RELEASE NOTES

EMC RecoverPoint
Storage Replication Adapter
for VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager
Version 2.x

Release Notes
P/N 300-012-940
REV 08
July, 2015

These release notes contain information about EMC RecoverPoint Storage Replication
Adapter Version 2.X for VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager. Topics include:

Revision history ........................................................................................................

Product description...................................................................................................
Limitations................................................................................................................
Technical notes .........................................................................................................
Documentation .........................................................................................................
Software media.........................................................................................................
Installation ...............................................................................................................
Getting help ..............................................................................................................

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Revision history

Revision history
The following table presents the revision history of this document:
Revision

Date

Description

08

July 2015

Added release 2.2.0.3

Time-out bug fix

07

June 2015

Added upgrade procedures from 2.2.0.1

Clarified HTTP/HTTPS support when
upgrading

06

May 2015

Added support for SRA 2.2.0.2 (HTTPS by

default in Limitations)
Added support for VMware vCenter Site
Recovery Manager 5.8 and 6.0

05

June 2014

Added best practice for use with MetroPoint

(in Limitations).
Added workaround for support of
RecoverPoint 4.1 (in Limitations).

04

September 2013

Added SRA 2.2.

Added Java 7 requirement.

03

May 2013

Added SRM any point-in-time feature.

Added limitation that transfer starts
automatically after SRM failback before user
presses SRM reprotect button.

02

September 2012

Adding SRA 2.1.

A01

June 2011

First release of the product.

Product description
EMC RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter for VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager
(SRA) allows VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager (SRM) to implement disaster
recovery using EMC RecoverPoint. RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter (SRA)
supports SRM functions such as failing over, failing back, and failover testing using
RecoverPoint as the replication engine.
Additional features, including failing over to any point-in-time image, are available using
EMC Virtual Storage Integrator 5.5. which allows you to select the desired image from
within vCenter.
RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter 2.2.x adds the option to filter discovered LUNs
that are displayed (when adding or editing an Array Manager).

EMC RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter for VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager

Environment and system requirements

Environment and system requirements

Prerequisites
Before the EMC RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter 2.X can be installed, all of the
following must be completed:

RecoverPoint must be installed and configured. Refer to the EMC RecoverPoint

Deployment Manager Product Guide for your version of RecoverPoint.

VMware vCenter must be installed: follow instructions in VMware documentation.

VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager Server (SRM) must be installed: follow
instructions in VMware documentation.

For all SRM versions earlier than 5.8, VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager
Extension plug-in must be downloaded and installed: follow instructions in VMware
documentation.

To determine which versions of the components of the solution may be used, refer to EMC

Simple Support Matrix for your version of RecoverPoint.

RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) requires Java Runtime Environment (JRE)
to be installed on all vCenter Servers.
Table 1 Java Runtime Environment requirements
Storage Replication
Adapter version

Java version required

Notes

2.2.x

Java 7 Update 25 or
later

Java must be installed manually before

starting RecoverPoint SRA installation.
Make sure that the Java runtime is in the
Windows path.

2.1.x and 2.0.x

Java 6 Update 7 or later

If a compatible version is not installed, the

Adapter installation will automatically
invoke an installer of JRE, contained in the
RecoverPoint executable file, to complete
the Adapter installation.

For VMware system requirements, refer to the VMware Site Recovery Manager
Administration Guide, on the VMware web site (http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs).

EMC RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter for VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager

Limitations

Setting RecoverPoint policies

To use RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter (SRA), the following consistency group
policies must be set in RecoverPoint:

RecoverPoint 4.1.x:
Protection > Manage Protection, select consistency group > Group Policy > External
Management = SRM

RecoverPoint 4.1.x with MetroPoint:

Protection > Manage Protection, select consistency group > Group Policy > External
Management Side = <permanent Management IP address of one production copy>

RecoverPoint 4.0.x:
Protection > Group > Group Policy > External Management = SRM

RecoverPoint 3.5.x:
In Consistency Group Advanced Policy Settings: Reservations policy = Auto
In Consistency Group Stretch Cluster/SRM Support Policy Settings:
Use SRM = enabled
In Copy Advanced Policy Settings:
Host OS = VMware ESX or VMware ESX Windows
Select VMware ESX Windows for Windows guest operating systems, VMware ESX for
non-Windows guest operating systems.

