Configuring VMware HCX Replication Assisted vMotion

Products

• VMware HCX

Issue/Introduction

Administrators require the procedural steps and prerequisite environmental validations to successfully configure and execute Replication Assisted vMotion (RAV) migrations using VMware HCX.

Environment

VMware HCX 4.11.3

Resolution

Part 1: Environmental Validation Ensure the source and target environments meet the following requirements before attempting a RAV migration:

1. The HCX Underlay network must provide a minimum of 150 Mbps throughput.

2. The source virtual machine must be operating on Hardware Version 9 or higher.

3. The underlying hypervisor architecture must be x86.

4. Target virtual machines must be placed within a defined Service Cluster configured within the destination Compute Profile.

5. VMware NFC traffic must be available as a secondary protocol routed over the HCX Management interface

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Part 2: Network Connectivity needed from RAV migrations

1. Source Environment (ESXi to Local HCX-IX)

   Traffic originates from the source ESXi host and is directed to the local HCX Interconnect (HCX-IX) appliance.

   • TCP 902 (NFC): Source ESXi Management or Provisioning vmkernel interface to the HCX-IX Management interface. Required for the initial full synchronization and continuous delta disk replication (vSphere Replication data path).

   • TCP 8000 (vMotion): Source ESXi vMotion vmkernel interface to the HCX-IX vMotion interface. Required for transferring the active memory and virtual machine state during the final switchover phase.

   • TCP 443 (HTTPS): Local HCX Manager to the source vCenter Server and ESXi hosts. Required for issuing API calls to construct the shadow VM and initiate the migration workflows.

2. Site-to-Site Underlay (WAN/LAN Tunnel)

   Traffic is encapsulated by the local HCX-IX appliance and transmitted over the network underlay to the remote destination.

   • UDP 4500 (IPsec): Local HCX-IX Uplink interface to the Destination HCX-IX Uplink interface. All RAV traffic (NFC and vMotion) is encapsulated within this secure tunnel.

   • TCP 443 (HTTPS): Source HCX Manager to Destination HCX Manager. Required for control plane site pairing and migration orchestration.

3. Destination Environment (Destination HCX-IX to Target ESXi)

   Traffic is decapsulated by the destination HCX-IX appliance and forwarded to the target ESXi host.

   • TCP 902 (NFC): Destination HCX-IX Management interface to the Target ESXi Management or Provisioning vmkernel interface. Required for writing the replicated disk blocks to the target datastore.

   • TCP 8000 (vMotion): Destination HCX-IX vMotion interface to the Target ESXi vMotion vmkernel interface. Required for receiving the live memory state during the vMotion switchover.

   • TCP 443 (HTTPS): Destination HCX Manager to the target vCenter Server and ESXi hosts. Required for inventory placement and final VM power-on operations.

 

Part 3: Service Mesh Configuration The RAV service must be explicitly enabled within the active Service Mesh topology:

1. Navigate to Interconnect > Compute Profiles at both the source and destination sites.

2. Edit the applicable Compute Profiles and activate the Replication Assisted vMotion service check box.

3. Navigate to Service Mesh and initiate an Update or Resync operation. Ensure the Service Mesh returns to a healthy state and the RAV components deploy successfully to the HCX-IX appliances.

 

Part 4: Migration Execution Procedure

1. Navigate to the HCX Dashboard and select Migration under the Services menu.

2. Click Migrate Virtual Machines and select the Remote Site Connection.

3. Select the target virtual machines from the source vCenter Server inventory.

4. In the configuration header, select Replication Assisted vMotion as the migration profile.

5. Configure the Transfer and Placement parameters:

   • Destination Compute: Select the target cluster or resource pool.

   • Destination Storage: Select the target datastore.

   • Destination Folder: Select the target VM directory.

6. Map the source virtual machine network adapters to the corresponding target networks.

7. Configure the Switchover window to define when the final delta synchronization and serial vMotion state transfer will execute.

8. Click Validate to clear any compliance warnings, then click Finish to initiate the initial synchronization.

Additional Information

RAV migration strictly prohibits workloads with Independent disks (persistent/non-persistent), shared SCSI buses, multi-writer flags, Fault Tolerance (FT), attached virtual media, DirectPath I/O, or vVols datastores. Workloads utilizing CBT will have CBT forcefully deactivated by HCX during the operation.

For comprehensive architectural details, reference the official documentation: Understanding VMware HCX Replication Assisted vMotion

For Network Connectivity required Reference:  VMware Ports and Protocols