Renaming a disk device does not take effect on all hosts

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
Changing the display name of a disk device identifier (such as an RDM or remote SCSI device) does not take effect on all hosts with visibility to the disk device.

Cause

This issue occurs when the same remote storage device is presented on different paths with a different LUN ID.

For example, the same device identifier (naa.12345exampledevice) may be presented as:

(naa.12345exampledevice) - LUN 3 to Host-1
(naa.12345exampledevice) - LUN 6 to Host-2
(naa.12345exampledevice) - LUN 25 to Host-3

Resolution

To resolve this issue, ensure that remote disk devices are presented with consistent LUN numbering to all hosts on all paths.

Identify which hosts need LUN presentation changes and apply these steps to each affected host individually:

1. Put the host into Maintenance Mode.
2. Migrate, power off, or suspend all virtual machines.
3. Shut down the host.
4. On the storage array, make the necessary presentation changes only for the host that is shut down.
5. Power on the host.
6. Confirm that the LUN presentation changes are correct.
7. Take the host out of Maintenance Mode.

Additional Information

Masking a LUN from ESX and ESXi using the MASK_PATH plug-in
Removing a LUN containing a datastore from VMware ESXi/ESX 4.0 and 4.1
VMware ESX/ESXi 4.x/5.x and 6.x hosts in All-Paths-Down (APD) condition may appear as Not Responding in VMware vCenter Server
How to unmount a LUN or detach a datastore device from ESXi hosts

Impact/Risks:
It is strongly recommended that LUN presentation changes are made only when the host is powered off to avoid a possible All Paths Down (APD) situation. For more information, see ESXi/ESX hosts in APD may appear Not Responding in vCenter Server (1030980).

If it is not feasible to put the host into maintenance mode and shut it down, the problematic LUNs can be masked using claim rules and then presented back properly. For more information on masking the LUNs, please see Masking a LUN from ESX and ESXi using the MASK_PATH plug-in (1009449), Removing a LUN containing a datastore from VMware ESXi/ESX 4.x (1029786) or Unmounting a LUN or detaching a datastore/storage device from multiple ESXi 5.x hosts (2004605).