations

◆ Maximum number of VMs in a consistency group = 16.

◆ Two VMs in one consistency group cannot have the same name, even if one is in the

production cluster and the other is a replica.

◆ When RecoverPoint for VMs automatically creates a VM at the target, the following

limitations apply:

• All VMDKs will be mapped to a single datastore. You can select the datastore, but

you cannot select different datastores for different VMDKs.

• You cannot use the Protection wizard to select different networks for each NIC in

the replica VM. VM network connections can be changed afterwards in the vSphere

GUI.

• If changes are made to the memory or CPU resources of a protected (production)

VM, those changes will not be replicated to the copy VM. The same changes can bemade manually at the copy VM.

To protect a virtual machine:

1. In the vSphere Web Client, right-click on the virtual machine you wish to protect in the

inventory. Select All RecoverPoint Actions > Protect.

2. In theSelect VM protection method

screen, choose whether to create a new

consistency group for this VM or to add this VM to an existing consistency group.

Adding a VM to an existing consistency group results in journal loss for that group.

Best practice is to protect each VM in its own consistency group.

If you choose to add this VM to an existing consistency group, continue with step 4.

3. In the Define consistency group screen:

a. Enter a descriptive name for the consistency group.

b. Select a vRPA cluster. Continue with step 5.

4. In the Select consistency group screen, select the consistency group to which the

virtual machine will be added.

5. In the Define protection policy screen:

a. Choose to automatically create a VM at the target, or select a VM to be the copy.

b. If this is a new consistency group, define the replication policy. Select synchronous

or asynchronous replication. If you select asynchronous, specify the RPO.

When allowing RecoverPoint for VMs to automatically create the target VM, continue

with step 7.

6. In the Select target VM screen, select the ESXi cluster where the target VM is located.

Select the target VM. Continue with step 10.

7. In the Select resource for target VM screen, select the resource from which to create

the target VM. You can create the target VM on an ESXi host, on an ESXi cluster, or from

a resource pool.

8. In the Select storage screen, select the datastore for the target VM.


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9. In theConfigure journal provisioning

screen, define the minimum journal size for the

consistency group and select the datastore to use as the journal:

a. Select a copy from the table of copies.

b. Define the minimum journal size for that copy.

All datastores at that copy with at least as much available space as you defined islisted in the list of datastores.

c. Choose to automatically select the optimal datastore for the journal from the list or

to manually select a datastore from the list.

d. If you want to register additional datastores, click the Add button and select the

datastores you wish you register from the candidate datastores table.

You cannot proceed to the next step until all copy icons in the copy list show a green

check mark to indicate that a journal has been provisioned for each copy.

10. In the Summary screen, review previously selected values. To complete the wizard and

start replication from the production to the copy, click Finish.

The Manage > RecoverPoint for VM screen appears and displays a graphical

representation of the consistency group. The consistency group begins an

initialization process and its progress is displayed. After initialization, the consistency

group becomes active.

Stopping protection

To stop replicating the production VM:


icon > Protection tab. Click Virtual Machines.

2. Select the VM you wish to stop replicating. Click the Unprotect icon:

Replication stops and the VM is removed from its consistency group. The copy VM is

not automatically deleted. If there are no other VMs in the consistency group, the

consistency group is removed.If other VMs remain in the consistency group, the

journal will be lost.


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Managing and monitoring


Use the procedures in this chapter to manage and monitor consistency groups and group

sets in your RecoverPoint for VMs system.

Disabling a consistency group

Disabling a consistency group stops all replication, deletes journals, and causes a full

sweep if the group is enabled.

To disable a consistency group:


icon >Protection

tab. ClickConsistency Groups

.

2. Select the consistency group you wish to disable. Click the Disable Group icon:

Enabling a consistency group

Enabling a disabled consistency group causes a full sweep and starts replication.

To enable a disabled consistency group:


icon > Protection tab. Click Consistency Groups.

2. Select the consistency group you wish to enable. Click the Enable Group icon:

Creating a group set

A group set is a collection of consistency groups to which the system applies parallel

bookmarks at a user-defined frequency. Group sets are useful for consistency groups that

are dependent on one another or that must work together as a single unit.

