Error deleting datastore on free licensed ESXi 6.7.0 Update 1

[ricardoponce]

Hi everyone,

Ok, i have this new installed ESXi 6.7.0 Update 1 on a Dell Server with 16GB of RAM, 2 physical processors and 1T of physical storage capacity. I have licensed with a free key and i know i cant use vCenter with it, also i dont want to. I just connect directly and use the default embedded HTML5 client, ok? The problem is that at first when installed i could (playing with the system) create and delete datastorages normally but the next day it just throw this error and wont let me delete datastores anymore. I notice also that when creating a 500GB VMFS6 datastore, it wont let me create a second one. The datastore creation wizard just tell me i dont have free space when i have 1T available. Why is that happening to me? Please see attached pic to see deletion error. Thanks guys!

[MattiasN81]

If you created the datastore during the esxi installation the scratch location will be pointing to to your datastore by default, you need to remove logging by remove the value from "ScratchConfig.ConfiguredScratchLocation" and "ScratchConfig.CurrentScratchLocation" under Host -> Manage -> System -> Advanced settings.

Reboot the host and try to remove the datastore again.

[ricardoponce]

Hi Mattias,

Although the datastore was created after installation was completed i tried your solution without success. "ScratchConfig.CurrentScratchLocation" is marked as READ-ONLY it wont let me change its value (see attachment). But this is something that must be well known by people working on this systems for a long time. This is happening (at least with me) with ESXi version 6.0.0 as well. And yes, this two keys are pointing to a .locker folder on my datastore (/vmfs/volumes/5c34b6f7-d7373f56-d933-d4ae52e8d640/.locker).

Anything else?

Thanks...

[a_p_]

Welcome to the Community,

Only the "ScratchConfig.ConfiguredScratchLocation" can be modified. "ScratchConfig.CurrentScratchLocation" will show the reconfigured location after the reboot.

Please note that it may also be necessary to reconfigure "Syslog.global.logDir" (see https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2003322​) if it points to a location on the datsatore that you want to delete.

As a side note: Although it may be possible to create multiple VMFS datastores on a single disk/LUN, please remember that only a single one is supported.

André

[ricardoponce]

Hi a.p.

When i delete the value of "ScratchConfig.ConfiguredScratchLocation" it behaves like it was deleted but when i do REFRESH the value still there, like it is coming back automatically. The value of my "Syslog.global.logDir" is "[] /scratch/log". As you can see, the place for datastoreName between those two square brackets is empty. Should i change it?

thanks...

[a_p_]

When i delete the value of "ScratchConfig.ConfiguredScratchLocation" ...

I never tested this with deleting the value, but only with configuring a new one.

Create a folder (e.g. .locker)on another datatstore, and set the location like

/vmfs/volumes/<DatastoreName-or-DatastoreUUID>/.locker

Then reboot the host.

André

[ricardoponce]

I couldn't change it to another datastore, i only have one. I just did a new fresh installation of ESXi 6.7.0U1 in a state where i can delete and create a datastore (before it got "locked"). I noticed at that moment the value for keys "ScratchConfig.ConfiguredScratchLocation" and "ScratchConfig.CurrentScratchLocation" was "/tmp/scratch". Those values were changed to "/vmfs/volumes/5c373b88-9c521c6b-8e09-d4ae52e8d640/.locker" (locked state) after creating a datastore and rebooting the system. Remember i am not using vCenter (impossible with free license) or any other type of client. The other thing i dont understand is why ESXi dont let create more than one datastore on my disk.

Thanks...