Use these commands to collect disk and LUN information from within ESX:
The command esxcli storage core path list generates a list of all LUN paths currently connected to the ESX host.
The output appears similar to:
Runtime Name: vmhba0:C0:T0:L23
Device: naa.6006016094602800e07ff528b73ae011 Device Display Name: DGC Fibre Channel Disk (naa.6006016094602800e07ff528b73ae011)
Adapter Identifier: fc.5001438005685fb5:5001438005685fb4 Target Identifier: fc.50060160c46036df:50060167446036df
Adapter Transport Details: WWNN: 50:01:43:80:05:68:5f:b5 WWPN:
50:01:43:80:05:68:5f:b4
Target Transport Details: WWNN: 50:06:01:60:c4:60:36:df WWPN:
50:06:01:67:44:60:36:df Runtime Name: vmhba0:C0:T1:L23
Device: naa.6006016094602800e07ff528b73ae011 Device Display Name: DGC Fibre Channel Disk (naa.6006016094602800e07ff528b73ae011)
Adapter Identifier: fc.5001438005685fb5:5001438005685fb4 Target Identifier: fc.50060160c46036df:5006016f446036df
Adapter Transport Details: WWNN: 50:01:43:80:05:68:5f:b5 WWPN:
50:01:43:80:05:68:5f:b4
Target Transport Details: WWNN: 50:06:01:60:c4:60:36:df WWPN:
50:06:01:6f:44:60:36:df
Note: To detail path information for a specific device (Device: <device>), use the command esxcli storage core path list -d <device>.
The command esxcli storage core device list generates a list of LUNs currently connected to the ESX host.
The output appears similar to:
mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0
Display Name: Local VMware Disk (mpx.vmhba2:C0:T0:L0) Has Settable Display Name: false
Size: 286070
Device Type: Direct-Access Multipath Plugin: NMP
Devfs Path: /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba2:C0:T0:L0 Vendor: VMware
Is Perennially Reserved: false
Thin Provisioning Status: unknown Attached Filters:
VAAI Status: unsupported
Other UIDs: vml.0000000000766d686261323a303a30
The command esxcli storage vmfs extent list generates a list of extents for each volume as well as providing the mapping from device name to UUID.
The output appears silmilar to:
Volume Name VMFS UUID Extent Number naa.6006016094602800364ce22e3825e011 1
vmfs5 4dad8f16-911648ca-d660-d8d38563e658 0 naa.600601609460280052eb8621b73ae011 1
The command esxcli storage filesystem list generates a compact list of the LUNs currently connected to the ESX host, including VMFS version.
The output appears silmilar to:
Mount Point Volume
/vmfs/volumes/4d4ac840-c1386fa0-9f6d-0050569300a7 datastore1 4d4ac840-c1386fa0-9f6d-/vmfs/volumes/4d4ac840-c1386fa0-9f6d-0050569300a7 true VMFS-3 9395240960 746586112
/vmfs/volumes/4e0d86e1-0db6f826-6991-d8d3855ff8d6
esxi-local 4e0d86e1-0db6f826-6991-d8d3855ff8d6 true VMFS-5 294473695232 293884395520 299778048 114704384
The command ls -alh /vmfs/devices/disks lists the possible targets for certain storage operations.
