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Zewwy
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Adding/Viewing ESX hosts local datastore in vCenter

Hey all,

I'm glad to join these forms and hope I don't get shot down for not having a VM cert (I'm trying hard to find out where and how to get it)

I have recently graduated with a Network Managing diploma, and am on the fast track into my new career. Now I'll try to fill in as much so things are as clear as possible

ESXi 1 - Dell G6, running 5.1.0, 1065491

Storage Adapter - Smart Array P410i

vmhba0

Details - HP Serial Attached SCSI Disk, ID (naa.############...), Runtime Name: vmhba1:c0:T0:L0, Mounted Disk Non-SSD, Block Adapter, 1TB)

ESXi 2 - Dell G7 running 5.1.0, 1065491

Storage Adapter - Smart Array P410i

Details- HP Serial Attached SCSI Disk, ID (naa.############...), Runtime Name: vmhba1:c0:T0:L1, Mounted Disk Non-SSD, Block Adapter, 1TB)

vCenter - Win Server 2008 r2 (working on getting the powershell features to work with CodePLex packages)

Has Both ESXi hosts in a single Datacenter, with a single Cluster... in this cluster is one SAN that both hosts can access no problem

When I click on Cluster 1 -> Summary -> Storage (Shows ESXi 1 local storage and SAN storage) NO ESXi 2 local storage.

When I click on ESXi 1 host in vCenter and then click on either Summary, or Configuration(Storage)... it will show the SAN and the hosts local storage

When I click on ESXi 2 host in vCenter and then click on either Summary, or Configuration(Storage)... it will show the SAN and NOT the hosts local storage

Question how can I view and manage ESX 2 local storage via vCenter?

Right now I have to manually log into ESX 2 via vSphere thickclient and see its local datastore.

I was talkin to a couple people on #vmware in IRC, but can't seem to figure out why... is something mmiss configured? I figured to do this would have been a no brainer... I tryed "scan for new datastores" on the ESX 2 within vCenter, no dice.

HELP

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weinstein5
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Welcome to the Community - I would try removing the host from vCenter and reading to see if you can see the local storage.

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weinstein5
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Welcome to the Community - I would try removing the host from vCenter and reading to see if you can see the local storage.

If you find this or any other answer useful please consider awarding points by marking the answer correct or helpful
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Zewwy
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Hey,

Thanks for the reply. Just to Note HA is currently enabled on vCenter... and Should I disconnect, or actually remove it.. and is there a difference?

1) Disable HA

2) disconnect/remove ESX 2 from vCenter

3) reconnect the ESX host to vCenter?

If someone could link me to some reading material on the subject, I would be more than happy to read it, and thanks in advance!

alexisdog
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Could server ESXi2 local storage be formatted with VMFS3 from an upgrade situation? Did you ever see the local storage in ESXi2 in the cluster storage in vcenter or never? Also, have you previously unmounted then remounted the local storage on ESXi2, especially after the server joined the cluster? Sometimes I see that in an unmount and then remount the name of the mounting point changes (or gets stuck) by default to something similar, so for example in stead of Datastore 1 you will now have Datastore 1 (1) which may not be obviously distinguishable. So the cluster may be looking for the old datastore name and you may be seeing a different data store name. Adding and removing as stated above may remedy this.

Zewwy
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Hey alexisdog,

Once again I thank you for your reply. It's VMFS5, both ESX hosts local datastores are identical in both Physical (RAID type, and storage controller) and Digital setup (File Table type, mount style) AFAIK.

I'm not sure if it was ever visible or not, cause...

We have a new SAN (EMC VNXe) which apparently was unable to do a true quick failover when a SP went down and thus we didn't want to store any VM's hdds on this SAN till the failover was deemed working as described. So the old admin moved all the VM's hdd to their respected hosts local storage. There was no documentation on setup of the ESXi hosts, or the vCenter by this individual, there was change ticket done on the steps taken during the change... so after multiple mess ups he was removed and I was set to fix all the mistakes left behind. I have a lot to learn in a short time, the difference is I won't make false claims and I'll admin when I don't know something and will ask for help.

SOOO, I will first try to remove the host and readd it to vCenter after disabling HA, as this won't bring down any VM's in the process... All these VM's are in production So I'm taking real care not to bring any important corporate services down while trying to clean everything up. In the event that fails, I may attempt your advice, I don't want to just go remounting the local storage while all it's VM's hdds are hosted there. In that case, I would move all ESXi 2 VM's HDD's temporarily to the SAN, then attempt a unmount, remount.

I will report my findings, after these steps...

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alexisdog
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I just had to remedy something like this myself. If it's not already working, it may be helpful to see if you can schedule downtime to get vMotion working. Otherwise, it may just be worth your while to switch to a new boot drive and do a new install of ESXi from scratch. Get a vCenter up and running as a virtual appliance, or not (to reduce downtime you can build the vCenter on a notebook with workstation and then upload it), then import in your hosts and VMs. It may seem radical as an approach, but it removes all the unknowns and uncertainties from your setup. Also, you may end up fixing your problem along with others you have not found yet, and get some bonus points for swinging and upgrade at the same time. If you can't install another array or attach more storage, do a quick install to a thumbdrive and boot from USB - image a few USB drives, but you only need them connected at boot time.

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Zewwy
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Hey thanks for the additional suggestions...

However, disconnecting and then removing the host, and then readding the host solved the issue. And I am finally able to see executors  local storage on vCenter, either through thickclient or web interface! Cheers thanks all for the suggestions!

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