Host Machine Rename Questions/Precautions

Hi Or,

When renaming a host, the VMware environment requires the host to be removed from vCenter and later added back in.

After the change, vCenter will give the host a new Moref ID. When Moref ID changes, the host is deemed as a new one by ZVM.

The VRA on the host should be removed and reinstalled.

In order to keep replication running, you will need to follow the “If Source host/VRA” or “If Target host/VRA” steps. The steps to take are largely dependent on whether the host and VRA are on the source or target side. See the below actions for correct directions.

1. If the host is a source (VRA is located on the production site) for replication:

a) vMotion all protected VMs off of the host and onto other hosts (Which also have VRA installed!). Zerto will track the change.
b) Uninstall the VRA from the Host via Zerto GUI.
c) Perform the needed tasks.
d) Reinstall VRA on that Host after it was re-added to vCenter.
e) vMotion all protected VMs back to the relevant Host.

2. If the Host is a target (VRA is located on the Recovery site) for replication:

a) In the Zerto GUI, select the relevant VRA in the VRAs tab and click Actions and then click Change VM Recovery VRA. The Change Target Host dialog is displayed, listing all the virtual machines that require a change to the recovery host.
b) Review the list and select the virtual machines to change the target host to a different specific target host.
c) Select the target host for these virtual machines in the Select the replacement host drop-down list. You can move some virtual machines to one replacement target host and by repeating the operation, move other virtual machines to a different target host (Validation is performed to make sure the selected target host can be used, for example, the datastores used by both the VRAs are accessible from both hosts. Any implications of the change, such as whether synchronization might be required after the change is also displayed)
d) Click OK.
e) Repeat this procedure for all the virtual machines.
f) Once no VMs are no longer recovered to that VRA (Could also be confirmed by verifying via vCenter that beside 4 disks of the VRA OS, no other disks are still attached to the VRA VM) > Uninstall the VRA.
g) Perform your needed tasks.
h) Perform steps a-e to enable the recovery back to the relevant host and VRA.