The output appears similar to:
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 Jul 27 16:40
vml.0000000000766d686261323a303a30 -> mpx.vmhba2:C0:T0:L0 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Jul 27 16:40
vml.0000000000766d686261323a303a30:1 -> mpx.vmhba2:C0:T0:L0:1 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Jul 27 16:40
vml.0000000000766d686261323a303a30:2 -> mpx.vmhba2:C0:T0:L0:2 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Jul 27 16:40
vml.0000000000766d686261323a303a30:3 -> mpx.vmhba2:C0:T0:L0:3 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Jul 27 16:40
vml.0000000000766d686261323a303a30:4 -> mpx.vmhba2:C0:T0:L0:4 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Jul 27 16:40
vml.0000000000766d686261323a303a30:5 -> mpx.vmhba2:C0:T0:L0:5 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Jul 27 16:40
vml.0000000000766d686261323a303a30:6 -> mpx.vmhba2:C0:T0:L0:6 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Jul 27 16:40
vml.0000000000766d686261323a303a30:7 -> mpx.vmhba2:C0:T0:L0:7 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Jul 27 16:40
vml.0000000000766d686261323a303a30:8 -> mpx.vmhba2:C0:T0:L0:8 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 36 Jul 27 16:40
vml.02000600006006016094602800364ce22e3825e011524149442030 ->
naa.6006016094602800364ce22e3825e011 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 38 Jul 27 16:40
vml.02000600006006016094602800364ce22e3825e011524149442030:1 ->
naa.6006016094602800364ce22e3825e011:1 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 36 Jul 27 16:40
vml.02000e0000600601609460280052eb8621b73ae011524149442030 ->
naa.600601609460280052eb8621b73ae011 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 38 Jul 27 16:40
vml.02000e0000600601609460280052eb8621b73ae011524149442030:1 ->
naa.600601609460280052eb8621b73ae011:1
The following are definitions for some of identifiers and their conventions:
naa.<NAA>:<Partition> or eui.<EUI>:<Partition>
NAA stands for Network Addressing Authority identifier. EUI stands for Extended Unique Identifier. The number is guaranteed to be unique to that LUN. The NAA or EUI identifier is the preferred method of identifying LUNs and the number is generated by the storage device. Since the NAA or EUI is unique to the LUN, if the LUN is presented the same way across all ESX hosts, the NAA or EUI identifier remains the same. For more information on these standards, see the SPC-3 documentation from the
InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (T10)
.The <Partition> represents the partition number on the LUN or Disk. If the <Partition> is specified as 0, it identifies the entire disk instead of only one partition. This identifier is generally used for operations with utilities such as vmkfstools.
Example: naa.6090a038f0cd4e5bdaa8248e6856d4fe:3 = Partition 3 of LUN naa.6090a038f0cd4e5bdaa8248e6856d4fe.
mpx.vmhba<Adapter>:C<Channel>:T<Target>:L<LUN> or
mpx.vmhba<Adapter>:C<Channel>:T<Target>:L<LUN>:<Partition>
Some devices do not provide the NAA number described above. In these circumstances, an MPX Identifier is generated by ESX to represent the LUN or disk. The identifier takes the form similar to that of the canonical name of previous versions of ESX with the mpx. prefix. This identifier can be used in the exact same way as the NAA Identifier described above.
vml.<VML> or vml.<VML>:<Partition>
The VML Identifier can be used interchangeably with the NAA Identifier and the MPX Identifier.
Appending :<Partition> works in the same way described above. This identifier is generally used for operations with utilities such as vmkfstools.
vmhba<Adapter>:C<Channel>:T<Target>:L<LUN>
This identifier is now used exclusively to identify a path to the LUN. When ESX detects that paths associated to one LUN, each path is assigned this Path Identifier. The LUN also inherits the same name as the first path, but it is now used an a Runtime Name, and not used as readily as the above mentioned identifiers as it may be different depending on the host you are using. This identifier is generally used for operations with utilities such as vmkfstools.
Example: vmhba1:C0:T0:L0 = Adapter 1, Channel 0, Target 0, and LUN 0.
Note: Generally, multi-port fiber channel adapters are equipped with dedicated controllers for each connection, and therefore each controller is represented by different vmhba#. If the adapter supports multiple connections to the same controller, it is represented by a different channel number. This representation is directly dependant on the capability of the adapter.
<UUID>
The <UUID> is a unique number assigned to a VMFS volume upon the creation of the volume.
It may be included in syntax where you need to specify the full path of specific files on a datastore.
