Unable to create protection group. VRM Server 'vcenter.sddc-##-##-##-##.vmwarevmc.com' is not connected to its paired VRM Server.

Products

• VMware Cloud on AWS

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
When attempting to create a new protection group for vSphere Replication protected VMs, the user sees this error in the UI:
Unable to create protection group. VRM Server 'vcenter.sddc-##-##-##-##.vmwarevmc.com' is not connected to its paired VRM Server.

Attempting to create a protection group from on-premises SRM generates a similar error.

Although the error says that the vSphere Replication pair is not connected, the Site Recovery GUI shows that it is connected.

Cause

SRM has been deployed choosing HCX as the replication provider.

Resolution

1. In the Site Recovery GUI, click on the "BREAK SITE PAIR" button and choose the SRM pairing without breaking the vSphere Replication pairing.
2. From the on-premises SRM VAMI, unregister from PSC and vCenter and remove it.
3. Re-install on-premises SRM and do not change the default value of "HCX Flag" from false to true. Note: This flag is about the replication provider and is not relevant to compatibility with HCX networks.
4. Connect the SRM pairing.
5. Verify that the protection group can now be created.

Additional Information

Troubleshooting Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) KB 78941