• This topic has 3 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated October 24, 2019 by Shane H.

ZVM OS Upgrade / Move to new Server OS

  • Tom E
    August 1, 2018 05:44:40 PM

    I have a client that needs to move  their ZVM from Win2008R2 to win2016.  With 35 VPGs and around 150 VMs, the method documented in the KB article is quite cumbersome. Deleting all the VPGs and then recovering them on the new ZVM is sketchy at best, let alone it leaves the client unprotected until the VPGs are recovered and the bit-map sync completes.  This scenario is the in protected site on the CSP model.

    What if the following is executed, would the ZeRTO replication pick up?

    Power down all ZeRTO VRAs and stop all ZeRTO services. install the current version of the product on the new windows server, stop all ZeRTO services on this machine, re-IP it to the old  ZVM. Copy the ZVM database  from old to new ZVM; and / or follow the export /import, and registry tweaks highlighted in the article on the new ZVM. Then restart the ZeRTO services on the new ZVM.  Or some other edits to the XML file.

    This sounds like an RGE for sure, but think there should be a better way to move the ZVM to another guest.

    thanks

     

    Ryan S
    November 5, 2018 04:20:36 PM

    Hi Tom,

    I presented this question to some folks internally and will respond when I hear back.

    In the meantime, it may be worth bringing this up with your account team as they can also help find a solution.

    Cheers,

    Ryan S
    November 6, 2018 02:28:12 PM

    Hey Tom,

    After asking around here’s what I got:

    The solution you suggested is not far-fetched, but we also have the following flow that has worked for an upgrade to Win2012R2.

    I believe we also have a customer that used this process for a successful upgrade to Win2016 but since we haven’t tested this internally I strongly suggest you test it out before applying it to production:

    1. Prepare new VM for the ZVM (from now on it will be referred as VM2): See the documentation for minimum requirements
    2. Copy the ZVM installation file of the same version of the old VM to VM2
    3. Stop the ZVM services on the old VM
    4. Make a copy of the entire Zerto install directory and all its content on the old VM (on default this folder is named
      “Zerto Virtual Replication”). To save space, it is possible to leave out or delete old log files which are not relevant anymore. Those are found in “\Zerto Virtual Replication\logs”.
    5. Copy the above folder with all its content to a temp directory on VM2
    6. Change the IP address of the old VM to a different IP so it will not interfere with VM2, disconnect its network / power off the VM.
    7. On VM2 go to Control Panel -> Network and Internet and set its IP address to be the same as the old VM was.
    8. Execute the ZVM installer and complete the installation on VM2 with the same inputs like the ZVM was installed on the old VM
    9. Stop the ZVM services on VM2
    10. On VM2 replace the Zerto installation folder with the folder and content from step 5 (overwrite all files)
    11. Start the ZVM services on VM2
    12. Log on the ZVM GUI (from anywhere on the network) and validate the status of the VPGs and VRAs is OK.
    13. If all is OK, delete VM1

    Hope this helps

    Shane H
    October 24, 2019 02:25:20 PM

    Above procedure fails horribly when attempted from 2012R2 –> 2016 Server. I was just advised by Zerto support to NEVER do an OS upgrade using the procedure described above. In place OS upgrade was recommended.  Here’s the official KB on the subject: https://www.zrto-dev.com/myzerto/knowledge-base/upgrading-guest-os-of-the-zvm-vm-machine/

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