Beginning with ONTAP 9.15.1, you can convert between types of SnapMirror active sync protection: from asymmetric to symmetric active/active and vice versa.

Convert to a symmetric active/active relationship

You can convert a SnapMirror active sync relationship with aysnchronous protection to use symmetric active/active.

Before you begin

Both clusters must be running ONTAP 9.15.1 or later.
Symmetric active/active configurations require the AutomatedFailoverDuplex protection policy. Alternately, you can create a custom SnapMirror policy provided the -type is automated-failover-duplex.

ONTAP System Manager

Steps for a uniform configuration

Remove the destination igroup:
1. On the destination cluster, navigate to Hosts > SAN Initiator Groups.
2. Select the igroup with the SnapMirror relationship, then Delete.
3. In the dialog box, select the Unmap the associated LUNs box then Delete.
Edit the SnapMirror active sync relationship.
1. Navigate to Protection > Relationships.
2. Select the kabob menu next to the relationship you want to modify then Edit.
3. Modify the Protection Policy to AutomatedFailoverDuplex.
4. Selecting AutoMatedFailoverDuplex prompts a dialog box to modify host proximity settings. For the initiators, select the appropriate option for Initiator proximal to then Save.
5. Select Save.
In the Protection menu, confirm the operation succeeded when the relationship displays as InSync.

Steps for a non-uniform configuration

Remove the destination igroup:
1. On the secondary site, navigate to Hosts > SAN Initiator Groups.
2. Select the igroup with the SnapMirror relationship, then Delete.
3. In the dialog box, select the Unmap the associated LUNs box then Delete.
Create a new igroup:
1. In the SAN Initiator Groups menu on the destination site, select Add.
2. Provide a Name, select the Host Operating System, then choose Initiator Group Members.
3. Select Save.
Map the new igroup to the destination LUNs.
1. Navigate to Storage > LUNs.
2. Select all the LUNs to map to the igroup.
3. Select More then Map to Initiator Groups.
Edit the SnapMirror active sync relationship.
1. Navigate to Protection > Relationships.
2. Select the kabob menu next to the relationship you want to modify then Edit.
3. Modify the Protection Policy to AutomatedFailoverDuplex.
4. Selecting AutoMatedFailoverDuplex initiates the option to modify host proximity settings. For the initiators, select the appropriate option for Initiator proximal to then Save.
5. Select Save.
In the Protection menu, confirm the operation succeeded when the relationship displays as InSync.

CLI

Steps for a uniform configuration

Modify the SnapMirror policy from AutomatedFailover to AutomatedFailoverDuplex:

snapmirror modify -destination-path destination_path -policy AutomatedFailoverDuplex
Modifying the policy triggers a resync. Wait for the resync to complete and confirm the relationship is Insync:

snapmirror show -destination-path destination_path
If the existing hosts are local the primary cluster, add the host to the second cluster and establish connectivity with respective access to each cluster.
On the secondary site, delete the LUN maps on the igroups associated with remote hosts.

Ensure the igroup does not contain maps for non-replicated LUNs.

SiteB::> lun mapping delete -vserver svm_name -igroup igroup -path <>
On the primary site, modify the initiator configuration for existing hosts to set the proximal path for initiators on the local cluster.

SiteA::> igroup initiator add-proximal-vserver -vserver svm_name -initiator host -proximal-vserver server
Add a new igroup and initiator for the new hosts and set the host proximity for host affinity to its local site. Ennable igroup replication to replicate the configuration and invert the host locality on the remote cluster.

SiteA::> igroup modify -vserver vsA -igroup ig1 -replication-peer vsB SiteA::> igroup initiator add-proximal-vserver -vserver vsA -initiator host2 -proximal-vserver vsB
Discover the paths on the hosts and verify the hosts have an Active/Optimized path to the storage LUN from the preferred cluster
Deploy the application and distribute the VM workloads across clusters.

Steps for a non-uniform configuration

Modify the SnapMirror policy from AutomatedFailover to AutomatedFailoverDuplex:

snapmirror modify -destination-path destination_path -policy AutomatedFailoverDuplex
Modifying the policy triggers a resync. Wait for the resync to complete and confirm the relationship is Insync:

snapmirror show -destination-path destination_path
If the existing hosts are local to the primary cluster, add the host to the second cluster and establish connectivity with respective access to each cluster.
On the secondary site, delete the LUN maps on the igroups associated with remote hosts.

Ensure the igroup does not contain maps for non-replicated LUNs.

SiteB::> lun mapping delete -vserver svm_name -igroup igroup -path <>
On the primary site, modify the initiator configuration for existing hosts to set the proximal path for initiators on the local cluster.

SiteA::> igroup initiator add-proximal-vserver -vserver Svm_name -initiator host -proximal-vserver server
On the secondary site, add a new igroup and initiator for the new hosts and set the host proximity for host affinity to its local site. Map the LUNs to the igroup.

SiteB::> igroup create -vserver svm_name -igroup igroup_name SiteB::> igroup add -vserver svm_name -igroup igroup_name -initiator host_name SiteB::> lun mapping create -igroup igroup_name -path path_name
Discover the paths on the hosts and verify the hosts have an Active/Optimized path to the storage LUN from the preferred cluster
Deploy the application and distribute the VM workloads across clusters.

Convert from symmetric active/active to an asymmetric relationship

If you’ve configured symmetric active/active protection, you can convert the relationship to asymmetric protection using the ONTAP CLI.

Steps

Move all the VM workloads to the host local to the source cluster.
Remove the igroup configuration for the hosts that are not managing the VM instances and modify the igroup configuration to terminate igroup replication.

code
On the secondary site, unmap the LUNs.

SiteB::> lun mapping delete -vserver svm_name -igroup igroup_name -path <>
On the secondary site, delete the symmetric active/active relationship.

SiteB::> snapmirror delete -destination-path destination_path
On the primary site, release the symmetric active/active relationship.
SiteA::> snapmirror release -destination-path destination_path -relationship-info-only true
From the secondary site, create a relationship to the same set of volumes with the AutomatedFailover policy the resynchronize the relationship.

SiteB::> snapmirror create -source-path source_path -destination-path destination_path -cg-item-mappings source:@destination -policy AutomatedFailover SiteB::> snapmirror resync -destination-path vs1:/cg/cg1_dst

The consistency group on the secondary site needs to be deleted before recreating the relationship.
Confirm the relationship Mirror State is Snapmirrored the Relationship Status is Insync.

snapmirror show -destination-path destination_path
Re-discover the paths from the host.