Rebooting PM Breaks VM Replication

Question

We have an unusual issue in which replica VM's disappear from PM2 when its rebooted.

There are 5 VM's running on PM1 which are all replicated to PM2. Replication is perfectly fine and 'Normal', but as soon as PM2 is rebooted, 3 out of the 5 VM's will disappear from Hyper-V Manager. The actual VM files still exist but the VM's don't show in Hyper-V Manager.

In order to get replication working again and make the VMs show up, I have to delete all files relating to the affected VMs from PM2 in D:\Hyper-V Replica\ and C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V\ including the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V\data.vmcx file. I can then reset replication from PM1 to PM2.

This will work fine again until PM2 is rebooted.

PM1 is running Windows Server 2022 Standard Edition

PM2 is running Windows Server 2016 Standard Edition

All VMs are running configuration version 8.0 (latest supported by Windows Server 2016)

I'm not sure what to do next as I have completely deleted the affected VMs off of PM2 and then allowed replication to re-create them all, and the issue has persisted despite this.

Any recommendations would be appreciated

Answer 1

Hi Tomas,

Hope you're doing well.

1. Ensure that both PM1 and PM2 are fully patched and up-to-date with the latest Windows updates and Hyper-V updates. Sometimes, issues like this can be resolved by installing the latest updates.
2. Double-check the replication configuration settings on both PM1 and PM2 to ensure that they are configured correctly. Pay special attention to settings related to replication frequency, network settings, and authentication.
3. Ensure that Hyper-V Integration Services are up-to-date on all VMs and hosts. Integration Services facilitate communication between the host and guest VMs and can sometimes cause issues if they are not properly installed or updated.
4. Running a mixed environment with Windows Server 2022 and 2016 may introduce compatibility issues. Consider upgrading PM2 to Windows Server 2022 if possible to ensure full compatibility with the VMs.

Best Regards,

Ian Xue

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