Limitations

RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) 2.X can be enabled for consistency
groups with either remote, or local and remote copies; however, VMware SRM only
manages the replication between the production storage and the remote cluster, not
between production and the local cluster. In other words, the local copy of a local and
remote configuration will not interfere with SRA operation, but only replication from
production to the remote cluster will be managed by SRM. In addition, in the presence
of a local copy, Site Recovery Manager only supports failing over to the remote copy,
but not failing back automatically from the remote copy to the production copy.

RecoverPoint SRA 2.X does not support replicating RDM/V.

Table 2 on page 4 lists the TCP ports that must be open for intra-site communication
between RPAs and servers that have RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapters
(SRAs) installed on them. Verify communication by running the RecoverPoint GUI from
each vCenter machine that has RecoverPoint SRA installed on it.

Table 2 RecoverPoint SRA ports

RecoverPoint SRA

Open machine ports (TCP)

2.2.x

7115

2.1.x

7115

2.0.x

7115

EMC RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter for VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager

Limitations

For the most up-to-date list of supported splitters, refer to the EMC Simple Support
Matrix.

VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager 5.8 and 6.0 user interface is integrated into
the vSphere Web Client. However, the EMC Virtual Storage Integrator Plug-in (VSI) for
the vSphere Web Client is still in development. Users of SRM 5.8 wishing to select an
any-point-in-time image, must use the VSI plug-in for RecoverPoint in the vSphere
desktop client (Failing over to any point-in-time image on page 7). Selecting an
any-point-in-time image is not currently supported for vCenter 6.0 and SRM 6.0.

SRM 6.0 requires SRA 2.2.0.3 and is not supported with earlier versions of SRA.

Starting with RecoverPoint 4.1, RecoverPoint uses HTTPS rather than HTTP. However,
when performing a non-disruptive upgrade from RecoverPoint 4.0.x to RecoverPoint
4.1.x and a consistency group is managed by SRM, RecoverPoint 4.1 will
automatically install with HTTP enabled instead of HTTPS. However, it is strongly
recommended to work in HTTPS mode only.

RecoverPoint SRA and the RPAs must use the same web server mode; that is, either
HTTP or HTTPS on the SRA and on each RPA at both production and at copy.

Release 2.2.0.1 and later of SRA uses HTTPS communication by default.

Release 2.2.0.0 of the RecoverPoint SRM Adapter (SRA) by default supports only HTTP
communication. RecoverPoint 4.1 uses HTTPS. A script is provided with SRA 2.2.0.0 to
tweak SRA to support HTTPS. To run the script:
1. At the SRM server of both the production and the recovery site, open a Windows
command prompt and go to the directory:
C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Site Recovery
Manager\storage\sra\array-type-recoverpoint

2. Run (at production and recovery site):

perl command.pl --useHttps true

ESX Servers and RPAs must be zoned to the same storage ports at each site. If they are
not, VMware SRM may not work properly.

VMware SRM 5.0 and 5.1 enforce a timeout of 300 seconds (5 minutes) for all
RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) operations. If SRA does not complete
an operation within this time limit, the SRM will terminate the operation, possibly
causing the environment to be in an undesired state. For information on how to
change the timeout value, refer to the relevant VMware SRM documentation.

When using MetroPoint topology with VMware Site Recovery Manager, the following
best practices are highly recommended:
Use ESXi 5.5.
In SRM, configure a placeholder on a DR1 volume that is zoned to ESX servers at
both Metro clusters. All hosts that have access to production on either side of the
Metro, must be able to see the placeholder.
As in all Site Recovery Manager implementations, a placeholder is also required on
the remote copy.
Disable Disk.AutoremoveOnPDL on the ESX server. Disabling is difficult on ESX
5.1; hence, the recommendation to 5.5.
EMC RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter for VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager

Technical notes

If no open connections to a device exist, or after the last connection to the device
closes, the array informs the host that the device is a Permanent Device Lost (PDL).
The host automatically removes the Permanent Device Lost (PDL) device and all
paths to the device, unless Disk.AutoremoveOnPDL is disabled. If the device
returns from the PDL condition, the host can discover it, but treats it as a new
device. Data consistency for virtual machines on the recovered device is not
guaranteed.