ESX 4.X
Use these commands to collect disk and LUN information from within ESX:
The command esxcfg-mpath -b generates a compact list of LUNs currently connected to the ESX host.
The output appears similar to:
naa.6090a038f0cd4e5bdaa8248e6856d4fe : EQLOGIC iSCSI Disk (naa.6090a038f0cd4e5bdaa8248e6856d4fe)
vmhba33:C0:T1:L0 LUN:0 state:active iscsi Adapter: iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:bs-tse-i137-35c1bf18 Target:
IQN=iqn.2001-05.com.equallogic:0-8a0906-5b4ecdf03-fed456688e24a8da-bs-tse-vc40-250g Alias= Session=00023d000001 PortalTag=1
The command esxcfg-scsidevs -l generates a list of LUNs currently connected to the ESX host.
The output appears similar to:
mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0
Device Type: Direct-Access Size: 139890 MB
Display Name: Local ServeRA Disk (mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0) Plugin: NMP
Console Device: /dev/sdb
Devfs Path: /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0 Vendor: ServeRA Model: 8k-l Mirror Revis: V1.0 SCSI Level: 2 Is Pseudo: false Status: on Is RDM Capable: false Is Removable: false Is Local: true
Other Names:
vml.0000000000766d686261303a303a30
The command esxcfg-scsidevs -m generates a compact list of the LUNs currently connected to
the ESX host.
The output appears silmilar to:
mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0:2
/vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba1:C0:T0:L0:2 4c715e5f-48aabce9-2d18-005055860001 0 datastore1
naa.60060160b4111600624c5b749c7edd11:1 /dev/sdd1 4b178971-55673b38-1285-00235edc7ee5 0 LUN01
The command ls -alh /vmfs/devices/disks lists the possible targets for certain storage operations.
The output appears similar to:
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 Oct 16 13:00
vml.0000000000766d686261303a303a30 -> mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Oct 16 13:00
vml.0000000000766d686261303a303a30:1 -> mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0:1 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Oct 16 13:00
vml.0000000000766d686261303a303a30:2 -> mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0:2 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Oct 16 13:00
vml.0000000000766d686261303a303a30:3 -> mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0:3 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Oct 16 13:00
vml.0000000000766d686261303a303a30:5 -> mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0:5 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 36 Oct 16 13:00
vml.020000000060060160b4111600624c5b749c7edd11524149442035 ->
naa.60060160b4111600624c5b749c7edd11 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 38 Oct 16 13:00
vml.020000000060060160b4111600624c5b749c7edd11524149442035:1 ->
naa.60060160b4111600624c5b749c7edd11:1
The following are definitions for some of identifiers and their conventions:
naa.<NAA> or eui.<EUI>
NAA stands for Network Addressing Authority identifier. EUI stands for Extended Unique
Identifier. The number is guaranteed to be unique to that LUN. The NAA or EUI identifier is the preferred method of identifying LUNs and the number is generated by the storage device. Since the NAA or EUI is unique to the LUN, if the LUN is presented the same way across all ESX hosts, the NAA or EUI identifier remains the same. For more information on these standards, see the SPC-3 documentation from the
InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (T10)
. naa.<NAA>:<Partition> or eui.<EUI>:<Partition>
The <Partition> represents the partition number on the LUN or Disk. If the <Partition> is specified as 0, it identifies the entire disk instead of only one partition. This identifier is generally used for operations with utilities such as vmkfstools.
Example: naa.6090a038f0cd4e5bdaa8248e6856d4fe:3 = Partition 3 of LUN naa.6090a038f0cd4e5bdaa8248e6856d4fe.
mpx.vmhba<Adapter>:C<Channel>:T<Target>:L<LUN> or
mpx.vmhba<Adapter>:C<Channel>:T<Target>:L<LUN>:<Partition>
Some devices do not provide the NAA number described above. In these circumstances, an MPX Identifier is generated by ESX to represent the LUN or disk. The identifier takes the form similar to that of the canonical name of previous versions of ESX with the mpx. prefix. This identifier can be used in the exact same way as the NAA Identifier described above.
vml.<VML> or vml.<VML>:<Partition>
The VML Identifier can be used interchangeably with the NAA Identifier and the MPX Identifier.
