Datastore shows inaccessible state in vCenter

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Suddenly, virtual machines appeared as inaccessible in the vCenter UI.
• Some VMs showed as running, but access to the web console was not possible.
• Additionally, browsing files on the datastores was unsuccessful.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi(All Versions)

Cause

• After a PDL happens on a LUN/Volume, all the applications running on that volume need to be closed and reopened so that the LVM/Datastore metadata gets reconfigured for the Volume.
• In few scenarios where underneath device fails few IOs even after PDL is cleared, LVM metadata won't get updated, and the volume becomes inaccessible.

In var/log.vmkernel.log
2025-05-02T02:04:49.724Z cpu36:2098136)WARNING: NMP: nmp_PathDetermineFailure:3527: Cmd (0x2a) PDL error (0x5/0x25/0x0) - path vmhba1:C0:T14:L10 device naa.624a9370e84axxxxxxxxxxx - triggering path failover
2025-05-02T02:04:49.724Z cpu36:2098136)NMP: nmp_ThrottleLogForDevice:3867: Cmd 0x2a (0x45d9a53bdfc8, 2102896) to dev "naa.624a9370e84xxxxxxxxxxx" on path "vmhba1:C0:T14:L10" Failed:
2025-05-02T02:04:49.724Z cpu36:2098136)NMP: nmp_ThrottleLogForDevice:3875: H:0x0 D:0x2 P:0x0 Valid sense data: 0x5 0x25 0x0. Act:FAILOVER. cmdId.initiator=0x430d6821f580 CmdSN 0x8000002d
2025-05-02T02:04:50.700Z cpu17:2097624)VMW_SATP_ALUA: satp_alua_issueCommandOnPath:887: Path "vmhba2:C0:T18:L239" (PERM LOSS) command 0x12 failed with status Device is permanently unavailable. H:0x0 D:0x2 P:0x0 Valid sense data: 0x5 0x25 0x0.
2025-05-02T02:04:50.700Z cpu17:2097624)WARNING: VMW_SATP_ALUA: satp_alua_getTargetPortInfo:160: Could not get page 83 INQUIRY data for path "vmhba2:C0:T18:L239" - Device is permanently unavailable (195887410)
2025-05-02T02:04:50.700Z cpu17:2097624)VMW_SATP_ALUA: satp_alua_issueCommandOnPath:887: Path "vmhba1:C0:T8:L239" (PERM LOSS) command 0x12 failed with status Device is permanently unavailable. H:0x0 D:0x2 P:0x0 Valid sense data: 0x5 0x25 0x0.
2025-05-02T02:04:50.700Z cpu17:2097624)WARNING: VMW_SATP_ALUA: satp_alua_getTargetPortInfo:160: Could not get page 83 INQUIRY data for path "vmhba2:C0:T18:L239" - Device is in-accessible

Resolution

• To fix this issue, please perform a storage rescan. For more details, see Performing a rescan of the storage on an ESXi host .
• If the rescan does not resolve the issue, rebooting the host should restore access to the datastore.
• A case should be opened with the array vendor to investigate the root cause of the reported PDL (Permanent Device Loss) condition.

Additional Information

Permanent Device Loss (PDL) and All-Paths-Down (APD) in vSphere 6.x and 7.x