Technical notes
This section contains important information about deploying EMC RecoverPoint and
VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager.

Deploying RecoverPoint array-based splitters

Special instructions for deploying RecoverPoint with the array-based splitters are
presented in the EMC documents:

RecoverPoint Deploying with VNX/CLARiiON Arrays and Splitter Technical Notes

RecoverPoint Deploying with Symmetrix Arrays and Splitter Technical Notes
RecoverPoint Deployment Manager Product Guide
RecoverPoint Administrators Guide
RecoverPoint and RecoverPoint/SE Release Notes
RecoverPoint ScaleIO Write Splitter for RecoverPoint

Consistency groups and SRM protection groups

An SRM protection group is a group of virtual machines that are failed over together
(during testing and actual failover).
When SRM performs failover, it instructs RecoverPoint to operate on all the LUNs of all the
virtual machines in the protection group.
RecoverPoint, on the other hand, uses consistency groups to define groups of LUNs that
are replicated together. Therefore, it is recommended to:

Group all SRM protection group LUNs into a single consistency group or a number of
RecoverPoint consistency groups. This grouping is to ensure that SRM protection
groups LUNs are included in RecoverPoint consistency groups.

Ensure RecoverPoint consistency groups containing SRM protection group LUNs do not
contain non-SRM protection group LUNs. Otherwise, if such LUNs are added to the
consistency group, they will be handled by SRM.

Ensure RecoverPoint groups do not contain LUNs from more than one SRM protection
group. Otherwise, SRM may attempt to operate concurrently on the same consistency
group. This attempt may cause SRM operations to fail, or not behave as intended.

In addition to VMware SRM, you can use the RecoverPoint GUI and CLI to monitor the
RecoverPoint system. However, it is not recommended to perform operations
concurrently on the same consistency group using VMware SRM and RecoverPoint
(GUI or CLI), as this may cause operations to interfere with one another.

EMC RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter for VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager

Documentation

When using the RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) 2.X, the group policy can
be set so that only VMware SRM or RecoverPoint (GUI and CLI) can perform actions on the
group at any one time.

Failing over to any point-in-time image

Starting with RecoverPoint 4.0, it is possible for the Site Recovery Manager to test or fail
over to any point-in-time image by using the EMC Virtual Storage Integrator version 5.5
plug-in. This section only provides a high-level overview. For details, refer to the EMC VSI
for VMware vSphere: RecoverPoint Management Product Guide.

Prerequisites

RecoverPoint 4.0 or later

VMware vCenter Server 4.1 or later

VMware ESX 4.1 or later

vCenter Site Recover Manager

Virtual Storage Integrator (VSI) for VMware vSphere: RecoverPoint Management 5.5

EMC RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter for VMware vCenter Site Recovery
Manager 2.0, 2.1, or 2.2.

Selecting a point-in-time image

In the vSphere client, select the EMC VSI tab for the virtual machine whose image you
want to access. Select the desired point-in-time. When Site Recovery Manager fails over
the consistency group, it will fail over to the selected point-in-time.
For details, refer to the EMC VSI for VMware vSphere: RecoverPoint Management Product
Guide.

Documentation
For the most current VMware vCenter SRM documentation, refer to the VMware web site
(http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs).
For the most current RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) documentation, on
the EMC Online Support Site (http://support.emc.com) go to RecoverPoint >
Documentation > Release Notes, or contact EMC Customer Support.
Use the release of any of the following documents, available in the Documentation Library
on EMC Online Support Site, that matches your installed RecoverPoint version:

EMC RecoverPoint Release Notes

EMC RecoverPoint Installation and Deployment Guide
EMC RecoverPoint Administrators Guide
EMC RecoverPoint CLI Reference Guide
EMC RecoverPoint Replicating VMware Technical Notes
EMC VSI for VMware vSphere: RecoverPoint Management Product Guide

EMC RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter for VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager

Software media

For a detailed view of the interoperability capabilities of RecoverPoint, refer to the ESM,
Errata, and E-Lab Interoperability Navigator (http://elabnavigator.EMC.com).

