SRM Test Failover fails with: "One or more devices are not present in a CG/DG"

Products

• VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• When attempting to run a Test Failover in VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) using the Storage Replication Adapter (SRA), the task fails during the "Create snapshots of replica devices" step.

Error displayed in SRM UI:

Failed to create snapshots of replica devices. SRA command 'testFailoverStart' failed for device 'XXXXX'. One or more devices are not present in a CG/DG. Please resolve before running this operation.

• Planned Recovery (Actual Failover) works as expected without errors.

Environment

VMware Live Recovery 9.x

Cause

The issue is caused by the absence of a defined Device Group (DG) or Composite Group (CG) on the Recovery Site’s storage management server.

During a Test Failover, SRM instructs the SRA to create writable snapshots of the target R2 devices using TimeFinder technology. This allows the test to proceed without breaking the production replication link. For the SRA to maintain write-order consistency across multiple LUNs, the EMC SYMAPI requires these devices to be members of a logical group. If the devices are "floating" (not assigned to a group) at the recovery site, the SYMAPI returns Error Code 1055 and the task aborts.

Review the EmcSrdfSra.log on the SRM server:

Location: /Logs/SRAs/SRAs/<sha256_SRA_ID>/EmcSrdfSra.log

Example Log Entry:

[YYYYMMDDTTHrss 32599 10967 [email protected]                ] [ERROR]: Target devices are not part of group (CG/DG). Re-run the operation with groups created
[YYYYMMDDTTHrss 32599   260 [email protected]       ] [WARNING]: Failed to commit symapi session
[YYYYMMDDTTHrss 32599    64 [email protected]] Output file is /tmp/sra-output-196-183
[YYYYMMDDTTHrss 32599    76 [email protected]] Writing to output file

Output XML:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Response xmlns="http://www.vmware.com/srm/sra/v2">
 <TestFailoverStartResults>
  <TargetDevices>
   <TargetDevice key="00087">
    <Error code="1055"/>
   </TargetDevice>
   <TargetDevice key="00088">
    <Error code="1055"/>
   </TargetDevice>
  </TargetDevices>
 </TestFailoverStartResults>
</Response>

vmware-dr-#####.log

--> [20260418033426 174725 10967 [email protected]                ] [ERROR]: Target devices are not part of group (CG/DG). Re-run the operation with groups created
--> [20260418033426 174725   344 setMarker                       ] _______Backtrace begin_______
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-5D :31], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-6D :4], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-6D :5], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-6D :6], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-6D :7], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-6D :8], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-6D :9], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-6D :10], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-6D :11], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-6D :24], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-6D :25], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-6D :26], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-6D :27], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-6D :28], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-6D :29], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-6D :30], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   380 [email protected]] SPC2 flag is [Enabled ] on [FA-6D :31], Symm [00029#####]
--> [20260418033426 174725   400 [email protected]] Exit
--> [20260418033426 174725   255 [email protected]       ] SymCommit() [ReadModifyNowrite]
--> [20260418033426 174725   263 [email protected]       ] SymExit() [ReadModifyNowrite]
--> [20260418033426 174725   344 setMarker                       ] _______Backtrace end_______
--> [20260418033426 174725   260 [email protected]       ] [WARNING]: Failed to commit symapi session
--> [20260418033426 174725    64 [email protected]] Output file is /tmp/sra-output-908-11
--> [20260418033426 174725    76 [email protected]] Writing to output file
-->
--> Output XML:
--> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
--> <Response xmlns="http://www.vmware.com/srm/sra/v2">
-->  <TestFailoverStartResults>
-->   <TargetDevices>
-->    <TargetDevice key="00173">
-->     <Error code="1055"/>
-->    </TargetDevice>
-->   </TargetDevices>
-->  </TestFailoverStartResults>
--> </Response>

Resolution

Engage the storage array vendor and make sure the target R2 devices are added to a Device Group (DG) or Composite Group (CG) on the management server located at the DR/Recovery site.

Additional Information

For detailed troubleshooting steps regarding the error, please refer to Dell KB Article 000228475, which confirms that ensuring devices are correctly assigned to Device Groups or Composite Groups on both the protected and recovery sites is a mandatory requirement for Solutions Enabler symapi 10.x and later.