Hi,
Is it possible to create a vmfs datastore on an external USB HD on ESXi 4.1u1? I am trying to create a vmfs datastore on a 500GB USB HD, but looks like it's not supported. Can someone help to confirm? Here are what I did.
I have disabled USB device passthrough to VMs by disabling usbarbitrator service in order for ESXi host to see the disk in fdisk. I then "fdisk -u /dev/disks/..." to create the partition and change the partition type to "fb" or VMFS. Next I tried to format the disk to vmfs using "vmkfstools -C vmfs3 /vmfs/devices/disks/...". It didn't go through. I got the following error from the console:
~ # vmkfstools -C vmfs3 /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba37\:C0\:T0\:L0:1
Checking if remote hosts are using this device as a valid file system. This may take a few seconds...
Creating vmfs3 file system on "mpx.vmhba37:C0:T0:L0:1" with blockSize 1048576 and volume label "none".
Usage: vmkfstools -C vmfs3 /vmfs/devices/disks/vml... or,
vmkfstools -C vmfs3 /vmfs/devices/disks/naa... or,
vmkfstools -C vmfs3 /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhbaA:T:L:P
Error: vmkfstools failed: vmkernel is not loaded or call not implemented.
And from the messages.log, I got:
Apr 28 22:49:41 shell[8349]: vmkfstools -C vmfs3 /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba37\:C0\:T0\:L0:1
Apr 28 22:49:48 Hostd: [2011-04-28 22:49:48.964 3A3ACB90 verbose 'DvsManager'] PersistAllDvsInfo called
Apr 28 22:49:54 Hostd: [2011-04-28 22:49:54.596 3A240B90 verbose 'Cimsvc'] Ticket issued for CIMOM version 1.0, user root
Apr 28 22:49:57 vmkernel: 0:01:15:49.776 cpu0:15644)NMP: nmp_CompleteCommandForPath: Command 0x16 (0x41027f390b40) to NMP device "mpx.vmhba37:C0:T0:L0" failed on physical path
Apr 28 22:49:57 vmkernel: 0:01:15:49.776 cpu0:15644)ScsiDeviceIO: 1672: Command 0x16 to device "mpx.vmhba37:C0:T0:L0" failed H:0x0 D:0x2 P:0x0 Valid sense data: 0x5 0x20 0x0.
Apr 28 22:49:57 vmkernel: 0:01:15:49.778 cpu0:15754)LVM: 2453: [mpx.vmhba37:C0:T0:L0:1] Device expanded (actual size 976773039 blocks, stored size 976559092 blocks)
Apr 28 22:49:57 vmkernel: 0:01:15:49.778 cpu0:15754)LVM: 7448: Device mpx.vmhba37:C0:T0:L0:1 detected to be a snapshot:
Apr 28 22:49:57 vmkernel: 0:01:15:49.779 cpu0:15754)LVM: 7455: queried disk ID: <type 0, len 11, lun 0, devType 0, scsi 0, h(id) 5317617127907064147>
Apr 28 22:49:57 vmkernel: 0:01:15:49.779 cpu0:15754)LVM: 7462: on-disk disk ID: <type 1, len 44, lun 0, devType 0, scsi 0, h(id) 7453469690015901180>
Apr 28 22:49:57 vmkernel: 0:01:15:49.781 cpu0:15754)LVM: 2453: [mpx.vmhba37:C0:T0:L0:1] Device expanded (actual size 976773039 blocks, stored size 976559092 blocks)
BTW, vSphere Client doesn't display this storage device, so there is nothing can be done there.
Thanks!
