We have vCenter 6.0U2 on two sites with ESXi 5.5U3, vSphere replication 6.1.0 and SRM 6.1.0 ( we don't use array based replication, SRM, vCenter, Appliance are all VM themselves), my questions:
1). vSphere replication is performed by vSphere replication appliance, so reboot, update vCenter server will not interrupt replication, I think that's case
2). Protection Group, Recovery Plan; these are really logic construct that helps me to organize, plan, test and implement disaster recovery, reboot vCenter, take vCenter offline for 2h will not impact these, as long as the SRM DB is intact, am I right?
Now if I update vCenter U2 to U3e, this is my order:
1). Login to both vcenters; pause all replications between the two sites; login to VAMI to shutdown both replication appliances, shutdown both SRM servers; snapshot all
2). Shutdown services and backup both VCDB & SRMDB, copy to elsewhere, shutdown both vCenters; login to ESXi to snapshot both; start vCenter, later start both SRM, appliances
3). RDP to Protected Site vCenter, start vCenter upgrade to 6.0U3e; follow routine procedures, update VUMs and ensure VUM starts up
properly; restart vcenter and ensure it works well. RDP to Protected Site SRM, and initiate SRM 6.1.1.1 installation, overwrite previous SRM registration, using
existing SSL; existing srmdb DB, choose Local admin to run services; finish installation, verify SRM service property
4). Repeat step (3) and install SRM 6.1.2.1; restart SRM server after installation.
5). login to Replication appliance via VAMI, update to version 6.1.1.1; make sure NOT to “Reset embedded DB”,restart it and re-register to vCenter;
then update to ver 6.1.2.1 and re-register to PSC; restart appliance
5). Repeat (2), (3), (4) for Recovery site
6). Resume replication for protected VMs, after full sync for all the VMs, delete the snapshots for vCenter VMs, SRM VMs and replication appliance VMs. Check Protection
Groups, Recovery Plan and ensure no errors.