How to change the Target datastore for a replicated VM in vSphere Replication

Products

• VMware vSAN

Issue/Introduction

In VMware Site Recovery Manager and vSphere Replication, administrators may need to introduce new target datastores for replicated VMs when existing storage reaches capacity.

Environment

VMware Live Site Recovery 9.x
vSphere Replication 9.x

Resolution

There are two workflows for changing the target datastore of a replicated VM. It depends on the size of the VM and available network resources.

Method 1: Reconfigure Replication

• This is the standard method used for smaller VMs or environments with high-speed network links.
  
  
• In the Site Recovery UI, select the VM > Reconfigure > Navigate to the Target Location section > Select the New Datastore.
  
  
• vSphere Replication automatically moves the data files to the new datastore and triggers a synchronization.

Method 2: Remove and Re-add with Seeding 

This is the for large VMs to avoid re-transferring the entire virtual disk across the network.

• Remove the replication for the VM, ensuring you select the option to Retain Replication Seeds.
  
  
• Configure the replication for the VM again.
  
  
• During the configuration wizard, select the New Datastore and choose the "Use Replication Seeds" option.