Reprotect in VMware vSphere Replication fails with the error: VR synchronization failed Remote group is in passive replication state

Products

• VMware Live Recovery
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Reprotect in VMware vSphere Replication fails
• You see the error:
  
  VR synchronization failed for VRM group syd-dns-clone-vr. Remote group 'GID-a4d0ec17-####-####-####-########fff' is in 'passive' replication state
  
  
• In the vmkernel.log file, from the DR site host where the VM is present, you see entries similar to:
   
  YYYY-MM-DD TIME.629Z cpu9:3108530)Hbr: 1064: Failed to find NetWorker for groupID=GID-c49da1ea-####-####-####-########c89

  YYYY-MM-DD TIME.631Z cpu20:9450)WARNING: Hbr: 534: Connection failed to 10.100.10.95 (groupID=GID-c49da1ea-####-####-####-########c89): Timeout

  YYYY-MM-DD TIME.631Z cpu20:9450)WARNING: Hbr: 4322: Failed to establish connection to [10.100.10.95]:31031(groupID=GID-c49da1ea-####-####-####-########c89): Timeout

  YYYY-MM-DD TIME.642Z cpu20:8212)WARNING: Hbr: 534: Connection failed to 10.100.10.95 (groupID=GID-c49da1ea-####-####-####-########c89): Timeout

  YYYY-MM-DD TIME.642Z cpu20:8212)WARNING: Hbr: 4322: Failed to establish connection to [10.100.10.95]:31031(groupID=GID-c49da1ea-####-####-####-########c89): Timeout

Environment

VMware vSphere Replication 5.8.x

Cause

This issue occurs if the synchronization is not possible or blocked from the DR site to the primary site.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, check for blocked ports preventing site to site synchronization.

 

To check for blocked ports preventing site to site synchronization:

1. Open port 31031 from the host where the datastores are presented to the protected site VR appliance.
2. After opening the port, the sync started from DR site to the protected site.