"Time-Out Error" while synchronising the replication after an upgrade in VMware Cloud Director Availability 4.x

Products

• VMware Cloud Director

Issue/Introduction

Time-Out Error during manual synchronization attempts.

The VM replications are in a yellow health state, indicating that they were not syncing properly.

Replication health status is yellow, and the state age indicates "This information could be out-of-date" after replication was created.

Environment

VMware Cloud Director Availability 4.x

Cause

• The certificate change on the vCenter server/ VCDA is not updated on the vCloud director availability appliance. 
• If there is a recent update/reboot likely caused a break in SSL connections between the source and destination sites, which led to synchronization failures for older replications. 

Resolution

Perform the below mentioned steps to resolve the replication issue -

1. Attempt to sync the affected VMs one at a time to ensure that the replication completes. 
2. In case the sync does not work, create a new replication with a new Virtual Machine.
3. If the new replications created using the new VM are functioning correctly, which indicates that the issue lies with the older replications.
4. For the old replications that continue to fail, it is recommended to delete and recreate the replications.
5. To recreate replications for a larger number of VMs (e.g., more than 100) use automation and use API to re-create the replication. Find more details in the document regarding the VCDA API : VMware Cloud Director Availability API.

Additional Information

Note - Deleting and restarting replications in bulk could have an impact on RPO (Recovery Point Objective) and recovery capabilities. Ensure that the VMs being affected are in a maintenance window or during off-peak hours if possible.

For more information, please see the VMware vCloud Director Availability document for replacing certificates: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Director-Availability/4.7/VMware-Cloud-Director-Availability-Admin-Guide/GUID-C2043AB5-5D78-4843-BDFF-A0E471CD53E4.html