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ESX_STAGE
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Cannot create VMFS Datastore on newly installed ESX 6.5 (Licensed)

Hi,

we have a new Dell PowerEdge R730xd server setup and preconfigured with DellEMC Customized Image ESXi 6.5 Update 1 A08 (based on ESXi VMKernel Release Build 7388607) .

I am using VSphere Essentials License.

Without any changes, I logged into the Vsphere Web Interface /ui/#/host and attempted to create a new VMFS datastore but got an error:

Failed to create VMFS datastore test - Cannot change the host configuration.

SPECS Used:

Name: Test

Devices: 1 x 10TB Virtual Disk (Raid 10 x 4 Physical Disks) setup by Dell.

Size to create VMFS datastore: 1 TB

VMFS Type:  Both VMFS 5 and 6 failed in separate tests.

No other existing datastores or VM's.

Contacted Dell but awaiting response and as it ESX they may not help.

As we need this server setup ASAP I was wondering if anyone knows of any resolutions or a point in the right direction with this.

I have used ESX different flavors for years and never seen this before.

Any help or suggestions greatly appreciated.

I also have limited command line experience.

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29 Replies
vijayrana968
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Please refer to the KB VMware Knowledge Base

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rchaubey
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

can you share vmkernel.log to do further investigation.

Regards,

Randhir

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Finikiez
Champion
Champion

You need to check vmkernel.log  according to time when you try to create VMFS datastore.

Usually outdated driver \ firmware for raid controller causes such issues.

If you use server from Dell then try to install ESXi using Dell customized ISO.

a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

What I could think of is that there's something on the LUN (Virtual Disk) that causes the issue, e.g. some dirty bits which are interpreted incorrectly!?

In this case you could try to clear the 10TB virtual disk's partition table. To do this, select Storage in the inventory, then switch to the Devices tab. With the proper device selected, run "Clear partition table" from the Actions menu.

Devices: 1 x 10TB Virtual Disk (Raid 10 x 4 Physical Disks) setup by Dell.

Size to create VMFS datastore: 1 TB

Please remember that VMware supports only a single datasatore per LUN (Virtual Disk)!

André

Cookies04
Contributor
Contributor

I had the same problem and in order to fix it I had to run three commands through an SSH connection.  From what I have seen and found this error comes from having disks that were part of different arrays and contain some data on them.  When I ran the commands I was then able to connect the data stores with no issues.

1.     Show connected disks.

          ls -lha /vmfs/devices/disks/

               (Verify the disk is seen.  You will probably see your disk ID then :1.  This is a partition on the disk.  We only need to work about the main disk ID.)

2.     Show the error on disk.

          partedUtil getptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/(disk ID)

               (It will probably indicate that the GPT is located beyond the end of the disk.)

3.     Wipe disk and rewrite with a basic MSDOS partion.

          partedUtil setptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/(disk ID) msdos

               (The output from this should be similar to msdos and the next line will be o o o o)

I hope this helps you out.

marklkmetz
Contributor
Contributor

Thank you!

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Texan
Contributor
Contributor

This post is a bit old but I found it while researching the same error message. My R540 had the exact same message and it ended up being that the newly created array that I was attempted to create a new datastore on was not finished doing a full initialization by the controller. During the array config I opted to do a full initialization instead of a quick. Once I waited it out, the VMFS datastore creation went fine. Even though the iDrac had the array marked as "online" and ready it would fail with the error message.

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yeric79
Contributor
Contributor

hi,

i have the same problem with an esxi 6.7 and a local ssd Samsung 840 Pro.

esxi 6.7 FSS: 2350: Failed to create FS

(this is a test computer)

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JPhiffer
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks Cookies04​ your solution immediately fixed my issue.

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hicall
Contributor
Contributor

thank you Cookies04​ , this method has been successful with simple solution !

