Unable to enable Reprotect in Standalone vSphere Replication

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

When managing virtual machines with standalone vSphere Replication (without Site Recovery Manager or VMware Live Site Recovery), the "Reprotect" option may appear grayed out or fail when selected after a failover. This behavior is expected in environments lacking central orchestration control.

Environment

• vSphere Replication 9.x
• Standalone vSphere Replication (no SRM or VRMS orchestration)

Cause

• Automated "Reprotect" and automated failback operations are exclusive capabilities of Site Recovery Manager (SRM) or VMware Live Site Recovery. Standalone vSphere Replication architectures lack the central orchestration control plane required to automatically reverse replication directions, re-map inventories, and execute synchronized reprotect.
• Failback of virtual machines between vCenter Server sites is a manual task in vSphere Replication. Automated failback is not available.

Resolution

To fail back a virtual machine in a standalone vSphere Replication deployment, perform a manual workflow:

1. Unregister the original virtual machine from the source site inventory.
2. Navigate to the Incoming replications tab on the former target site.
3. Configure a new reverse replication toward the original site.
4. Select the original disks on the source site as replication seeds to synchronize delta changes rather than performing a full initial synchronization.

Additional Information

For detailed guidance on manual failback procedures, refer to the product documentation on Failback of Virtual Machines in vSphere Replication.