Datastore "X" conflicts with an existing datastore in the datacenter that has the same URL (..) but is back by different physical storage with ESXi 5.1

[lukeglazebrook]

Dont know if anyone can advise on this I have had some good support from Vmware however the solution seems a tad drastic if anyone can I trying something else first I will give it a go.

Background Info:

ESXi 5.1

-     Host crashed and could not be reconnected to the cluster even after a reboot.

-     Removed the ghost host and attempted to re-add it however was confronted with the aforementioned error.

Apparently this is a known KB and effects 5.1 specifically not not 5.5.  VMware suggested solution is ...

1. Bring up VM's on the cluster, remove them from the affected host
2. Power down the host
3. Remove ALL targets from the host (or remove the host from the storage group on the array)
4. boot host (no storage but local)
5. add host to cluster
6. power down host
7. Re-Add targets (or add host back to storage group)

8. Boot host back up.

Just wondered if anyone had a link to this KB I cant quite find one that fits the issue and only effects ESXi 5.1.  Additionally is there anything else I can try first, any input would be welcome.

[vNEX]

Hello Luke,

first try to remove ESXi host from vCenter server and add him back  ... if you get the error again unmount affected datastore from that host and add ESXi back to vCenter server.

KB article which explain this issue is below:

VMware KB: Upgrading to VMware vCenter Server 5.1 or 5.5 fails with error: Datastore '<datast...

[lukeglazebrook]

Tried the first option, the link is the same link I found however I wasn't sure if it was applicable since the VMware support agent suggested this only effects 5.1 (maybe he was mistaken?)

I will try your suggestion before any further drastic actions out of hours this evening, thanks.

[lukeglazebrook]

Unable to unmount sadly

"Call "HostStorageSystem.UnmountVmfsVolume" for object "storageSystem" on ESXi "***Host***.domain.com" failed.

Cannot unmount volume 'BC2_XIVG3_T1_FP_LUN2_BASIC' because file system is busy. Correct the problem and retry the operation.

[vNEX]

have you rebooted that host with MaintenanceMode active...?

Please double check that before unmounting there is no running VMs on the DS, its not SIOC enabled, its not used for HA heartbeats or its not part of DS cluster...also verify that non of your VMs is connected to some .iso file on that datastore...

If you have configured your DS for SIOC you can turn it off via shell:

/etc/init.d/storageRM stop

If non from above working you can try Reset ESXi system configuration to its deafaults from the DCUI...note that this will remowe any custom configuration data including passwords.

[lukeglazebrook · Accepted solution]

The VMware staff supplied solution worked like a charm incidentally, shame it was such a hassle for me getting hold of the storage admin etc and doing it out of hours ...

1. Bring up VM's on the cluster, remove them from the affected host
2. Power down the host
3. Remove ALL targets from the host (or remove the host from the storage group on the array)
4. boot host (no storage but local)
5. add host to cluster
6. power down host
7. Re-Add targets (or add host back to storage group)

8. Boot host back up.