Dead paths are not removed due to page 83 command response.

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• Datastore are inaccessible and hosts go to not responding state.
• Storage paths state is not updated and remain active.
• During DR test, we lose access to VMFS volumes.
• Multiple storage adapter rescans are required to clear inactive paths.
• We see below "page 83" messages in vmkernel logs :

WARNING: VMW_SATP_ALUA: satp_alua_getTargetPortInfo:160: Could not get page 83 INQUIRY data for path "vmhba64:C3:T0:L0" - Transient storage condition, suggest retry (195887294)
WARNING: VMW_SATP_ALUA: satp_alua_getTargetPortInfo:160: Could not get page 83 INQUIRY data for path "vmhba64:C3:T0:L1" - Transient storage condition, suggest retry (195887294)

Environment

• VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0.x
• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0
• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0U1

Cause

• While fetching target port information, the INQUIRY (page-83) command is sent to the target.
• In cases where the specified LUN is unmapped (resulting in a ghost LUN configuration), different targets respond inconsistently

Resolution

• This issue is fixed in VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0 U3v and above.
• This issue is not found in VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0 U2 and later version
• Since vSphere 7.x is already passed its EOS, we would recommend you to upgrade to vSphere ESXi 8.0 U3 and later
• You can download ESXi by logging into the Broadcom Support Portal
• For instructions to download please check VMware vSphere downloads, OEM custom images, patches and addons in the Broadcom Support Portal