Tape device incorrectly detected as ALUA device on ESXi/ESX hosts

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

VMware ESX or ESXi hosts incorrectly detect a tape drive device as ALUA.
The tape device is not listed in the output of this command:
- ESXi 4.x hosts: esxcli nmp device list
- ESXi 5.x hosts: esxcli storage nmp device list
The /var/log/vmkernel or /var/log/messages log contains entries similar to:

cpu2:4114)WARNING: VMW_SATP_ALUA: satp_alua_getTargetPortInfo: Could not find relative target port ID for path "vmhba3:C0:T6:L0" - Not found (195887107) cpu2:4114)WARNING: NMP: nmp_SatpClaimPath: SATP "VMW_SATP_ALUA" could not add path "vmhba3:C0:T6:L0" for device "Unregistered Device". Error Not found cpu2:4114)WARNING: NMP: nmp_DeviceAlloc: nmp_AddPathToDevice failed Not found (195887107). cpu2:4114)WARNING: NMP: nmp_DeviceAlloc: Could not allocate NMP device.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded

Cause

This issue occurs because a catch-all SATP rule has claimed the device, which has registered it as ALUA.

Resolution

To address this issue, you must add a SATP rule for the specific device.

To add an appropriate rule for the specific device:

Rescan your storage adapters in the vSphere Client, or from the terminal use the command:

esxcfg-rescan vmhbax
Review the rescan logging in your system logs.
- ESX hosts: grep "ScsiScan" /var/log/vmkernel
- ESXi 4.x hosts: grep "ScsiScan" /var/log/messages
- ESXi 5.x hosts: grep "ScsiScan" /var/log/vmkernel.log
Check the output for the tape drive and get the vendor and model for the specific device.

For example:

esx2 vmkernel: 0:00:00:29.585 cpu2:4114)ScsiScan: 1059: Path 'vmhba3:C0:T6:L0': Vendor: 'ACME ' Model: 'UltraStore 6-SCSI ' Rev: 'W22W'
Note: If you do not see the tape device from the above output, run the below command to see the tape device details.

ESX/ESXi 4.x : esxcfg-scsidevs -l
ESXi 5.x: esxcli storage core device list (This lists all the devices connected to the host.)
Add a new rule to claim the device by the VMW_SATP_LOCAL plugin, using the command:
- ESX/ESXi 4.x hosts: esxcli nmp satp addrule --satp="VMW_SATP_LOCAL" --vendor="vendor_name" --model="model_name"
- ESXi 5.x hosts: esxcli storage nmp satp rule add --satp="VMW_SATP_LOCAL" --vendor="vendor_name" --model="model_name"
For example: The command for the vendor (ACME) and model (UltraStore) seen in the output of Step 2 is:

esxcli storage nmp satp rule add --satp="VMW_SATP_LOCAL" --vendor="ACME" --model="^UltraStore*"

Note: Since the VMW_SATP_LOCAL plugin is being used, only a single path to the device is supported.
Unclaim the location using this command:
- ESX/ESXi 4.x hosts: esxcli corestorage claiming unclaim -t location -A vmhba3 -C 0 -T 6 -L 0
- ESXi 5.x hosts: esxcli storage core claiming unclaim -t location -A vmhba3 -C 0 -T 6 -L 0
Note: Update vmhba, controller, target, and LUN number as required.

This ensures that all paths to the device are unclaimed successfully before running the claim.
Rescan your storage adapters in the vSphere Client, or from the terminal using the command:

esxcfg-rescan vmhbax
Confirm that the device is claimed by the VMW_SATP_LOCAL SATP plugin and is listed in the output of this command:
- ESX/ESXi 4.x hosts: esxcli nmp device list
- ESX/ESXi 5.x hosts: esxcli storage nmp device list

Additional Information

For more information about running tape devices in ESXi/ESX, see:

Multipathing policies in ESXi 5.x and ESXi/ESX 4.x
Configuring vendor-supported tape drives and media changers on VMware ESX/ESXi 4.x/5.x
Understanding support for tape devices with VMware ESXi and VMware ESX
ESXi/ESX ホストでテープデバイスが間違って ALUA デバイスとして検出される