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Anxionbaby
Contributor
Contributor

Hi

I got this error could you help me please

msdos

0 0 0 0

Error: Read-only file system during write on /dev/disks/naa.600508b1001c50fcc5654d86b955aa6e

WriteNewPtable: error removing gpt signatures from (/dev/disks/naa.600508b1001c50fcc5654d86b955aa6e)

Hopes26
Contributor
Contributor

Hello , i have the same problem , i cannot create my own DATASTORE .

pastedImage_0.png

I'm blocked for a long time , i followed a lot of tuto but still same issue , can you please help me to resolve this problem !!

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Anxionbaby
Contributor
Contributor

Hi ,

I was able to fix my issue.

Could you run this     ls -lha /vmfs/devices/disks/

and paste image of your disks. thanks

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

According to the screenshot you are trying to overwrite the system/installation disk on an ESXi 7.0 host!?

André

Moderator note: Please consider to open a new discussion instead of asking for help on an already 2 years old one. A new discussion you will get much more attention.

Steeve_Savard
Contributor
Contributor

those explanation were perfect for me buddy...

they got it to work...

thanks...

cheers.

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stuckroute
Contributor
Contributor

- Problem not solved as such. I installed ESXi 7.0

[root@localhost:~] ls -lha /vmfs/devices/disks/
total 790622193
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 512 Nov 21 09:39 .
drwxr-xr-x 16 root root 512 Nov 21 09:39 ..
-rw------- 1 root root 750.0G Nov 21 09:39 naa.6000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8
-rw------- 1 root root 100.0M Nov 21 09:39 naa.6000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8:1
-rw------- 1 root root 500.0M Nov 21 09:39 naa.6000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8:5
-rw------- 1 root root 500.0M Nov 21 09:39 naa.6000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8:6
-rw------- 1 root root 2.9G Nov 21 09:39 naa.6000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8:7
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 36 Nov 21 09:39 vml.02000000006000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8564d77617265 -> naa.6000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 38 Nov 21 09:39 vml.02000000006000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8564d77617265:1 -> naa.6000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8:1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 38 Nov 21 09:39 vml.02000000006000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8564d77617265:5 -> naa.6000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8:5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 38 Nov 21 09:39 vml.02000000006000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8564d77617265:6 -> naa.6000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8:6
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 38 Nov 21 09:39 vml.02000000006000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8564d77617265:7 -> naa.6000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8:7
[root@localhost:~]

- getinfo about the 750GB partition

[root@localhost:~] partedUtil getptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.6000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8
gpt
97906 255 63 1572864000
1 64 204863 C12A7328F81F11D2BA4B00A0C93EC93B systemPartition 128
5 208896 1232895 EBD0A0A2B9E5443387C068B6B72699C7 linuxNative 0
6 1234944 2258943 EBD0A0A2B9E5443387C068B6B72699C7 linuxNative 0
7 2260992 8388574 4EB2EA3978554790A79EFAE495E21F8D vmfsl 0
[root@localhost:~]

- try setting to msdos...same error

[root@localhost:~] partedUtil setptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.6000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8 msdos
msdos
0 0 0 0
Error: Read-only file system during write on /dev/disks/naa.6000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8
WriteNewPtable: error removing gpt signatures from (/dev/disks/naa.6000c29f18895dbbb2f909fa191e35d8)

[root@localhost:~]

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Mallenge
Contributor
Contributor

Mysteriously I'm facing the same issues on my home lab, after upgrading my machine to Big Sur and the Fusion to 12.1.0.

The ESXi servers are now working fine, but the FreeNAS 11.3U5 I have no. No matter which configuration I use (BIOS, UEFI, SCSI, SAS) the disk looks like "read only".

Looks like it's happening with more than just test stuff...

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KyleBrown
Contributor
Contributor

The hyperlinked article no longer exists.

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KyleBrown
Contributor
Contributor

I can't figure this one out, so here is a screenshot of the output of ls -lha /vmfs/devices/disks/.

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