No connection to VR Server error due to hung replication service in VMware Live Recovery Appliance

Products

• VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

Ongoing replication tasks in VMware Live Recovery may experience critical interruptions resulting in Recovery Point Objective (RPO) violations and virtual machines showing a "Not Active" or "Not Responding" status within the vCenter user interface.

These symptoms typically manifest when the vSphere Replication service enters a hung or unresponsive state, preventing the appliance from listening on required communication ports despite a valid network path.

This behavior is most frequently observed in newly deployed environments, such as those running version 9.0.5.1 with vCenter 8.0.3, or immediately following significant configuration changes. Establishing a stable handshake between source and target appliances is essential for maintaining data consistency and meeting availability requirements.

 

Symptoms

Replication status for virtual machines appears as "Not Active" or "Not Responding" in the vCenter UI.

A replication error occurs: No connection to VR Server for virtual machine #### on host #### in cluster ####: Unknown.

Netcat tests from target hosts to source hosts fail on port 32032 with a "Connection refused" error: nc -zv #### 32032 nc: connect to #### port 32032 (tcp) failed: Connection refused

Environment

VMware Live Recovery Appliance 9.x

vCenter 8.x

vSphere Replication 9.x

Cause

The vSphere Replication service on the Live Recovery Appliances has reached a hung or unresponsive state. This prevents the service from listening on port 32032, which is required for the active replication traffic handshake, even if the underlying network path is open.

Resolution

 To resolve this issue, restart the vSphere Replication services or the appliances in the following order:

1. Log in to the VMware Live Recovery Appliance management interface (VAMI) or console for both source and target sites.
2. Restart the vSphere Replication service or reboot the appliance at the target site.
3. Once the target site is back online, restart the vSphere Replication service or reboot the appliance at the source site.
4. Verify connectivity from the source host to the target using the netcat command: nc -zv <Target_IP> 32032
5. Monitor the vCenter UI to ensure the replication status moves to "Initial Sync" or "Active".

For further assistance, see Contact Support. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on your respective region.

Additional Information

Additional Information: Refer to vSphere Replication Enhanced Replication Mappings for more details on network requirements.