Task 02: Configure Site Recovery

DOCUMENT CATEGORY: Runbook SCOPE: VM replication to Azure for disaster recovery PURPOSE: Configure Azure Site Recovery for Azure Local VMs MASTER REFERENCE: Microsoft Learn - Hyper-V to Azure DR Architecture

Status: Active

---

Azure Site Recovery (ASR) provides disaster recovery capabilities by replicating Azure Local VMs to Azure. During a disaster, VMs can fail over to Azure and run as Azure VMs until the on-premises environment is restored.

Prerequisites

Requirement	Description	Validation
Recovery Services Vault	Azure vault for ASR (same or different from backup)	Created in target Azure region
Azure Storage Account	Standard storage for replicated data	General-purpose v2 or Premium
Azure Virtual Network	Target network for failed-over VMs	Configured with appropriate subnets
Outbound Connectivity	Cluster nodes to Azure endpoints	Ports 443, 9443
Hyper-V Integration	Integration components on all VMs	Current version
Cluster Nodes	Windows Server 2019 or later	Domain-joined

Variables from variables.yml

Variable	Config Path	Example
AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_NAME	azure.subscription.name	Azure Local Production
AZURE_RESOURCE_GROUP	azure.resource_group.name	rg-azurelocal-prod-eus2
AZURE_REGION	azure.resource_group.location	eastus2
RECOVERY_VAULT_NAME	dr.recovery_vault_name	rsv-azl-dal-dr-01
DR_STORAGE_ACCOUNT	dr.storage_account	stazldaldr01
DR_VNET_NAME	dr.vnet_name	vnet-dr-dal-prod
DR_VNET_CIDR	dr.vnet_cidr	10.100.0.0/16
DR_SUBNET_NAME	dr.subnet_name	snet-dr-workloads
DR_SUBNET_CIDR	dr.subnet_cidr	10.100.1.0/24
HYPERV_SITE_NAME	dr.hyperv_site_name	AzureLocal-DAL-Site
REPLICATION_POLICY_NAME	dr.replication_policy_name	rep-policy-dal-24hr
DR_RESOURCE_GROUP	dr.resource_group	rg-dr-dal-prod-eus2
MANAGEMENT_NETWORK_NAME	networking.management.network_name	mgmt-vlan100
RECOVERY_PLAN_NAME	dr.recovery_plan_name	RP-CriticalApps-DAL
DR_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL	dr.notification_email	dr-team@contoso.com

Architecture Overview

Site Recovery uses two main components on Azure Local:

Component	Description	Location
Azure Site Recovery Provider	Orchestrates replication with ASR service	Each cluster node
Recovery Services Agent	Handles data replication to Azure	Each cluster node

VMM Optional

System Center VMM is optional. Azure Local clusters can be registered directly as a Hyper-V site without VMM.

Replication Flow

1. Initial replication creates VM snapshot and replicates full disks to Azure Storage
2. Delta replication tracks changes via Hyper-V Replica and sends incremental data
3. During failover, Azure VMs are created from replicated data
4. Failback reverses the process after on-premises recovery

Configuration Steps

Step 2.1: Create Recovery Services Vault

Azure Portal

1. Navigate to Create a resource → Recovery Services vault
2. Configure:

• Name: {{RECOVERY_VAULT_NAME}}
• Resource Group: {{AZURE_RESOURCE_GROUP}}
• Region: {{AZURE_REGION}} (target region for DR)

3. Click Review + create

Direct Script (On Node)

# Create Recovery Services vault
az backup vault create \
 --resource-group "{{AZURE_RESOURCE_GROUP}}" \
 --name "{{RECOVERY_VAULT_NAME}}" \
 --location "{{AZURE_REGION}}"

Standalone Script

# Create Recovery Services vault
New-AzRecoveryServicesVault `
 -ResourceGroupName "{{AZURE_RESOURCE_GROUP}}" `
 -Name "{{RECOVERY_VAULT_NAME}}" `
 -Location "{{AZURE_REGION}}"

# Set vault context
$vault = Get-AzRecoveryServicesVault `
 -ResourceGroupName "{{AZURE_RESOURCE_GROUP}}" `
 -Name "{{RECOVERY_VAULT_NAME}}"
Set-AzRecoveryServicesAsrVaultContext -Vault $vault

