When you test a recovery plan, VMware Site Recovery runs the virtual machines of the recovery plan on a test network and on a temporary snapshot of replicated data at the recovery site. VMware Site Recovery does not disrupt operations at the protected site.

Testing a recovery plan runs all the steps in the plan, except for powering down virtual machines at the protected site and forcing devices at the recovery site to assume control of replicated data. If the plan requires the suspension of local virtual machines at the recovery site, VMware Site Recovery suspends those virtual machines during the test. Running a test of a recovery plan makes no other changes to the production environment at either site.

Testing a recovery plan creates a snapshot on the recovery site of all of the disk files of the virtual machines in the recovery plan. The creation of the snapshots adds to the I/O latency on the storage. If you notice slower response times when you test recovery plans and you are using VMware Virtual SAN storage, monitor the I/O latency by using the monitoring tool in the Virtual SAN interface.

Procedure

  1. In the vSphere Client, click Site Recovery > Open Site Recovery.
  2. On the Site Recovery home tab, select a site pair and click View Details.
  3. Select the Recovery Plans tab, right-click a recovery plan, and select Test.
    You can also run a test by clicking the Test icon in the Recovery Steps view of the recovery plan.
  4. (Optional) Select Replicate recent changes to recovery site.
    Selecting this option ensures that the recovery site has the latest copy of protected virtual machines, but means that the synchronization might take more time.
  5. Click Next.
  6. Review the test information and click Finish.
  7. Click the Recovery Steps tab in the recovery plan tab to monitor the progress of the test and respond to messages.
    The Recovery Steps tab displays the progress of individual steps. The Test task in Recent Tasks tracks overall progress.

What to do next

Run a cleanup operation after the recovery plan test finishes to restore the recovery plan to its original state from before the test.