1. In the vSphere Web Client home page, click theRecoverPoint for VMs Management

icon > Protection tab. Click Group Sets.

2. Click the Add Group Set icon:

3. In the Add Group Set dialog box, enter a name for the group set.

4. Choose the vRPA cluster from which to select consistency groups.

5. Select one or more consistency groups to add to the group set.

6. To enable parallel bookmarking, select Enable Parallel Bookmarking and set the

bookmarking frequency value. Click OK.

You cannot enable parallel bookmarking for a group set if any of the groups in the

group set are part of another group set that has parallel bookmarking enabled.


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Applying a bookmark

A bookmark is a manual snapshot with a label you apply to it to identify it for future use.

Bookmarks can be applied to consistency groups or group sets.

To apply a bookmark:


icon > Protection tab. Click Consistency Groups to apply a bookmark to a consistency

group or Group Sets to apply a bookmark to a group set.

2. Select the consistency group or group set to which you wish to apply a bookmark.

Click theAdd bookmark

icon:

3. In the Add Bookmark dialog box, define the bookmark settings:

Editing an existing group set

To edit an existing group set:



Table 1 Add Bookmark options

Option Description

Bookmark name Enter a name for the bookmark.

Mark as Crash-Consistent: All bookmarks are Crash-Consistent bydefault.

Application-Consistent: Select Application-Consistent from thedrop down if the selected snapshot isknown to be application-consistent.Selecting Application-Consistent doesnot create an application-consistentsnapshot, it only tags the snapshot asapplication-consistent.

Consolidation policy To determine how the consolidation policy will be managed thenext time the process runs.

Never Consolidate this bookmark snapshot: Never consolidatethis snapshot.

This bookmark snapshot must survive Daily/Weekly/Monthly

consolidations:

Daily : Snapshot survives dailyconsolidations, but is consolidatedweekly and monthly.

Weekly : Snapshot survives daily and weeklyconsolidations, but is consolidated

monthly.Monthly : Snapshot survives daily, weekly, and

monthly consolidations.


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2. Select the group set you wish to edit. Click theEdit Group Set

icon:

3. In the Edit Group Set dialog box, if desired, modify the group set name.

4. Select or clear the checkboxes of consistency groups to include or exclude them from

the group set.

5. Enable or disable parallel bookmarking by selecting or clearing the Enable Parallel

Bookmark checkbox. Click OK.

You cannot enable parallel bookmarking for a group set if any of the groups in the

group set are part of another group set that has parallel bookmarking enabled.

Disabling a group set

Disabling a group set disables all consistency groups in the group set. Replication is

stopped and journals are deleted. When the group set is enabled, all of the consistency

groups will undergo a full sweep.

To disable a group set:



2. Select the group set you wish to disable. Click the Disable Group Set icon:

Enabling a group set

Enabling a disabled group set causes a full sweep and then starts replication in all of theconsistency groups in the group set.

To enable a disabled group set:



2. Select the group set you wish to enable. Click the Enable Group Set icon:

Removing a group setTo remove a group set:



2. Select the group set you wish to remove. Click the Remove Group Set icon:


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Editing group or link policies

To edit group or link policies for an existing consistency group:



2. Expand the list of consistency groups and select the consistency group whose policies

you wish to edit.

3. Click on the Edit group policy link to change the consistency group name, primary RPA,

or group priority.

4. Click on the Edit link policy link to edit the link policy protection settings:

Table 2 Group policy options

Option Description

Name The name of the consistency group.

Primary RPA The vRPA that you prefer to replicate the consistency group. Whenthe primary vRPA is not available, the consistency group will switchto another vRPA in the vRPA cluster. When the preferred vRPAbecomes available, the consistency group will switch back to it.

Group priority Only relevant for remote replication when two or more consistencygroups are using the same Primary RPA.

Default = Normal

Select the priority assigned to this consistency group. The prioritydetermines the amount of bandwidth allocated to this consistencygroup in relation to all other consistency groups using the samePrimary RPA.

