Migrating a 2-Node vSAN Stretched Cluster with IP and FQDN changes within the same vCenter

Products

• VMware vSAN

Issue/Introduction

This article outlines the process of relocating a 2-node vSAN stretched cluster from one datacenter to another within the same vCenter. The migration involves physically moving the ESXi hosts, assigning them new IP addresses and FQDNs, and reconfiguring the cluster to function seamlessly in the new location.

Environment

VMware vSAN all versions

Resolution

The following steps will help achieve the objective of relocating a 2-node vSAN stretched cluster to a new datacenter within the same vCenter. These steps ensure a clean shutdown, network reconfiguration, physical relocation, and proper reinitialization of the cluster.

1. Disable the vSAN Stretched Cluster.
   Steps are available at Convert a vSAN Stretched Cluster to a Single Site vSAN Cluster
   
   
2. Manually Shut Down the vSAN Cluster.
   Note: When the stretched cluster feature is disabled, the vSAN Witness is deleted from the cluster. After this, it is expected to have objects in a "Reduced availability with no rebuild" state. With objects in this state, the vSAN Shutdown Wizard in vCenter is expected to not work, so the cluster has to be manually shutdown following the below:
   1. Power off all Virtual Machines.
   2. Place each ESXi host into Maintenance Mode using the "No Data Migration" option.
   3. Run on both hosts: 

      esxcfg-advcfg -s 1 /VSAN/IgnoreClusterMemberListUpdates

       
3. Disconnect and remove the hosts from vCenter.
   See Remove a Host from vCenter Server for instructions.
   
   
4. Update Host Network Configuration.
   Change the IP addresses and FQDNs of the ESXi hosts as per the new site’s networking scheme using the DCUI.
   Instructions are available at Changing the ESXi server management IP address
   
   
5. Shut down the physical servers and transport them to the new location.
   
   
6. Power On Hosts in the new location and ensure the ESXi hosts are accessible and reachable with the new IP/FQDN settings.
   
   
7. Add the hosts back to the vCenter inventory.
   
   
8. Restart the vSAN Cluster.
   1. Run on both hosts:
      
      esxcfg-advcfg -s 0 /VSAN/IgnoreClusterMemberListUpdates
      
      
   2. Exit the Maintenance Mode.
      
      
9. Re-enable the stretched cluster and add the Witness host using the procedure described in Manually Configure vSAN Stretched Cluster.
   This will trigger the resync required to move objects from "Reduced Availability" back to "Healthy." state.

If you encounter any issues while following steps from this article, you may engage Broadcom Technical Support Team for further assistance.

Additional Information

Broadcom has discontinued RoBo licensing - Unable to apply a vSAN license to a 2 host RoBo cluster