Unable to add SAS disk arrays as RDM disks using the VMware Infrastructure client

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Cannot add Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) disk arrays as Raw Device Mapping (RDM) disks using the VMware Infrastructure (VI) client
• When using the VI Client to create virtual machines on RDM disks, the RDM option is disabled in the New Virtual Machine Wizard
• When using the VI Client to add a hard disk to a virtual machine, the RDM option is disabled in the Add Hardware Wizard

Environment

VMware ESXi 3.5.x Installable
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware ESX Server 3.5.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable

Resolution

To add SAS disk arrays as RDM disks:

1. Run this command in the service console of the ESX host :
   
   # vmkfstools -r raw_device_path -a bus_type RDM_file_name
   
   Where
   • raw_device_path is the path of the RDM disks
   • bus_type is the type of bus used
   • RDM_file_name is the RDM file name

   For example:
   
   vmkfstools -r /vmfs/devices/disk/naa.123456789012345678901234567890 -a "lsisas" /vmfs/volumes/MyDatastore/MyVM/SASRDM.vmdk

2. Use the Add Hardware Wizard and add the newly created virtual disk as an existing disk to the virtual machine.

Note: You cannot add shared SAS arrays as RDM disks in vSphere 4.