Software media
Once you download the SRM software from the VMware web site
(http://www.vmware.com/download/srm) and install it, the EMC RecoverPoint Storage
Replication Adapter may be downloaded and installed.
The EMC Online Support Site also has the most current RecoverPoint Storage Replication
Adapter (SRA) information.

Installation
This section contains important information about downloading, installing, updating, and
uninstalling the RecoverPoint Site Recovery Adapter.

Downloading and installing RecoverPoint SRA

Before installing RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter (SRA), ensure that VMware
SRM, VMware SRM Extension plug-in, and VMware SRM licenses are installed on the
vCenter servers.
To download and install RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter (SRA):
1. Verify that RecoverPoint is configured to be fully operational, including consistency
groups, replication sets, and journals.
2. Download the RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) file from
http://www.vmware.com/download/srm.
3. Run the executable file to install SRA on the local and remote vCenter servers.
The SRA installer (InstallShield Wizard) does not require any configuration.
4. Follow instructions in the Site Recovery Manager on-line help or in the VMware Site
Recovery Manager Administrators Guide for installing the Storage Replication
Adapter, specifying the array manager, and configuring Protection Groups.
5. Choose RecoverPoint as the array manager.
You will be prompted for a username and a password. Use a RecoverPoint username
with administrative privileges and the RecoverPoint site manager IP address to access
the RecoverPoint array manager.
Ensure that the consistency groups to be used with SRM are enabled and replicating.
6. Following the instructions of the VMware Site Recovery Manager Administration Guide,
build your recovery plans and run failover or failover tests through vCenter.

EMC RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter for VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager

Upgrading the SRA

Uninstalling RecoverPoint SRA

To uninstall RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter (SRA):
1. On systems running the vCenter Server, from the Start menu, select Settings > Control
Panel > Add or Remove Programs.
2. Select EMC RecoverPoint for VMware Site Recovery Manager and click Remove.

Upgrading the SRA

1. To upgrade the SRA, remove the previous version completely.
2. Follow the instructions for installing the SRA (Installation on page 8).
3. It is strongly recommended that the web server mode both for the SRA and for all RPAs
at production and at the copy be set to HTTPS only. If the web server mode on your
RecoverPoint system = HTTP (by default on RecoverPoint 4.0), use the following
procedure on each RPA at production and the copy to set web server mode to HTTPS:
a. Log on the Installation Manager (boxmgmt) as boxmgmt.
b. On the main menu, select Setup > Advanced options > Security options > Change
web server mode. Disable HTTP.
c. Repeat for every RPA at both production and the copy.
4. If business reasons prevent you from changing the web mode of your RecoverPoint
cluster to HTTPS, use the following procedure to set the web server mode on SRA to
HTTP (not recommended):
a. At the SRM server of both the production and the recovery site, open a Windows
command prompt and go to the directory:
C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Site Recovery
Manager\storage\sra\array-type-recoverpoint

b. Run (at production and recovery site):

perl command.pl --useHttps false

Getting help
EMC support, product, and licensing information can be obtained as follows:
Product information For documentation, release notes, software updates, or
information 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 see
several 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 for
details about obtaining a valid support agreement or with questions about your account.

EMC RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter for VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager

Getting help

Copyright 2015 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Published in the USA.
EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without
notice.
The information in this publication is provided as is. EMC Corporation makes no representations or warranties of any kind with
respect to the information in this publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a
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EMC2, EMC, EMC RecoverPoint, and the EMC logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of EMC Corporation in the United States
and other countries. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.
For the most up-to-date regulatory document for your product line, go to EMC Online Support (https://support.emc.com).

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EMC RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter for VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager