Replication is stuck in the "Activating" state in Veritas Volume Replicator (VVR) for Windows

Problem

The Replication Monitor in Veritas Enterprise Administrator (VEA) maintains a status of "Activating" for replication. No blocks are being sent to the secondary site. Replication is unable to start or resume.

Cause

Replication is stuck in the "Activating" state usually indicates there is a network communication problem or port block issue between the primary and secondary sites.

Solution

1. Make sure VVR group is online if VVR is in clustered mode.

2. Use vxprint to confirm the rlinks, hostnames, and IP addresses for the primary and secondary replication partners match each other. Information on vxprint can be found here: www.veritas.com/docs/000088736

3. Verify required ports are open:

For a freshly created RDS
===============================
Port 4145 (UDP/TCP)
Port 8199 (TCP)
Port 2148 (UDP/TCP)
UDP or TCP anonymous ports depending on the VVR mode if set to TCP/IP or UDP/IP
 
For an existing RDS
===============================
Port 4145 (UDP/TCP)
Port 8199 (TCP)
Port 8989 (TCP)
Port 2148 (UDP/TCP)
UDP or TCP anonymous ports depending on the VVR mode if set to TCP/IP or UDP/IP

Use netstat command to check for ports 4145, 8199, and 2148 on all replication servers:

# netstat -an | findstr 4145
# netstat -an | findstr 8199
# netstat -an | findstr 2148

4. Use Microsoft utility pathping to test network connectivity between the primary and secondary sites. More information on this utility is found here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/pathping

Note: Test connectivity in both directions. Confirm packets are being sent back and forth using the same route. If packets from the secondary take a different route to get to the primary, then differences in timing problems may occur, causing the primary not to receive acknowledgements from the secondary in a timely manner.

5. Check for any DNS resolution errors by using nslookup or ping -a <IPAdress> commands.

6. Try to pause and then resume replication.

To pause replication:

1. Open VEA and go into Replication Network
2. Right-click on the primary RVG (Replicated Volume Group)
3. Select "Pause Secondary from Primary."
4. From Secondary Host, select the IP or host name of the secondary host that is to be paused

To resume replication:

1. Open VEA and go into Replication Network
2. Right-click on the primary RVG
3. Select "Resume."

7. Use vxrlink command to detach and reattach the primary rlink from the primary site using the following syntax:

Note: Detach and reattach operation will result in a full resync.

To detach the rlink:
# vxrlink -g <disk group> [-r <RVG>] det <rlink>

To attach the rlink:
# vxrlink -a -g <disk group> [-r <RVG>] att <rlink>

The information required for these commands can be found using vxprint -VPl