In vSphere 5.5 web client, go to esx host -> Settings -> Virtual Flash Resource Management,
then click on "Add Capacity" button. The host/SSD device list is empty.
I followed the instructions in this posting, but the host/SSD device list remains empty.
https://communities.vmware.com/thread/464660
Does anyone know how to get around this problem? Thanks!
That would work indeed. You need to do some CLI commands to mark the device as local and SSD but I have outlined the steps in a post on my blog:
http://tomverhaeg.nl/vmware-esxi/vmware-esxi-tag-a-device-as-local-and-ssd/
Just a quick question. Can you confirm that the SSD doesn't contain any partitions as mentioned by tomtom901 in the discussion you referred to?
André
Also, can you show a esxcli storage core device list and share the output, relevant to the SSD?
# esxcli storage core device list --device naa.5000c5003ab6a6eb
naa.5000c5003ab6a6eb
Display Name: SEAGATE Serial Attached SCSI Disk (naa.5000c5003ab6a6eb)
Has Settable Display Name: true
Size: 140014
Device Type: Direct-Access
Multipath Plugin: NMP
Devfs Path: /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.5000c5003ab6a6eb
Vendor: SEAGATE
Model: ST9146803SS
Revision: 3104
SCSI Level: 5
Is Pseudo: false
Status: on
Is RDM Capable: false
Is Local: true <-------------
Is Removable: false
Is SSD: true <------------
Is Offline: false
Is Perennially Reserved: false
Queue Full Sample Size: 0
Queue Full Threshold: 0
Thin Provisioning Status: unknown
Attached Filters:
VAAI Status: unknown
Other UIDs: vml.02000000005000c5003ab6a6eb535439313436
Is Local SAS Device: true
Is Boot USB Device: false
No of outstanding IOs with competing worlds: 32
Can you do:
fdisk /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.5000c5003ab6a6eb and in the fdisk prompt type the letter p. Paste the output here.
Tom
~ # fdisk /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.5000c5003ab6a6eb
***
*** The fdisk command is deprecated: fdisk does not handle GPT partitions. Please use partedUtil
***
The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 17849.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
(e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)
Command (m for help): p
Disk /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.5000c5003ab6a6eb: 146.8 GB, 146815737856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 17849 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Bloc ks Id System
/vmfs/devices/disks/naa.5000c5003ab6a6ebp1 1 115 9175 04 5 Extended
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary
/vmfs/devices/disks/naa.5000c5003ab6a6ebp2 115 155 3154 36+ 6 FAT16
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary
/vmfs/devices/disks/naa.5000c5003ab6a6ebp3 155 17849 1421350 56 fb VMFS
/vmfs/devices/disks/naa.5000c5003ab6a6ebp4 * 1 1 40 80 4 FAT16 <32M
Partition 4 does not end on cylinder boundary
/vmfs/devices/disks/naa.5000c5003ab6a6ebp5 1 33 2559 84 6 FAT16
/vmfs/devices/disks/naa.5000c5003ab6a6ebp6 33 65 2559 84 6 FAT16
/vmfs/devices/disks/naa.5000c5003ab6a6ebp7 65 79 1126 24 fc VMKcore
/vmfs/devices/disks/naa.5000c5003ab6a6ebp8 79 115 2928 48 6 FAT16
Partition table entries are not in disk order
According to the output, the SSD contains the ESXi installation!?
André
It seems so. vFRC requires a non partitioned, dedicated SSD drive. If you don't have other local storage, installing ESXi on a USB stick might be an option.
Does vFRC require a SSD drive that has to be local (of type VMW_SATP_LOCAL) ? If I have some other SSD drives (of type VMW_SATP_DEFAULT_AA) from EMC, NetApp or DELL storage, would that work for vFRC as well?
That would work indeed. You need to do some CLI commands to mark the device as local and SSD but I have outlined the steps in a post on my blog:
http://tomverhaeg.nl/vmware-esxi/vmware-esxi-tag-a-device-as-local-and-ssd/
I followed the instructions from the link, but the instructions did not work for me.
I did mark device as "Local" and "SSD"; however, I still could not see any SSD
device when click on "add capacity" under Virtual Flash Resource Management.
Also, I was seeing the following error:
# esxcli storage core claiming reclaim -d naa.60a98000572d6134466f6b5964373756
Unable to unclaim path vmhba2:C0:T8:L0 on device naa.60a98000572d6134466f6b5964373756. Some paths may be left in an unclaimed state. You will need to claim them manually using the appropriate commands or wait for periodic path claiming to reclaim them automatically.
# esxcli storage core device list -d naa.60a98000572d6134466f6b5964373756
naa.60a98000572d6134466f6b5964373756
Display Name: Local NETAPP Disk (naa.60a98000572d6134466f6b5964373756)
Has Settable Display Name: true
Size: 10496
Device Type: Direct-Access
Multipath Plugin: NMP
Devfs Path: /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.60a98000572d6134466f6b5964373756
Vendor: NETAPP
Model: LUN
Revision: 8030
SCSI Level: 4
Is Pseudo: false
Status: on
Is RDM Capable: false
Is Local: true <----------
Is Removable: false
Is SSD: true <--------------
Is Offline: false
Is Perennially Reserved: false
Queue Full Sample Size: 0
Queue Full Threshold: 0
Thin Provisioning Status: yes
Attached Filters: VAAI_FILTER
VAAI Status: supported
Other UIDs: vml.020000000060a98000572d6134466f6b59643737564c554e202020
Is Local SAS Device: false
Is Boot USB Device: false
No of outstanding IOs with competing worlds: 32
# fdisk /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.60a98000572d6134466f6b5964373756
***
*** The fdisk command is deprecated: fdisk does not handle GPT partitions. Please use partedUtil
***
Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT
Command (m for help): p
Disk /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.60a98000572d6134466f6b5964373756: 21495808 sectors, 20.5M
Logical sector size: 512
Disk identifier (GUID): 123a73e4-dc0f-4588-9a7d-c43773a39ac0
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 21495774
Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
1 64 8191 8128 0700
2 7086080 15472639 8190K 0700
3 15472640 21495774 5881K 0700
5 8224 520191 499K 0700
6 520224 1032191 499K 0700
7 1032224 1257471 219K 0700
8 1257504 1843199 571K 0700
9 1843200 7086079 5120K 0700
There is still something on this disk (partitions), I think ESXi is installed here. Is that correct?
There might be something on the device but that should not be ESXi because ESXi is installed on a local hard drive. Should I wipe out everything on this SSD device in order for this SSD device would show up when click on "add capacity" under Virtual Flash Resource Management?
Yes, remove every partition on it.