Table 3 Link policy options

Options Description

Replication Mode Asynchronous or synchronous replication

Dynamic by Latency Only relevant for synchronous replication mode.

Default = Disabled

When enabled, RecoverPoint for VMs alternates betweensynchronous and asynchronous replication modes, as necessary,according to latency conditions.

• Start async replication above: When the specified limit is

reached, RecoverPoint for VMs automatically starts replicatingasynchronously.

• Resume sync replication below: When the specified limit isreached, RecoverPoint goes back to replicating synchronously.


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To load an existing link policy template, click on the Load link policy from template

link and select the template.

Editing copy policies

To edit copy policies for a copy:



2. Expand the list of consistency groups and select the consistency group whose copy

policies you wish to edit.

3. Expand the consistency group and select the copy whose policies you wish to edit.

Dynamic byThroughput

Only relevant for synchronous replication mode.

Default = Disabled

When enabled, RecoverPoint for VMs alternates betweensynchronous and asynchronous replication modes, as necessary,

according to throughput conditions.

• Start async replication above: When the specified limit isreached, RecoverPoint for VMs automatically starts replicatingasynchronously.

• Resume sync replication below: When the specified limit isreached, RecoverPoint for VMs goes back to replicatingsynchronously.

RPO RPO defines the maximum lag allowed on a link, and is setmanually in MB, GB, writes, seconds, minutes, or hours.

Compression Only relevant for asynchronous remote replication.

Default = None To compress data before transferring it to a remote vRPA cluster,select a level of compression. Compression can reduce transfertime significantly, but increases the source vRPA’s CPU utilization.

Enabling and disabling compression causes a short pause intransfer and a short initialization.

Enable Deduplication Only relevant for asynchronous remote replication.

Default = disabled Select this to eliminate repetitive data before transferring the datato a remote vRPA cluster. Deduplication can reduce transfer timesignificantly, but increases the source vRPA’s CPU utilization.

Enabling and disabling deduplication causes a short pause intransfer and a short initialization.

Snapshot Granularity Default = fixed per second

• Fixed per write: Creates a snapshot for every write operation.

• Fixed per second: Creates one snapshot per second. Use this forlocal replication.

• Dynamic: The system determines the snapshot granularityaccording to available resources. Use this for remote replication.

Table 3 Link policy options

Options Description


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4. Click on theEdit copy policy

link to edit the copy policy protection settings:

To load an existing copy policy template, click on theLoad copy policy from template

link and select the template.

Table 4 Copy policy options

Option Description

Journal Compression Default = none

Compresses snapshots in the journal so that more images can besaved in the same journal capacity. Best practice is to compressthe journal when forcing synchronous replication.

Compression impacts the CPU resources of the target vRPA of theconsistency group.

Enabling journal compression while a consistency group is enabledwill result in the loss of all snapshots in the journal.

Maximum Journal Lag Default = unlimited

Defines the maximum amount of snapshot data (in bytes, KB, MB,or GB) that can be held in the copy journal before distribution tothe copy. In terms of RTO, this is the maximum amount of data thatwould be required in order to bring the copy up-to-date withproduction.

Required ProtectionWindow

The protection window indicates how far in time the copy imagecan be rolled back.

Select this to define a required protection window and specify thelength of the required window. You will be notified if the currentwindow is less than the required window.

Enable RecoverPointSnapshotConsolidation

Select this to enable automatic snapshot consolidation.

Automatic snapshot consolidation cannot be enabled for a groupthat is part of a group set. When enabled, the Predicted ProtectionWindow is not calculated.

Do not consolidateany snapshots for atleast

Default = 2 days

Define the period during which snapshot data is not to beconsolidated. If no daily or weekly consolidations are specified,

the remaining snapshots are consolidated monthly .

Consolidatesnapshots that areolder than x to onesnapshot per day fory days

Default = 5 days

Snapshots are consolidated every 24 hours.

