By using the VMware Cloud Director Availability vSphere Client Plug-In, you can create and manage on-premises to cloud and cloud to on-premises replications. Also, you can perform system monitoring, configuration, and maintenance of the on-premises appliance.

The VMware Cloud Director Availability vSphere Client Plug-In registers in vCenter Server during the initial configuration of the VMware Cloud Director Availability appliance. Since VMware Cloud Director Availability 4.5, once configured with vCenter Server Lookup service, the on-premises appliance creates the VrOnpremUsers group in vSphere. Membership of this group grants access to the VMware Cloud Director Availability vSphere Client Plug-In.

Access the VMware Cloud Director Availability vSphere Client Plug-In for monitoring and operating with incoming and outgoing replications and performing appliance management tasks.

Prerequisites

  • Verify that in vSphere your user profile is member of the ADMINISTRATORS group, or since VMware Cloud Director Availability 4.5 - member of the VrOnpremUsers group, and ensure that the user has sufficient privileges to see and interact with vSphere workloads. For information about the required user roles privileges, see Users roles rights and sessions in the Security Guide.
  • Verify that the version of vCenter Server is 6.5 Update 3 or later. For vCenter Server 6.5 Update 2 or earlier, see Accessing the VMware Cloud Director Availability Tenant Portal.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
  2. To access the VMware Cloud Director Availability vSphere Client Plug-In, in the top header click Menu > Cloud Provider DR and Migration.
  3. In the left pane, click the following VMware Cloud Director Availability pages:
    Option Description
    Dashboard See the status of the incoming and outgoing replications, recent tasks, and traffic data and disk usage charts.
    Outgoing Replications Operate with the workloads replicated from the on-premises site to the cloud site. See the replication type: protection or migration, the RPO, the destination data center. See the replication state, the recovery state, the replication health, and the last modification timestamp.
    Incoming Replications Operate with the workloads replicated from the cloud site to the on-premises site. See the replication type: protection or migration, the RPO, the source data center. See the replication state, the recovery state, the replication health, and the last modification timestamp.
    Replication Tasks See the replication task name, the target workload, and the start and end time or progress. Filter the tasks by running, succeeded, or failed status in the on-premises site.
    Emergency Recovery Recover or delete the workloads left from other/previous Replicator Service instances.
    Source Replications See the source replications, listed by: VM ID, vCenter ID, Replicator Service ID, and whether it the workload is recovered.
    Settings See and modify the on-premises appliance settings, the cloud site pairing, the workload placement, the vCenter Server Lookup service address, and others. Modify the following settings of the on-premises appliance: root password, network, certificate, time, logging level, and SSH access. See the version, check for upgrades and modify the repository for upgrades.
    L2 Stretch Register or modify an NSX autonomous edge, modify the L2 network settings, configure uplink port, modify L2 VPN sessions, and others.
    System Health See the operational status of all internal and external services and reboot the appliance or its services.
    System Tasks See the system task name, target, start, and end time or progress. Filter the tasks by running, succeeded, or failed status in the on-premises site.
    Support Bundles Generate new support bundles, download them, or delete them.
    Backup Archives Schedule or manually generate backups. Restore from a previously taken backup file.
    About See the VMware Cloud Director Availability version or click Check for updates.