Appending :<Partition> works in the same way described above. This identifier is generally used for operations with utilities such as vmkfstools.
vmhba<Adapter>:C<Channel>:T<Target>:L<LUN>
This identifier is now used exclusively to identify a path to the LUN. When ESX detects that paths associated to one LUN, each path is assigned this Path Identifier. The LUN also inherits the same name as the first path, but it is now used an a Runtime Name, and not used as readily as the above mentioned identifiers as it may be different depending on the host you are using. This identifier is generally used for operations with utilities such as vmkfstools.
Example: vmhba1:C0:T0:L0 = Adapter 1, Channel 0, Target 0, and LUN 0.
Note: Generally, multi-port fiber channel adapters are equipped with dedicated controllers for each connection, and therefore each controller is represented by different vmhba#. If the adapter supports multiple connections to the same controller, it is represented by a different channel number. This representation is directly dependant on the capability of the adapter.
/dev/sd<Device Letter> or /dev/sd<Device Letter><Partition>
This naming convention is not VMware specific. This convention is used exclusively by the service console and open source utilities which come with the service console. The <Device Letter> represents the LUN or Disk and is assigned by the service console during boot. The optional <Partition> represents the partition on the LUN or disk. These naming conventions may vary from ESX host to ESX host and may change if storage hardware replaced. This identifier is generally used for operations with utilities such as fdisk and dd.
Note: VMware ESXi does not have a service console; disks are referred to by the VML Identifier.
<UUID>
The <UUID> is a unique number assigned to a VMFS volume upon the creation of the
volume. It may be included in syntax where you need to specify the full path of specific files on a datastore.
ESX 3.X
Use these commands to collect disk and LUN information from within ESX.
The command esxcfg-mpath -l generates a compact list of the LUNs currently connected to the ESX host.
The output appears similar to:
Disk vmhba32:0:0
/vmfs/devices/disks/vml.020000000060060160c0521501065cacf13f9fdd1152414 9442035 (512000MB) has 2 paths and policy of Most Recently Used
iScsi sw iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:esxhost-41e85afe<->iqn.1992-04.com.iscsi:a0 vmhba32:0:0 Standby preferred
iScsi sw iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:esxhost-41e85afe<->iqn.1992-04.com.iscsi:b0 vmhba32:1:0 On active
The command esxcfg-vmhbadevs -m generates a compact list of the LUNs currently connected to the ESX host.
The output appears similar to:
vmhba1:0:0:3 /dev/sda3 48f85575-5ec4c587-b856-001a6465c102
The command ls -alh /vmfs/devices/disks lists the possible targets for certain storage operations.
The output appears similar to:
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 58 Oct 16 12:54 vmhba2:0:3:0 ->
vml.0200030000600805f300124a90ca40a0bcd05c00294d5341313030 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 60 Oct 16 12:54 vmhba2:0:3:1 ->
vml.0200030000600805f300124a90ca40a0bcd05c00294d5341313030:1 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 58 Oct 16 12:54 vmhba2:0:4:0 ->
vml.0200040000600805f300124a9006d5bbdeb08b002a4d5341313030 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 60 Oct 16 12:54 vmhba2:0:4:1 ->
vml.0200040000600805f300124a9006d5bbdeb08b002a4d5341313030:1 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 58 Oct 16 12:54 vmhba2:1:3:0 ->
vml.0200030000600805f300124a90ca40a0bcd05c00294d5341313030 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 60 Oct 16 12:54 vmhba2:1:3:1 ->
vml.0200030000600805f300124a90ca40a0bcd05c00294d5341313030:1 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 58 Oct 16 12:54 vmhba2:1:4:0 ->
vml.0200040000600805f300124a9006d5bbdeb08b002a4d5341313030 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 60 Oct 16 12:54 vmhba2:1:4:1 ->
vml.0200040000600805f300124a9006d5bbdeb08b002a4d5341313030:1 The following are definitions for some of the identifiers and their conventions:
vmhba<Adapter>:<Target>:<LUN>
This identifier can be used to identify either a LUN or a path to the LUN. When ESX detects that paths associated to one LUN, each path is assigned this identifier. The entire LUN then inherits the same name as the first path. When using this identifier for an entire LUN, the identified is called the canonical name. When this identifier is used for a path it is called the path name.