Select Indefinitely to consolidate all subsequent snapshots in24-hour intervals. If Indefinitely is not selected, and no weeklyconsolidations are specified, the remaining snapshots areconsolidated monthly. If Indefinitely is selected, weekly andmonthly consolidations are disabled, and the remaining snapshotsare consolidated daily.

Consolidatesnapshots that areolder than x to onesnapshot per weekfor y weeks

Default = 4 weeks

Snapshots are consolidated every seven days.

Select Indefinitely to consolidate all subsequent snapshots in

seven-day intervals. If Indefinitely is not selected, the remainingsnapshots are consolidated monthly. If Indefinitely is selected,monthly consolidations are disabled, and the remaining snapshotsare consolidated weekly.


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Adding policy templates

Use the Policy Templates tab to add a new template, edit, import, or remove policy

templates.

To add a policy template:


icon > Administration tab > Policy Templates tab. Click the vRPA cluster to which you

wish to add a policy template. ClickAdd

.

2. In the Add Policy Template dialog box, select to add a copy policy template or a link

policy template.

3. To add a link policy template, enter a name for the policy template. Define the

protection settings listed in Table 3, “Link policy options”.

4. To add a copy policy template, enter a name for the policy template. Define the

protection settings listed in Table 4, “Copy policy options”.

Monitoring the system

The RecoverPoint for VMs Dashboard provides a high-level overview of the RecoverPoint

system. It presents important system information to help you analyze and monitor the

RecoverPoint environment.

To access the Dashboard, in the vSphere Web Client home page, click on the RecoverPoint

for VMs

icon.

The Dashboard contains the following widgets:

Alerts:

provides a summary of system health categorized by alert level and alert category.

Consistency Group Transfer Status: displays a graphical overview of the transfer state of

all consistency groups in the RecoverPoint for VMs system. See “Consistency group

transfer states” on page 18 for more information.

Recovery Activities: displays all of the accessed copies in the system. To return to the

Recovery Wizard, click on the Back to Wizard link. To cancel image access and the

recovery activity, click on the Cancel link.

Consistency group transfer states

Each consistency group and consistency group copy can be in any one of the following

transfer states:

Table 5 Transfer state

Transfer State Description

Active Data is being transferred asynchronously to a copy

Active (Synchronized) Data is being transferred synchronously to a copy

Paused by system Data is not being transferred to a copy, because transfer has beenpaused by the system

Init (n%) A copy is being initialized or undergoing a full sweep


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Hover your mouse over a transfer state in the chart to see the names of the consistency

groups in that state.

Monitoring consistency group replication

To monitor replication of a consistency group:

1. In the vSphere Web Client, select the virtual machine in the inventory that you wish to

monitor.

2. Select the Manage tab and the RecoverPoint for VMs subtab. A graphical

representation of the VM’s consistency group is displayed.

High-load (n%) The system enters a temporary high-load state while data is beingtransferred to a copy. High-load occurs when the journal is full andcannot accept new writes. The system will attempt to resolve the

high-load state without user action.

High-load The system enters a permanent high-load state while data is beingtransferred to a copy. A permanent high-load can occur after a temporaryhigh-load. The system pauses replication and waits for user action.

N/A Data is not being transferred to a copy, because the copy has beendisabled by the user

Table 5 Transfer state

Transfer State Description


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Testing and Recovery


The following testing and recovery actions are available in RecoverPoint for VMs:

◆ “Testing a copy” on page 20

◆ “Failing over” on page 22

◆ “Recovering production” on page 23

These recovery actions are directed by the Recovery Wizard and can be performed on

consistency groups or group sets. The initial steps of the wizard, including selecting the

image to access and testing the network, are the same for all recovery actions. The actual

recovery action is performed at the end of the wizard, after testing the copy.

Performing recovery activities on a group set

Before performing recovery activities on a group set, note that during image access on a

group set:

◆ When you select the latest image, the latest available image of each relevant group

copy will be accessed.

◆ When you select an image from the image list, the images of the first group in the

group set are displayed. When you select an image from the list, RecoverPoint for VMs

constructs a search query containing the parameters of the first group’s image and

queries the rest of the groups in the group set according to those parameters.