Step 2.2: Prepare Azure Resources

Create target resources for failed-over VMs:

Azure Portal

1. Storage Account:

• Navigate to Storage accounts → Create
• Name: {{DR_STORAGE_ACCOUNT}}
• Performance: Standard (or Premium for production)
• Replication: LRS or GRS based on requirements

2. Virtual Network:

• Navigate to Virtual networks → Create
• Name: {{DR_VNET_NAME}}
• Address space: {{DR_VNET_CIDR}}
• Subnet: {{DR_SUBNET_NAME}} with appropriate CIDR

Direct Script (On Node)

# Create storage account for replication
az storage account create \
 --resource-group "{{AZURE_RESOURCE_GROUP}}" \
 --name "{{DR_STORAGE_ACCOUNT}}" \
 --location "{{AZURE_REGION}}" \
 --sku Standard_LRS \
 --kind StorageV2

# Create virtual network for DR
az network vnet create \
 --resource-group "{{AZURE_RESOURCE_GROUP}}" \
 --name "{{DR_VNET_NAME}}" \
 --location "{{AZURE_REGION}}" \
 --address-prefixes "{{DR_VNET_CIDR}}" \
 --subnet-name "{{DR_SUBNET_NAME}}" \
 --subnet-prefixes "{{DR_SUBNET_CIDR}}"

Step 2.3: Create Hyper-V Site

1. Navigate to Recovery Services vault → Site Recovery → Prepare Infrastructure

2. Select Protection goal:

• Where are your machines located? On-premises
• Where do you want to replicate? To Azure
• Are your machines virtualized? Yes, with Hyper-V
• Are you using VMM? No

3. Create Hyper-V site:

• Name: {{HYPERV_SITE_NAME}}
• Click OK

Step 2.4: Download and Install Provider

1. Download the Azure Site Recovery Provider installer from the vault

2. Download the vault registration key (valid 5 days)

3. On each cluster node, install the Provider:

# Run on each cluster node
$InstallerPath = "C:\Temp\AzureSiteRecoveryProvider.exe"
$RegistrationKey = "C:\Temp\VaultCreds.VaultCredentials"

# Install Provider silently
Start-Process -FilePath $InstallerPath `
 -ArgumentList "/x:C:\Temp\ASRInstall /q" `
 -Wait

# Run setup
Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Temp\ASRInstall\setupdr.exe" `
 -ArgumentList "/i" `
 -Wait

# Register with vault
$FriendlyName = $env:COMPUTERNAME
$RegistrationCmd = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Azure Site Recovery Provider\DRConfigurator.exe"

& $RegistrationCmd `
 /r /Credentials $RegistrationKey `
 /FriendlyName $FriendlyName

4. Verify registration in Azure Portal → Site Recovery Infrastructure → Hyper-V Hosts

Step 2.5: Configure Replication Policy

1. Navigate to vault → Site Recovery → Replication policies
2. Click Create replication policy
3. Configure:

Setting	Recommended Value	Description
Name	{{REPLICATION_POLICY_NAME}}	Policy identifier
Copy frequency	5 minutes	How often to replicate changes
Recovery point retention	24 hours	How long to keep recovery points
App-consistent snapshot frequency	4 hours	VSS-based snapshots
Initial replication start time	Immediately or scheduled	Off-hours recommended

4. Click OK to create policy

5. Associate policy with Hyper-V site:

• Navigate to Site Recovery Infrastructure → Hyper-V Sites
• Select site → Replication policy → Associate created policy

Step 2.6: Enable Replication for VMs

1. Navigate to vault → Replicated items → Replicate

2. Configure source:

• Source: Your Hyper-V site
• Hyper-V host: Select cluster nodes

3. Configure target:

• Subscription: {{AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_NAME}}
• Post-failover resource group: {{DR_RESOURCE_GROUP}}
• Post-failover deployment model: Resource Manager
• Storage account: {{DR_STORAGE_ACCOUNT}}
• Azure network: Configure after failover or select {{DR_VNET_NAME}}

4. Select virtual machines to replicate

5. Configure VM properties:

• OS type: Windows/Linux
• OS disk: Select boot disk
• Data disks: Select additional disks

6. Review and enable replication

Step 2.7: Configure Network Mapping

Map on-premises networks to Azure virtual networks:

