Replicate a VM to a Datastore on the Local vCenter Server System

You can use the vSphere Replication SDK for PowerShell to replicate a VM from a source to a target datastore on the local vCenter Server system.

This example shows how to replicate a single VM from a source to a target datastore on the same vCenter Server system.

Prerequisites

• Verify that the vSphere Replication appliance is deployed on the vCenter Server system.

• Verify that you are connected to the vCenter Server system. This example uses the $vr1 connection variable from Connect to a Local vSphere Replication Server.

• You must have the required privileges to configure replications and manage datastores on the vCenter Server system.

Procedure

1. Get the local VM that you want to replicate.

   $pairing = $vr1.ConnectedPairings["<local_vc_address_or_fqdn>"].Pairing
   $replicatedVm = Invoke-VrGetLocalVms -PairingId $pairing.PairingId `
       -VcenterId $pairing.LocalVcServer.Id `
       -FilterProperty "Name" `
       -Filter "<my_vm_name>" `
       -Server $vr1

2. Get the VM hard disks that you want to replicate.

   $replicatedHdds = Invoke-VrGetLocalVmDisks -PairingId $pairing.PairingId `
       -VcenterId $pairing.LocalVcServer.Id `
       -VmId $replicatedVm.List[0].Id `
       -Server $vr1

3. Get the target datastore for the replication.

   $targetDatastore = Invoke-VrGetVrCapableTargetDatastores -PairingId $pairing.PairingId `
       -VcenterId  $pairing.PairingId.RemoteVcServer.Id `
       -FilterProperty "Name" `
       -Filter "<target_datastore_name>" `
       -Server $vr1

4. Create the configuration for disks replication.

   $replicationVmDisks = @()
   $replicatedHdds.List | ForEach-Object {
      $replicationVmDisks += Initialize-VrConfigureReplicationVmDisk -VmDisk $_ `
        -EnabledForReplication:$true `
        -DestinationDatastoreId $targetDatastore.List[0].Id `
        -DestinationDiskFormat 'SAMEASSOURCE'

5. Create the replication spec.

   $replicationSpec = Initialize-VrConfigureReplicationSpec `
       -Rpo 60 -NetworkCompressionEnabled:$true `
       -MpitEnabled:$true -AutoReplicateNewDisks:$true `
       -LwdEncryptionEnabled:$false `
       -Disks $replicationVmDisks `
       -MpitInstances 1 `
       -MpitDays 1 `
       -TargetVcId $pairing.RemoteVcServer.Id `
       -VmId $replicatedVm.List[0].Id 

6. Invoke the ConfigureReplication operation.

   $task = Invoke-VrConfigureReplication -PairingId $pairing.PairingId `
       -ConfigureReplicationSpec $replicationSpec -Server $vr1
   

   vSphere Replication starts replicating the virtual machine files to the target datastore.

7. Monitor the task progress.

   $t = Invoke-VrGetTaskInfo -TaskId $task.List[0].Id -Server $vr1
   $t
    

   Eventually, the task status changes to SUCCESS.

8. (Optional) Get the replication on the target datastore.

   $rep1 = Invoke-VrGetAllReplications -PairingId $pairing.PairingId `
   -FilterProperty "Name" -Filter <my_vm_name> -Server $vr1

9. Sync your virtual machine to the configured replication on the target datastore.

   Invoke-VrSyncReplication -PairingId $pairing.PairingId `
       -ReplicationId $rep1.List[0].Id -Server $vr1