What's New with VMware Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1

VMware Site Recovery Manager is a disaster recovery and business continuity solution from the VMware,which automates the transfer of virtual machines to a local or remote recovery site. SRM works perfectly with the existing vSphere software and it operates as an extension of vCenter server. This article will talk about what’s new with VMware Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1. VMware Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1 is released along with VMware vSphere 6.5 update 1. SRM 6.5.1 is compatible with vSphere 6.5 Update 1. VMware released VMware Site Recovery Manager 6.5 with the existing and lot of cool features which made easy the management and monitoring of SRM. Let’s take a look at what has changed with VMware Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1.

What’s New with VMware Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1

VMware Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1 is compatible with VMware vSphere 6.5 Update 1 & VMware vSphere Replication 6.5.1. Take a look at my article to know what’s new with VMware vSphere 6.5 Update 1

VMware Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1 provides the following new features:

SRM 6.5.1 supports upgrade migration path from vCenter Server Virtual Appliance 6.0 Update 3 to vCenter Server Virtual Appliance 6.5 Update 1 by delivering a direct upgrade path from Site Recovery Manager 6.1.2 to Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1. NOTE: Upgrading Site Recovery Manager from version 6.0.x directly to version 6.5.1 is not supported. To upgrade Site Recovery Manager 6.0.x to Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1, you must first upgrade Site Recovery Manager from 6.0.x to 6.1.2.
Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1 now supports the following external databases:
- Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Service Pack 2
- Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Service Pack 1
Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1 now supports the following guest operating systems:
- Windows Server 2016
- CentOS 6.9
- RHEL 7.3.5
- Ubuntu 17.04 non Long Term Support (LTS)

Site Recovery Manager Build Information

Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1 – Build Number 6014840

Download VMware Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1

VMware Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1 – Download

Site Recovery Manager Compatibility Matrix

Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1 is compatible with vSphere 6.5 Update 1 and supports ESXi versions that vCenter Server 6.5 supports.
Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1 does not support IP customization and in-guest callout operations for VMs that are placed on ESXi 5.5 and use VMware Tools 10.1.To use IP customization and in-guest callout operations for VMs placed on ESXi 5.5, ensure that the VMs use VMware Tools version earlier than 10.1.
If you use VMware Tools 10.1 and ESXi 6.5 or 6.0, ensure the time synchronization between the ESXi host and vCenter Single Sign-On on the recovery site.

VMware vSAN Support

Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1 can protect virtual machines that reside on VMware vSAN by using vSphere Replication. vSAN does not require a Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) to work with Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1.

VMware VSA Support

Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1 can protect virtual machines that reside on the vSphere Storage Appliance (VSA) by using vSphere Replication. VSA does not require a Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) to work with Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1

Installation and Upgrade to SRM 6.5.1

Upgrading Site Recovery Manager from version 6.0.x directly to version 6.5.1 is not supported. To upgrade Site Recovery Manager 6.0.x to Site Recovery Manager 6.5.1, you must first upgrade Site Recovery Manager from 6.0.x to 6.1.2.
If you use vSphere Replication with Site Recovery Manager 6.0.x, and you upgrade vSphere Replication from version 6.0.x to version 6.5.1 directly, when you attempt the interim upgrade of Site Recovery Manager from version 6.0.x to version 6.1.2, the Site Recovery Manager upgrade fails with an error because of an incompatible version of vSphere Replication. Upgrade vSphere Replication to version 6.1.2 before you upgrade Site Recovery Manager from 6.0.x to 6.1.2.
After upgrading Site Recovery Manager, Site Recovery Manager does not retain any advanced settings that you configured in the previous installation. This is by design.
If the vCenter Server instances on the protected and recovery sites are in Enhanced Linked Mode, they must be direct replication partners. Otherwise, upgrade might fail.