Replication Registration Failure with Enhanced Replication Mode – Status Remains "Not Active"
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Replication Registration Failure with Enhanced Replication Mode – Status Remains "Not Active"

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Article ID: 397130

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

  • Legacy replication functions as expected.

  • Replication registration fails when using Enhanced Replication Mode. Upon initiating replication for the virtual machine, the replication status remains Not Active.
  • Enhanced Replication mapping reports a network connectivity error.

Environment

 

  • vSphere Replication 9.x

  • VMware Live Site Recovery 9.x

 

 

Cause

This issue occurs when the ESXi host used for replication is missing replication network configuration or has incorrect replication network configuration.

Possible contributing factors:

  • The replication VMkernel interface (replication IP) is not configured or is configured with an incorrect address.
  • The static route for the replication subnet is missing, preventing network communication between source and target replication hosts.
  • Required firewall ports for Enhanced Replication are blocked between the sites.

Example scenario:

  • The replication VMkernel IP was not configured on the target host.

  • The static route to the source site replication subnet was missing.

  • Connectivity tests (e.g., vmkping and nc command port checks) failed which indicates there is an connectivity issue for Enhanced Replication Mode between ESXI hosts.

Example:

  • Source site replication network: 192.168.X.X/24

  • Target site replication network: 192.168.Y.X/24

  • Without the correct route, replication traffic could not reach the remote host’s replication interface.

Issue Validation Steps : 

Ping tests are failing between the hosts at the source and target sites 

The hbr-agent.log on Source Host indicates there is a networking issue when trying to connect to DR Host is failing with port 32032.

2025-04-24T15:42:56.362Z In(166) hbr-agent-bin[######]: [0x000000#################] info: [Proxy [Group: PING-GID-################################] -> [#.#.#.#:32032]] [########-####-####-####-############] Bound to vmk: vmk2 for connection to #.#.#.#:32032
2025-04-24T15:42:56.362Z In(166) hbr-agent-bin[######]: [0x000000#################] error: [Proxy [Group: PING-GID-################################] -> [#.#.#.#:32032]] [########-####-####-####-############] Failed to connect to #.#.#.#:32032. Using nic 'vmk2'. Error: Network is unreachable

Firewall ports were not opened on the ESXi hosts for Enhanced replication.

Example : Ping from the DC Host to DR Host and vice versa failed. 

[root@dcesx01:] vmkping -I vmk2 #.#.#.#
PING #.#.#.# (#.#.#.#): 56 data bytes

--- #.#.#.# ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss

[root@dcesx01:] vmkping -I vmk2 #.#.#.# -s 1472
PING #.#.#.# (#.#.#.#): 1472 data bytes

--- #.#.#.# ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss

[root@dcesx01:]

[root@dcesx01:] nc -zv #.#.#.# 32032
[root@dcesx01:]

Resolution

Follow below steps to fix the issue:

1. Verify replication network configuration on the affected ESXi host. Ensure the correct VMkernel interface is assigned for replication traffic and has the appropriate IP address.

Refer : Configure vSphere Replication Network Settings

2. Verify and update routing to enable communication between source and target replication networks.

Check routes on ESXi host:

esxcli network ip route ipv4 list

If missing, add the required route:

Example :

esxcli network ip route ipv4 add --gateway  ###.###.###.### --network ###.###.###.###/24

3. Confirm firewall access for all required replication ports (e.g., TCP 32032) between source and target ESXi hosts.

Example : nc -zv <Destination Host IP address> 32032

Additional Information

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