These naming conventions may vary from ESX host to ESX host, and may change if storage hardware replaced. This identifier is generally used for operations with utilities such as vmkfstools.
Example: vmhba1:0:0 = Adapter 1, Target 0, and LUN 0.
vmhba<Adapter>:<Target>:<LUN>:<Partition>
This identifier is used in the context of a canonical name and is used to identify a partition on the LUN or disk. In addition to the canonical name, there is a :<Partition> appended to the end of the identifier. The <Partition> represents the partition number on the LUN or Disk. If the <Partition> is specified as 0, then it identifies the entire disk instead of only one partition.
These naming conventions may vary from ESX host to ESX host, and may change if storage hardware replaced. This identifier is generally used for operations with utilities such as vmkfstools.
Example: vmhba1:0:0:3 = Adapter 1, Target 0, LUN 0, and Partition 3.
vml.<VML> or vml.<VML>:<Partition>
The VML Identifier can be used interchangeably with the canonical name. Appending the :<Partition> works in the same way described above. This identifier is generally used for operations with utilities such as vmkfstools.
/dev/sd<Device Letter> or /dev/sd<Device Letter><Partition>
This naming convention is not VMware specific. This convention is used exclusively by the service console and open source utilities which come with the service console. The <Device Letter> represents the LUN or Disk and is assigned by the service console during boot. The optional <Partition> represents the partition on the LUN or disk. These naming conventions may vary from ESX host to ESX host, and may change if storage hardware replaced.
This identifier is generally used for operations with utilities such as fdisk and dd.
Note: VMware ESXi does not have a service console; disks are refered to by the VML Identifier.
<UUID>
The <UUID> is a unique number assigned to a VMFS volume upon the creation of the
volume. It may be included in syntax where you need to specify the full path of specific files on a datastore.
Datastore creation error: VmkfsLib_ScanAdapter: Failed to do a volume cache rescan Status: 0xbad003f
Symptoms
When you try to create a datastore using VMware Infrastructure Client connected to
VirtualCenter, an error indicates that the host cannot access /vmfs/volumes/<uuid>, where
<uuid> is a datastore that does not exist. If you refresh the datastore list, you see that the datastore was successfully created.
If you run vmkfstools -V you see the error:
# vmkfstools -V
VmkfsLib_ScanAdapter: Failed to do a volume cache rescan Status:
0xbad003f
Failed scanning adapter 'vmfs-only' : No connection Error: Opaque service console status
If you run esxcfg-rescan, you see the error:
# esxcfg-rescan vmhba32
Doing iSCSI discovery. This can take a few seconds ...
Rescanning vmhba32 ...
On scsi3, removing: 6:0 9:1 9:2 9:3 9:4.
On scsi3, adding: 1:0 6:0 9:1 9:2 9:3 9:4.
VmkfsLib_ScanAdapter: Failed to do a volume cache rescan Status:
0xbad003f
Failed scanning adapter 'vmfs-only' : No connection Error: Opaque service console status
Done.
Resolution
This issue occurs when a datastore used by running virtual machines is unavailable.
A datastore can be unavailable if, for example, a LUN is unpresented or if the paths leading to the datastore’s LUN are dead.