vSphere UI reports some storage Paths as "Active (I/O)" and some as "Active" only.

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

vSphere UI reports some storage Paths as "Active (I/O)" and some as "Active" only

Environment

vSphere ESXi 7.x
vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

Per ESXi workflow, working path are marked as Active (I/O) in the vSphere UI if pathState = “active” and isWorkingPath = True.

This can be validated using the below steps:

1. SSH to ESXi server
2. Run the following command:
   vmware-vimdump -o /tmp/vimdump.txt

3. Search for the desired path in the resulting vimdump.txt

Sample 1: vSphere UI will report path as "Active (I/O)"

(vim.host.MultipathInfo.Path) {
                                 dynamicType = <unset>,
                                 dynamicProperty = (vmodl.DynamicProperty) [],
                                 key = 'key-vim.host.MultipathInfo.Path-vmhba65:C2:T0:L2',
                                 name = 'vmhba65:C2:T0:L2',
                                 pathState = 'active',
                                 state = 'active',
                                 isWorkingPath = true

Sample 2: vSphere UI will report path as "Active"

(vim.host.MultipathInfo.Path) {
                                 dynamicType = <unset>,
                                 dynamicProperty = (vmodl.DynamicProperty) [],
                                 key = 'key-vim.host.MultipathInfo.Path-vmhba65:C1:T0:L2',
                                 name = 'vmhba65:C1:T0:L2',
                                 pathState = 'active',
                                 state = 'active',
                                 isWorkingPath = false

Resolution

 

If there have been any changes in the Storage sub-system (Fabric Switch/Storage Array) in relation to the paths, reboot the ESXi host.
hostd cache at ESXi will store information it initially recieved from the Storage sub-system, regarding the paths.
If the behaviour persists, engage your storage vendor.