vCenter migration including new AD domain

Hi Ron,

I’ve done the vCenter upgrade/migration from the Windows based installation of v5.5, moving to the VCSA v6.0 (and have since upgraded to v6.5). I can tell you that from a Zerto perspective, I had to absolutely no issues. If you use the special installer from VMWare, especially for this situation (migrating from Windows to VCSA) from a practical perspective, nothing changes. Your vCenter machine name, IP Address, domain membership, database, everything, remains the same. It honestly was far more easy than I thought. As soon as the upgrade was done and the new vCenter booted up, Zerto just kicked right back in. Sure it had to do a few bitmap sync’s, but that’s to be expected.

Now, you’re talking about changing domains as well. That’s where things are going to be much more complicated for you. I don’t think there is an easy way to do this, but you should open a support ticket and ask. I’ve never done this, so I’m not going to claim to be an expert, but I think at a minimum you’re going to need to re-register Zerto with vCenter, ensure you have proper credentials for the new domain and such. It might be even more complicated. The VPG’s might not like that. You might have to export the VPG settings, then blast it all way, do your vCenter and ZVM work, then import the VPG’s. I’m really not sure about that. You should definitely open a support ticket to discuss with an engineer.

I can tell you I have done many vCenter upgrades and as far as Zerto is concerned, as long as vCenter and its database stays the same, Zerto is happy. Moving from Windows to VCSA, doesn’t matter. All good. Upgrading from VCSA 6.0 to VCSA 6.5 via deploying a new VM, all good, no issues.

That’s been my experience. Hope it goes well for you. If you want any pointers on getting the migration from v5.5 Windows to v6.0 VCSA, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’ve been through it and any gotchas I can pass along might save you some headaches.