◆ When you select a specific point in time by entering advanced search options, the

same image search query is sent for all groups in the group set.

Testing a copy

To enter image access mode and test a copy:


icon > Protection tab. Click the Test Copy icon:

The Recovery Wizard is displayed.

2. In the Recovery Scope screen, select whether you want to test the consistency group

or the group set. If there are no group sets, the option is grayed out.

3. In the Select Image screen, select the image to access. You may want to start with the

last image known to be valid.

Table 6 Select Image options

Setting Description

The latest image The last snapshot that was created at the production, andtransferred to the copy journal.


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4. In the Testing Network screen, define the testing environment.

5. In the Enable Access screen, detailed information about the selected copy is

displayed. Activate image access mode by clickingEnable Access

.

The Enabling progress bar will indicate the progress of image access. You can closethe wizard without interfering with the process. You can reopen the wizard from the

Recovery Activities widget on the Dashboard.

After image access is enabled, the buffer progress bar indicates how long you can

access the copy image before the image access log is full and all writes to the copy fail.

When in image access mode, data is not distributed from the journal to the copy. When

image access is enabled, there is a pause in distribution while the system rolls to the

specified image. The length of the delay depends on your storage capabilities and how far

the selected image is from the current image.

An image from the image list Select an image from the list.

• The number of snapshots available in the image list is limited.Snapshots that are not in the image list may still be selected

by specific Point in Time.• During snapshot dilution, priority is given to bookmarked

images.

A specific point in time or

bookmark

Allows you to perform a customized search:

• Point in Time: Searches for a bookmark that was created atthe specified date and time.

• Max Range: Searches for a bookmark that was createdbetween the specified number of minutes/hours before andafter the specified Point in Time.

• Bookmark: Searches for bookmarks with the specified text in

the bookmark name.

•Exact:

Searches for bookmarks that contains the exact textentered in the Bookmark field.

• Image Type: Searches for the specified image type with thespecified bookmark name.

Table 7 Testing Network options

Option Description

Isolated network RecoverPoint for VMs will auto-provision an isolated network forVMs in this consistency group or group set in order to avoid IPconflicts between the production VM and the tested VM.

Shared network Use a shared network with other consistency groups or group sets.

Select a network fortesting

Manually select a preconfigured network.

Do not use a testingnetwork

Select this option if DHCP is in use or if the production and copynetworks are already isolated.


Setting Description


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Disabling image access

To disable image access:


icon > Protection tab. Click Virtual Machines.

2. Click the Disable image access icon:

Failing over

The Recovery wizard guides you through the process of selecting a copy image, testing it,

and failing over to the copy or failing back to the production from the selected image.

To enter image access mode and then fail over to the copy:


icon > Protection tab. Click the Fail Over icon:

TheRecovery Wizard

is displayed.



3. In the Select Image screen, select the image to access. You may want to start with the



Setting Description



• The number of snapshots available in the image list is limited.Snapshots that are not in the image list may still be selectedby specific Point in Time.

• During snapshot dilution, priority is given to bookmarkedimages.


bookmark


• Point in Time: Searches for a bookmark that was created atthe specified date and time.


• Bookmark: Searches for bookmarks with the specified text inthe bookmark name.

• Exact: Searches for bookmarks that contains the exact textentered in the Bookmark field.



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4. In theTesting Network

screen, define the testing environment.


displayed. Activate image access mode by clicking on the Enable Access button.

The Enabling progress bar will indicate the progress of image access. You can close

the wizard without interfering with the process. You can reopen the wizard from theRecovery Activities

widget on theDashboard

.

Once image access is complete, click Finish to activate failover.

After failover:

◆ The production and copy VM names do not change, but the VM roles do. Therefore,

after failover, the new production VM will still be .copy and the new

copy VM name will still be .

◆ The marking information in the production journal is deleted, the copy journal is

deleted, and the consistency group undergoes a full sweep synchronization.

