vSphere Replication Pairing Failure - 'existingSite' is null

Products

• VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to pair sites or reconnect a broken site pair in VMware Live Site Recovery (VLR), the operation fails with the following error:

UI Error: Unable to connect or disconnect the vSphere Replication Management Server. Details: 'Cannot invoke "com.vmware.hms.remote.RemoteSiteInt._getRef()" because "existingSite" is null'

hms.log entries: err: Cannot invoke "com.vmware.hms.remote.RemoteSiteInt._getRef()" because "existingSite" is null; com.vmware.vim.binding.hms.remote.fault.SitePairingFault: Cannot invoke "com.vmware.hms.remote.RemoteSiteInt._getRef()" because "existingSite" is null.

Environment

VMware Live Site Recovery 9.X

Cause

This issue is caused by a state inconsistency or stale Site ID entries in the vSphere Replication Management Server (VRMS) database. Common triggers include:

• One site's VR appliance was redeployed or changed without properly breaking the existing pair.
• A UUID mismatch where the database at Site A expects a specific identifier for Site B that no longer exists or has changed.
• Orphaned database entries in the hmsserverentity table preventing new registration. 

Resolution

To resolve this issue, you must establish a clean state for the vSphere Replication appliances by clearing stale identifiers and re-registering the services.

Prerequisites:
Take a virtual machine snapshot of both the Production and Disaster Recovery vSphere Replication appliances.
Ensure you have administrative credentials for both vCenter Servers.

Procedure:

1. Clear Existing Replications:
2. Remove any remaining replication jobs associated with the broken pair. You may choose to keep the replica disks as seeds to avoid a full initial sync later.
   Break Existing Pairs:
3. Forcefully break the site pair from the site that still shows a connection (if applicable).
   Modify Site ID/Naming:
4. Log into the VRMS VAMI (https://VR-IP:5480) or use the configuration CLI to ensure each site is using a unique and descriptive 'Site Name' label.
   Changing the Site ID forces the system to register as a new endpoint, bypassing the orphaned database entries.
5. Reconfigure VRMS:
6. Perform a RECONFIGURE on the vSphere Replication appliances to force a fresh login and registration with their respective vCenter Servers.
   Establish New Site Pair:
7. Navigate to the Site Recovery UI and create a new site pair between the Production and DR sites.