1. Navigate to vault → Site Recovery Infrastructure → Network Mapping
2. Click Add network mapping
3. Configure:

• Source network: {{MANAGEMENT_NETWORK_NAME}}
• Target network: {{DR_VNET_NAME}}

4. Repeat for additional networks

Step 2.8: Configure Recovery Plans

Recovery plans orchestrate failover of multiple VMs:

1. Navigate to vault → Recovery Plans → Create recovery plan
2. Configure:

• Name: {{RECOVERY_PLAN_NAME}}
• Source: Hyper-V site
• Target: Azure
• Select items: Choose VMs to include

3. Customize groups:

• Group 1: Critical infrastructure (domain controllers)
• Group 2: Database servers
• Group 3: Application servers
• Group 4: Web servers

4. Add pre/post actions:

• Scripts to run before/after group failover
• Manual actions for verification steps

Validation

Verify Replication Health

Azure Portal

1. Navigate to vault → Replicated items
2. Verify each VM shows:

• Replication health: Healthy
• Status: Protected
• RPO: Within policy threshold

Standalone Script

# Get replication status
$vault = Get-AzRecoveryServicesVault `
 -ResourceGroupName "{{AZURE_RESOURCE_GROUP}}" `
 -Name "{{RECOVERY_VAULT_NAME}}"

Set-AzRecoveryServicesAsrVaultContext -Vault $vault

# List protected items
Get-AzRecoveryServicesAsrReplicationProtectedItem | 
 Select-Object FriendlyName, ProtectionState, ReplicationHealth, LastHeartbeat |
 Format-Table

Check Initial Replication

# Monitor initial replication progress
Get-AzRecoveryServicesAsrReplicationProtectedItem | 
 Where-Object { $_.ReplicationProvider -eq "HyperVReplica2012R2" } |
 Select-Object FriendlyName, 
 @{N='Progress';E={$_.ProviderSpecificDetails.InitialReplicationDetails.InitialReplicationProgressPercentage}},
 @{N='Status';E={$_.ProviderSpecificDetails.InitialReplicationDetails.InitialReplicationStatus}}

Validation Checklist

Component	Verification	Expected Result
Provider installed	All nodes in vault	Registered and connected
Replication policy	Policy associated	Active on Hyper-V site
VMs replicating	Replicated items list	Healthy, Protected
Initial sync	Progress percentage	100% complete
RPO compliance	RPO column	Within policy threshold

Monitoring

Configure Alerts

1. Navigate to vault → Alerts → Alert rules
2. Create rules for:

• Replication health critical
• RPO threshold breach (e.g., > 30 minutes)
• Test failover not run in 90 days

Email Notifications

1. Navigate to vault → Site Recovery Events
2. Click Email notifications
3. Configure:

• Enable notifications: On
• Recipients: {{DR_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL}}
• Events: Critical, Warning

Outbound Connectivity Requirements

Ensure firewall allows these URLs:

URL	Purpose
*.blob.core.windows.net	Data replication to storage
login.microsoftonline.com	Authentication
*.hypervrecoverymanager.windowsazure.com	Site Recovery service
*.servicebus.windows.net	Monitoring and diagnostics

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely Cause	Resolution
Provider registration fails	Connectivity or expired key	Check firewall, regenerate key
Initial replication slow	Network bandwidth	Schedule off-hours, check throttling
RPO exceeds threshold	High change rate or connectivity	Increase frequency, check network
Resync required	Connectivity interruption	Will auto-resume; verify network
VM not appearing	Agent not installed	Install integration components on VM

Force Resynchronization

If delta replication fails:

1. Navigate to vault → Replicated items → Select VM
2. Click Resynchronize
3. Monitor progress in Jobs

Variables Reference

Variable	Description	Example
{{HYPERV_SITE_NAME}}	Hyper-V site name	AzureLocal-Dallas-Site
{{REPLICATION_POLICY_NAME}}	Replication policy name	AzureLocal-5min-RPO
{{DR_VNET_NAME}}	DR virtual network name	vnet-dr-eastus2-01
{{DR_STORAGE_ACCOUNT}}	Replication storage account	stdreastus201

Next Steps

After configuring Site Recovery:

1. ➡️ Task 3: Test DR Procedures — Validate failover with test failover
2. Document recovery time objectives (RTO)
3. Schedule regular test failovers (quarterly recommended)
4. Create runbooks for failover procedures