◆ Before you fail back to the production, the Recovery wizard is displayed to enable youto select an image at the production that predates your failover, and to verify the

image before permanently selecting it as the image you want to fail back to.

Recovering production

Use Recover Production to correct file or logical corruption by rolling the production back

to a previous point-in-time. The Recovery wizard guides you through the process of

selecting a copy image, testing it, and recovering the production from the selected image.

To recover production:

1. In the vSphere Web Client home page, click the RecoverPoint for VMs Management icon > Protection tab. Click the Recover Production icon:

The Recovery Wizard is displayed.




Option Description

Isolated network RecoverPoint for VMs will auto-provision an isolated network for

VMs in this consistency group or group set.




Do not use a testingnetwork

Do not use a testing network.


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3. In theSelect Image

screen, select the image to access. You may want to start with the


4. In the Testing Network screen, define the testing environment.


displayed. Activate image access mode by clicking on theEnable Access

button.

The Enabling progress bar will indicate the progress of image access. You can close

the wizard without interfering with the process. You can reopen the wizard from the

Recovery Activities widget on the Dashboard.

Once image access is complete, click Finish to activate production recovery. During

production recovery, host access to storage is blocked.


Setting Description



• The number of snapshots available in the image list is limited.Snapshots that are not in the image list may still be selectedby specific Point in Time.

• During snapshot dilution, priority is given to bookmarkedimages.


bookmark


• Point in Time:

Searches for a bookmark that was created atthe specified date and time.


• Bookmark: Searches for bookmarks with the specified text inthe bookmark name.

• Exact: Searches for bookmarks that contains the exact textentered in the Bookmark field.



Option Description

Isolated network RecoverPoint for VMs will auto-provision an isolated network forVMs in this consistency group or group set.




Do not use a testing

network

Do not use a testing network.


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After recovering production:

◆ The marking information in the production journal is deleted.

◆ The group undergoes a short initialization process to synchronize the new production

data at the copy.


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Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

This section describes troubleshooting issues and procedures for solving them in

RecoverPoint for VMs.

Detecting bottlenecksBottleneck detection returns statistics about RecoverPoint for VMs system performance,

by consistency group, vRPA, and vRPA cluster. Bottleneck detection analyzes the system

data in an effort to detect the existence of any of the predefined problem types, called

“bottlenecks”. The types of bottlenecks are presented in Table 12.

Table 12 Bottleneck detection

Type Output/Notes

For RPAs and Clusters

RPA balance “RPAs are not balanced.”, with data on the load handled by each vRPA at thecluster.

Note: vRPA balance is checked only if the time period defined is greater than

30 minutes.

Compression “Compression level is too high. The RPA resources cannot handle the currentlevel.”

SAN target “RPA may be regulating the application. Consider reducing RPA load.”, withdata on the total amount of incoming data, the number of writes, and theamount of incoming data per write.

RPA utilization “RPA utilization reached 80% .”

For Consistency Groups and Links

Slow productionjournal

“Writing to the local journal volume was slow during this period.”, with dataon the delay factor.

Journal phase 1 “ Journal is unable to handle the incoming data rate .”, with the required I/Orates for the journal and the replication volumes at local or remote copies, forboth normal and fast-forward distribution modes.

Journal phase 2 “ Journal and replication volumes are unable to handle the incoming datarate .”, with data on the required I/O rates for the journal and the replicationvolumes at local or remote copies, for both normal and fast-forwarddistribution modes.

Journal regulation “Remote storage is too slow to handle incoming data rate and regulate the

distribution process .” with data on the required I/O rates for the journal andthe replication volumes at local or remote copies, for both normal andfast-forward distribution modes.

Unknowndistributionproblem

“Target cluster cannot handle the incoming data rate .”, with the required I/Orates for the journal and the replication volumes at the remote cluster, forboth normal and fast-forward distribution modes.

http://-/?-http://-/?-


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Troubleshooting


To detect bottlenecks:

1. Use an SSH client to connect to the vRPA management IP address, and enter yourRecoverPoint username and password to log into the CLI.

