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luddenm
Contributor
Contributor

Problem with used space on a datastore

I can usually google my way out of things but this one is being mean.

I was trying to move a VM between a datastore and was not going well so i canceled the process. Or at least tried, I had to reboot the host to get it to respond. The VM was a total loss, so i deleted what folders i could from the datastores and started over.

Now for some reason my datastores Capacity/Free is showing that something is taking up space. There is only 1 VM on the datastore totaling 26GB and a capacity of 460GB. The Free is showing that there is 263GB Free(171GB).

Is there anyway to scan the datastore to fix this issue or do i need to move the VM and format the drives?

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Mouhamad
Expert
Expert

I really don't know if rescaning all would show the accurate free size.

Please try it and let us know.

VCP-DCV, VCP-DT, VCAP-DCD, VSP, VTSP
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luddenm
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for the response. I gave it a try. No change. Here is my screen.

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Mouhamad
Expert
Expert

Can you please:

1- Right click on the datastore1

2- Choose properties

3- Post a screenshot of the Properties window?

VCP-DCV, VCP-DT, VCAP-DCD, VSP, VTSP
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luddenm
Contributor
Contributor

Here you go. Smiley Happy

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Shakaal
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

would request you to open a poutty/ssh session to the host, and do a cd to the datastore1.
you can run following commands

"cd /vmfs/volumes/datastore1"

once you are inside datastore1, run following command

"ls -lh"

see if the output gives other files/folder other than the Virtual machines, if no then do a c

CD to the Virtual machines folder, and run "ls -lh" and check the size of the files.

send the screenshot of the above commands output

scottyyyc
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

At the VMware level, it 'should' show you all of the free space. But keep in mind that on the iSCSI level, you won't be able to see the free space. iSCSI can't reclaim blocks (as it's not file system aware), so your iSCSI array will always show the 'high water mark' for used space. The only way to get around this with iSCSI* is to delete the whole volume on the array and re-create it.

(*Until the storage array manufacturer's create some firmware that is VMFS aware, and can "see" freed or zeroed space).

luddenm
Contributor
Contributor

Yeah i figured. I will just bite the bullet on this one and copy off the vm and wipe the drive.

Thanks for the help guys.

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