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[[Main_Page|Home]] > [[VMWare platform]] > [[VMWare vSphere or ESXi]] > [[Configure VMFS filesystem on USB disk and mount it as datastore on ESXi host]]

To configure a USB based disk as datastore to store VMs or other ESXi files use following steps:
# Start SSH service on ESXi host if not started already
# Connect to ESXi host over SSH
# Stop and disable USB arbitrator service using:
#:<pre>
#:: /etc/init.d/usbarbitrator stop
#:: chkconfig usbarbitrator off
#:</pre>
#:'''usbarbitrator is required if we want to Raw Device Mapping (RDM) and map a USB connected to ESXi host to a VM.  We cannot do both map a USB to VM and use USB as datastore on ESXi at the same time.  Only one of the two is possible.'''
# Get the list of device names:
#:<pre>
#:: ls /dev/disks/ #OR
#:: vdq -q
#:</pre>
#: Same should also be available when we open ESXi host via web UI  (Storage -> Devices)
#: Copy the device name of USB disk (naa.* or mpx.*) to some temporary location (eg Text file)
#: Example output
#::<pre>
#:::    {
#:::      "Name"     : "mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0",
#:::      "VSANUUID" : "",
#:::      "State"    : "Ineligible for use by VSAN",
#:::      "Reason"   : "Has partitions",
#:::      "IsSSD"    : "0",
#:::"IsCapacityFlash": "0",
#:::      "IsPDL"    : "0",
#:::      "Size(MB)" : "1907729",
#:::   "FormatType" : "512n",
#:::   "IsVsanDirectDisk" : "0",
#:::   },
#::</pre>
# Create gpt partition table (label) on recognized disk using:
#:<pre>
#:: partedUtil mklabel /dev/disks/<disk-device-name> gpt
#:</pre>
#:: Example '<tt>partedUtil mklabel /dev/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0 gpt</tt>'
# Once partition table is created we can create partition for that to figure out end sector use:
#:<pre>
#:: partedUtil getptbl /dev/disks/<disk-device-name>
#:</pre>
#: '''From output take the last value and subtract 2048.  For example if output is:
#::<pre>
#::: gpt
#::: 243201 255 63 3907029168
#::</pre>
#:: The calculation would lead to last sector being = 3907029168 - 2048 = 3907027120
#:: '''All the reference links below are wrong.  Please see VMWare official KB on partedUtil getptbl command at https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1036609'''   We should subtract 2048 from the last value shown by the command.
# Get the GUID of VMFS datastore using:
#:<pre>
#:: partedUtil showGuids
#:</pre>
#:: It should be 'AA31E02A400F11DB9590000C2911D1B8'
# Create partition using command:
#:<pre>
#:: partedUtil setptbl /dev/disks/<disk-device-name> gpt "1 2048 <end-sector> AA31E02A400F11DB9590000C2911D1B8 0"
#:</pre>
#: Example '<tt>partedUtil setptbl /dev/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0 gpt "1 2048 3907027120 AA31E02A400F11DB9590000C2911D1B8 0"</tt>'
# Format the USB file-system and give it desired name using:
#:<pre>
#:: vmkfstools -C vmfs6 -S <name> /dev/disks/<deviceID>:1
#:</pre>
#:: For example '<tt>vmkfstools -C vmfs6 -S USB-2TB-SSD-datastore /dev/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:1</tt>'
# The datastore should now be visible in web UI.  You can also see it mounted under /vmfs/volumes


'''Note that there is comment about large drives (>2TB) not working on ESXi 6.5 in first reference link.'''


Refer:
* https://www.virten.net/2016/11/usb-devices-as-vmfs-datastore-in-vsphere-esxi-6-5/
* https://vmscrub.com/creating-a-vmfs-datastore-on-a-usb-drive/
* https://www.it-react.com/index.php/2020/04/26/how-to-add-a-usb-disk-as-vmfs-datastore-in-esxi-6-7/





==Connecting USB with existing VMFS datastore to ESXi host==

It is possible that USB with existing VMFS datastore is not getting recognized in ESXi host automatically.  In that case use:
# Get the name of USB disk which is getting recognized erroneously as snapshot:
#:<pre>
#:: esxcli storage vmfs snapshot list
#:</pre>
#: Example output
#::<pre>
#::: 583b1a72-ade01532-55f6-f44d30649051
#::: Volume Name: usbflash
#::: VMFS UUID: 583b1a72-ade01532-55f6-f44d30649051
#::: Can mount: true
#::: Reason for un-mountability:
#::: Can resignature: true
#::: Reason for non-resignaturability:
#::: Unresolved Extent Count: 1
#::</pre>
# Use the VMFS UUID to mount the datastore:
#:<pre>
#:: esxcli storage vmfs snapshot mount -u <uuid>
#:</pre>
#: For example
#::<pre>
#::: esxcli storage vmfs snapshot mount -u 583b1a72-ade01532-55f6-f44d30649051
#::</pre>

Refer:
* https://www.virten.net/2016/11/usb-devices-as-vmfs-datastore-in-vsphere-esxi-6-5/



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