2. Run the detect_bottlenecks command to check for any bottlenecks. To view command

parameters that can refine your search, run:

detect_bottlenecks ?

The output from the system analysis will be written to

/home/kos/statistics/bottlenecks.csv .

Load balancing

Load balancing is the process of assigning preferred vRPAs to consistency groups so thatthe preferred vRPA will perform data transfer for that group. This is done to balance load

across the system and to prevent the system from entering a high-load state.

You should perform load balancing:

◆ When a new consistency group is added to the system. Wait one week after the new

group is added to the system for a long enough traffic history to accumulate before

you perform load balancing.

◆ When a new vRPA is added to a cluster. Perform load balancing immediately after the

vRPA is added.

◆

If the system enters high load frequently. When load balancing is required, the eventlogs will display a message indicating so. When you see this message, perform load

balancing.

◆ If the bottleneck detection tool recommends it. When load balancing is required, the

detect_bottlenecks CLI command returns “RPAs are not balanced.” When you see this

message, perform load balancing.

◆ Periodically. To ensure that your system is always handling distributing loads evenly, a

script can be created to periodically perform load balancing.

To balance the load on the vRPAs:

Slow WAN “WAN is too slow .”, with data on total throughput for the cluster, the identityof the RPAs at which the problem appeared, and the throughput of that RPA(or RPAs).

Note:

A slow WAN bottleneck is detected by group, but generates data by

cluster and vRPA.

Slow read source “Reading rate from the source replication volume(s) during synchronization istoo slow .”, with the reading rate.

Slow read target “Reading rate from the target replication volume(s) during synchronization istoo slow .”, with the reading rate.

Link utilization “Link utilization reached 80% .”

Table 12 Bottleneck detection

Type Output/Notes


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Troubleshooting

1. Use an SSH client to connect to the vRPA management IP address, and enter your

RecoverPoint username and password to log into the CLI.

2. Run the balance_load command to balance the load. To view command parameters

that can refine your search, run:

balance_load ?

System alerts

To view system errors and warnings, in the vSphere Web Client home page, click the

RecoverPoint for VMs Management icon > Dashboard tab > Alerts widget.

Collecting system information

You can collect system information (logs) for processing and analysis.

To collect system logs:

1. Connect to the vRPA management IP using SSH.

2. Log in as user boxmgmt.

3. From the main menu, select Diagnostics > Collect system information > Collect system

information from RPAs only. For more information, see “Collect system information” in

the EMC RecoverPoint Installation and Deployment Guide .

Collecting RecoverPoint for VMs splitter logs

RecoverPoint for VMs splitter logs are in the ESXi logs. To export the ESXi system logs:

1. In the vSphere Web Client, select an ESXi host and click onActions

.

2. Select All vCenter Actions > Export System Logs...

3. In the Export Logs screen, specify which system logs are to be exported. If required,

select the Gather performance data option and specify a duration and interval.

4. Click Generate Log Bundle.

5. Click Download Log Bundle.

6. Upload the logs to the SFTP/FTP site.

For information on how to upload logs for VMware products, see

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTyp

eID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1008525

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1008525http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1008525http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1008525http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1008525


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Getting help

Getting help

EMC support, product, and licensing information can be obtained as follows:

Product information — For documentation, release notes, software updates, orinformation about EMC products, go to EMC Online Support at:

https://support.emc.com

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

Copyright © 2014 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Published in the USA.

Published November 2014

EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. Theinformation is subject to change without notice.

The information in this publication is provided as is. EMC Corporation makes no representations orwarranties of any kind with respect to the information in this publication, and specifically disclaimsimplied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Use, copying, and

distribution of any EMC software described in this publication requires an applicable softwarelicense.

EMC2, EMC, the EMC logo, and EMC RecoverPoint are registered trademarks or trademarks of EMC

Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks used herein are theproperty of their respective owners.

For the most up-to-date regulatory document for your product line, go to EMC Online Support

(htt // t )
http://support.emc.com/http://support.emc.com/http://support.emc.com/http://support.emc.com/http://support.emc.com/http://support.emc.com/

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