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---
title: Set up source settings for VMware disaster recovery to Azure with Azure Site Recovery
description: This article describes how to set up your on-premises environment to replicate VMware VMs to Azure with Azure Site Recovery.
author: Jeronika-MS
ms.service: azure-site-recovery
ms.topic: how-to
ms.author: v-gajeronika
ms.date: 04/26/2025
# Customer intent: As a IT administrator, I want to configure my on-premises VMware environment for replication to the cloud, so that I can ensure disaster recovery and data protection for my virtual machines.
---
# Set up the source environment for VMware to Azure replication
This article describes how to set up your source on-premises environment, to replicate VMware VMs to Azure. The article includes steps for selecting your replication scenario, setting up an on-premises machine as the Site Recovery configuration server, and automatically discovering on-premises VMs.
## Prerequisites
The article assumes that you have already:
- Planned your deployment with the help of [Azure Site Recovery Deployment Planner](site-recovery-deployment-planner.md). This helps you to allocate sufficient bandwidth, based on your daily data-change rate, to meet your desired recovery point objective (RPO).
- [Set up resources](tutorial-prepare-azure.md) in the [Azure portal](https://portal.azure.com).
- [Set up on-premises VMware](vmware-azure-tutorial-prepare-on-premises.md), including a dedicated account for automatic discovery.
## Choose your protection goals
1. In **Recovery Services vaults**, select the vault name. We're using **ContosoVMVault** for this scenario.
2. In **Getting Started**, select Site Recovery. Then select **Prepare Infrastructure**.
3. In **Protection goal** > **Where are your machines located**, select **On-premises**.
4. In **Where do you want to replicate your machines**, select **To Azure**.
5. In **Are your machines virtualized**, select **Yes, with VMware vSphere Hypervisor**. Then select **OK**.
## Set up the configuration server
You can set up the configuration server as an on-premises VMware VM through an Open Virtualization Application (OVA) template. [Learn more](./vmware-azure-architecture.md) about the components that will be installed on the VMware VM.
1. Learn about the [prerequisites](vmware-azure-deploy-configuration-server.md#prerequisites) for configuration server deployment.
2. [Check capacity numbers](vmware-azure-deploy-configuration-server.md#sizing-and-capacity-requirements) for deployment.
3. [Download](vmware-azure-deploy-configuration-server.md#download-the-template) and [import](vmware-azure-deploy-configuration-server.md#import-the-template-in-vmware) the OVA template to set up an on-premises VMware VM that runs the configuration server. The license provided with the template is an evaluation license and is valid for 180 days. Post this period, customer needs to activate the windows with a procured license.
4. Turn on the VMware VM, and [register it](vmware-azure-deploy-configuration-server.md#register-the-configuration-server-with-azure-site-recovery-services) in the Recovery Services vault.
## Azure Site Recovery folder exclusions from Antivirus program
### If Antivirus software is active on Source machine
If source machine has an Antivirus software active, installation folder should be excluded. So, exclude folder *C:\ProgramData\ASR\agent* for smooth replication.
### If Antivirus Software is active on Configuration server
Exclude following folders from Antivirus software for smooth replication and to avoid connectivity issues
- C:\Program Files\Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent.
- C:\Program Files\Microsoft Azure Site Recovery Provider
- C:\Program Files\Microsoft Azure Site Recovery Configuration Manager
- C:\Program Files\Microsoft Azure Site Recovery Error Collection Tool
- C:\thirdparty
- C:\Temp
- C:\strawberry
- C:\ProgramData\MySQL
- C:\Program Files (x86)\MySQL
- C:\ProgramData\ASR
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft Azure Site Recovery
- C:\ProgramData\ASRLogs
- C:\ProgramData\ASRSetupLogs
- C:\ProgramData\LogUploadServiceLogs
- C:\inetpub
- Site Recovery server installation directory. For example: E:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Azure Site Recovery
### If Antivirus Software is active on scale-out Process server/Master Target
Exclude following folders from Antivirus software
1. C:\Program Files\Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent
2. C:\ProgramData\ASR
3. C:\ProgramData\ASRLogs
4. C:\ProgramData\ASRSetupLogs
5. C:\ProgramData\LogUploadServiceLogs
6. C:\ProgramData\Microsoft Azure Site Recovery
7. Azure Site Recovery load balanced process server installation directory, Example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Azure Site Recovery
### If Antivirus Software is active on the Linux Master Target
Exclude following folders from Antivirus software:
1. /usr/local/ASR
2. /usr/local/InMage
3. /var/log/vxlogs
4. /var/log
5. /var/log/ApplicationPolicyLogs
6. /var/log/ASRsetuptelemetry
7. /var/log/ASRsetuptelemetry_uploaded
Exclude the following registries from Antivirus software:
1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\SV Systems
1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Azure Site Recovery\Registration
1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Azure Site Recovery\ProxySettings
1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\InMage Systems
1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Azure Backup\Config\InMageMT
## Next steps
[Set up your target environment](./vmware-azure-set-up-target.md)