While working on a multi-site deployment of vCenter Site Recovery Manager 4, I came across an error that seems to be caused by the Storage Replication Adapter (SRA). I encountered this error while installing both the SRA and the vCenter 4 onto a HP that was running Windows Server 2008 32bit operating system.
The issue seems to arise when you launch the installation for this particular vendor’s SRA. The application starts to install and then halts with an error that reads “The $PRODUCT_NAME$ is not supported on this platform.” as shown in the below screen shot.
SRA Error Message under Windows Server 2008
A note about the environment: The vCenter Server was also installed on that version of the operating system. If you’re operating in an environment that requires the use of the latest versions of Microsoft’s operating systems, such as Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2, and you’re attempting to configure SRM, then this problem will happen.
That message is problematic, since nearly all of the VMware vSphere applications are supported and compatible with the latest version of Windows. When you get the message, you may be forced to use an older version of Windows Server, which would then require you to rebuild, re-install, and configure the vCenter server onto a new system.
After researching the issue, I came across a useful work around. Cormac Hogan, one of VMware’s finest, provided this particularly helpful approach: He instructed me to run the HP LeftHand SRA application in Windows Server 2003 SP1 comparability mode. After doing so the SRA was installed successful. To setup the HP LeftHand SRA to run in the Windows Server 2003 SP1 do the following:
- Right click on the application package
- Go to Properties
- Select the comparability tab
- Select the Run this program in comparability mode for, in the comparability mode window
- From the list of modes choose (Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1)
Windows Server 2003 SP1 Comparability Mode
So, if you ever come across this issue, don’t rush to change or reinstall vCenter and SRM on an older version of Windows. Instead, just follow the instructions mentioned above. Hopefully these issues will be addressed and resolved by the respective companies in the near future. Keep me posted if you run into an other issues. Enjoy : )
