Protection during upgrade process

Hello Pete,

This is Kal from Zerto. Few keynotes before you upgrade Zerto Virtual Manager:

Make sure that all VPGs are in the state Protecting, and not in a sync state, such as Delta Sync, or in
an error state, such as Needs Configuration.
• Make sure that the external ZVM SQL server database recovery model is configured to Simple.
• Complete any recovery operation before starting the upgrade.

Create a backup of the machine where the Zerto Virtual Manager runs, which you will use if the
upgrade fails. Zerto recommends taking a snapshot of the machine after stopping the Zerto Virtual
Manager service.

Back to your original questions :

If you have a ZCM involve in your environment. The Zerto Cloud Manager version must be the same as the Zerto Virtual Manager version.
An upgrade of the Zerto Cloud Manager moves all configuration definitions from the old version to the new
version.
The installation checks for an existing installation. If an existing installation is identified, that is one version
lower than the new version, you can upgrade or uninstall the existing version.

IMP NOTE: You must upgrade Zerto and Zerto Cloud Managerin parallel, making sure that you upgrade the
version of Zerto Cloud Manager before you upgrade the version of Zerto which is run by the MSP.

However, It’s only at the time of upgrade of Z-VRA which has few things to check in place. But upgrading ZVM & ZCM won’t cause any buffer or disruption in replication.

Here’re few keynotes to remember before you upgrade Z-VRA

The existing Virtual Replication Appliances and protected virtual machines, together with all other
information, such as checkpoints, journals, sites, and pairing details, are retained and are available in the
upgraded installation.
The upgrade is performed without disrupting the protection, but no new checkpoints are written to the
journal during the actual upgrade.

If your site was configured with offsite backups, or repository configurations, the Offsite backups
window appears. Otherwise, the VRAs Upgrade window appears.
Review the list of data which will be deleted during the upgrade, then select Delete all offsite
backup configuration, and click NEXT.

IMP NOTE: I would suggest unchecking (The Auto-Upgrade Virtual Replication Appliances (VRAs) checkbox and do a manual VRA upgrade once the ZVM upgrade is completed.

If you need more details please review the below documentation:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/zertodownload_docs/Latest/Upgrading%20Zerto%20Virtual%20Replication.pdf?cb=1595460534

Thank you,