VMware Live Recovery 9.0.5 displays "HTTP 503 Service Unavailable" when retrieving SRM pairs

Products

• VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

In a VMware Live Recovery (VLR) 9.0.5 environment, users may encounter an HTTP 503 Service Unavailable error within the vSphere Client Site Recovery plugin. The srm-server service may fail to start, and the UI is unable to retrieve or display information for established site pairs. This typically occurs after one side of the pair has been updated or reconfigured, leaving the registration metadata in an asymmetric or stale state.

Environment

• Product: VMware Live Recovery (VLR) 9.0.5
• Component: Site Recovery Manager (SRM) Server
• vCenter Version: 8.0.3

Cause

This issue is caused by a trust or registration mismatch between the paired VLR appliances. When one appliance is reconfigured or updated, its service registration and SSL thumbprints change in the vCenter Lookup Service. If the remote appliance is not similarly reconfigured, the srm-server cannot establish a secure communication channel with the remote extension, resulting in the 503 error.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, the configuration must be aligned on both appliances in the site pair:

1. Reconfigure the Local Appliance:
   • Log in to the VAMI of the first VLR appliance (https://<Appliance-IP>:5480).
   • On the Summary tab, select Reconfigure and complete the wizard to refresh service registrations.
2. Reconfigure the Remote Appliance:
   • Log in to the VAMI of the second VLR appliance in the pair.
   • Perform the same Reconfigure task to ensure its certificates and registrations match the updated environment.
3. Reconnect the Site Pair:
   • Open the vSphere Client and navigate to Site Recovery > Open Site Recovery.
   • Select the affected Site Pair and click Actions > Reconnect.
   • Complete the login prompts for both sites to force a fresh metadata exchange.