Compatibility Matrices for vSphere Replication 8.6

This document contains the following sections

Introduction

VMware vSphere Replication 8.6 | 11 OCT 2022 | Build 20555483
vSphere Replication Configuration Import/Export Tool 8.6 | 11 OCT 2022 | Build 20142180
Check for additions and updates to these release notes.

About the Compatibility Matrices for VMware vSphere Replication

The 
Compatibility Matrices for vSphere Replication 8.6
 describe the compatibility between vSphere Replication 8.6 and platform components, VMware solutions, database software, and guest operating systems. Interoperability details for vSphere Replication can be found in the 
VMware Product Interoperability Matrices.
 The present pages describe how to use that tool to find the relevant information. Where the 
VMware Product Interoperability Matrices
 does not provide information relating to vSphere Replication, this information is listed here.
Where the 
VMware Product Interoperability Matrices
 does not provide information relating to vSphere Replication, this information is listed here.

General Information

  • vSphere Editions
  • Upgrade Path
  • Platform Components
  • Interoperability with VMware Solutions
  • Supported Database Software

vSphere Editions

The license for vSphere Replication 8.6.x is included in the following editions of vSphere
vSphere Edition
vSphere Replication 8.6.x
vSphere Essentials
NO
vSphere Essentials Plus
YES
vSphere Standard
YES
vSphere Enterprise
YES
vSphere Enterprise Plus
YES
vSphere Desktop
YES
NOTE: vSphere Replication 8.6 does not support vSphere 7.0 Update 2 if virtual machine encryption is switched on. To use virtual machine encryption with vSphere Replication 8.6, you must use vSphere 7.0 Update 2c or later.

Upgrade Path

You can upgrade existing installations of vSphere Replication 8.4.x and vSphere Replication 8.5.x to vSphere Replication 8.6.
For the most up to date supported upgrade paths for vSphere Replication, check the VMware Product Interoperability Matrices.
  1. Click 
    Upgrade Path
    .
  2. From the 
    Select a Solution
     menu, select 
    VMware vSphere Replication
    .

Platform Components

For the most up to date ESXi and vCenter Server interoperability, for vSphere Replication 8.6.x, check the VMware Product Interoperability Matrices.
For the supported versions of vSAN, see KB 2150753.
For vCenter Server to vCenter Server replications, the version of the vSphere Replication Management server on the source and the target site can be 8.5 or 8.6.

Interoperability with VMware Solutions

For the most up to date information on the interoperability of vSphere Replication with VMware solutions, check the VMware Product Interoperability Matrices.

Supported Database Software

vSphere Replication 8.6.x includes only an embedded vPostgreSQL database. vSphere Replication 8.6.x does not support external databases.

Guest Operating System Support

vSphere Replication 8.6.x supports the protection and recovery of virtual machines that run all of the guest operating systems that vSphere 7.0 and later versions support.
NOTE:
 If support for a guest operating system has been added in an update release of ESXi Server and vSphere Replication, to protect virtual machines that run those operating systems you must update ESXi Server to the corresponding update release as well as updating vSphere Replication. You must update ESXi Server on both the source and target sites.
For the full list of guest operating systems that vSphere 7.0 and later versions support, check the online VMware Compatibility Guide.
  1. Select 
    Guest OS
     from the drop-down menu
    .
  2. For 
    Product Name
     select 
    ESXi
    .
  3. For 
    Product Release Version
     select
     ESXi 
    n
    where 
    n
     is a release of ESXi that vSphere 7.0 and above versions support
    .
  4. To see all the supported versions of guest operating systems from an operating system vendor:
    1. For 
      OS Family Name
      , select 
      All
      .
    2. For 
      OS Vendor
      , select the operating system vendor. For example, select 
      Red Hat
      .
  5. To check which updates of a particular operating system is supported:
    1. For 
      OS Family Name
      , select the operating system. For example, select 
      Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0
      .
    2. For 
      OS Vendor
      , select 
      All
      .
  6. Click 
    Update and View Results
    .

Guest OS Quiescing Support

VSS Quiescing Support
Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) quiescing is supported for virtual machines running Windows Server 2003, XP, or later versions of Windows. vSphere Replication does not support quiescing for earlier versions of Windows, such as Windows 2000. The quiescing option is unavailable for unsupported operating systems.
NOTE: 
vSphere Replication 8.6.x does not support VSS quiescing on Virtual Volumes.
When you enable quiescing, vSphere Replication first attempts application level quiescing. If application level quiescing fails, vSphere Replication attempts file-system level quiescing.
Operating System
Application Quiescing
File System Quiescing
Windows Server 2003
Discontinued support
YES
Windows Server 2008
YES *
YES
Windows Server 2008 R2
YES *
YES
Windows Server 2008 R2_x64
YES *
YES
Windows Server 2012
YES *
YES
Windows Server 2012 R2
YES *
YES
Windows Server 2016
YES
YES
Windows Vista
NO
YES
Windows 7
NO
YES
Windows 8
NO
YES
Windows 10
NO
YES
Windows 11
NO
YES
* vSphere Replication performs application quiescing on Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2016 by creating a snapshot of the virtual machine. See Working with Microsoft Shadow Copy and Linux Backup Implementation for Windows Server 2008 and 2012 limitations.
  • The virtual machine must be running on a 6.5 or later host.
  • The UUID attribute must be enabled. It is enabled by default for virtual machines created on 4.1 or later. For details on enabling this attribute, see 
    Enable Virtual Machine Application Consistent Quiescing
     in Working with Microsoft Shadow Copy.
  • The virtual machine must use SCSI disks only and have the same number of free SCSI slots as the number of disks. Application-consistent quiescing is not supported for virtual machines with IDE or SATA disks.
  • The virtual machine must not use dynamic disks.

Linux Quiescing Support

To enable the quiescing of virtual machines that run Linux guest OS, install the latest version of VMware Tools on each Linux machine that you plan to replicate.
NOTE:
 vSphere Replication 8.6.x supports quiescing for Linux guest OS only for virtual machines that run on ESXi 7.0 hosts or later.
Operating System
Application Quiescing
File System Quiescing
SLES 11.x
NO
YES
SLES 12.x
NO
YES
SLES 15.x
NO
YES
RHEL 5.x
NO
YES
RHEL 6.x
NO
YES
RHEL 7.x
NO
YES
RHEL 8.x
NO
YES*
* Replication with quiescing is supported for RHEL 8.x VMs if the version of the ESXi host where the VMs are running is 8.0.0 or later.

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