Once SRM is installed on both sites, then the next step is to pair these sites together. The pairing process establishes a connection between the vCenter Servers at the protected and recovery sites, which in turn makes the SRM instances at both sites become aware of its counterpart at the other site (protected/recovery). Without the sites being paired, we cannot proceed with further configuration of the DR setup.
Here is how the sites can be paired:
Connect to either of the protected/recovery sites through vCenter Server using vSphere Web Client.
Navigate to the inventory Home and click on Site Recovery:
At the Site Recovery home page, select Sites from the left pane and navigate to its Objects tab.
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The Objects tab will list the current SRM site. Click on the pair a site icon
to bring up the Pair Site Recovery Manager Servers wizard:
On the Pair Site Recovery Manager Servers wizard's Select Site page, supply the FQDN or IP address of the PSC that corresponds to the secondary site and click on Next:
On the Select vCenter Server screen, select the intended vCenter and supply its SSO credentials. Click on Next to continue:
You will now see a certificate security alert for both the sites. Click on Yes in both dialog boxes to continue.
Once done, you will see both the sites listed:
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Now, select the site that you just added and click on the
icon to bring up the Login Site window, prompting the credentials for the vCenter managing the second site:
On the Login Site window, supply the vCenter credentials and click on Login. This completes the site pairing process.
Note
The paring is done only from one of the sites. This is because the pairing process establishes reciprocity by configuring the connection in the reverse direction as well. But when you open the site recovery solution at the remote vCenter Server, you may be prompted to enter the administrator credentials of the other site.