How to List, mount and unmount a volume/VMFS Datastore.

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This KB outlines the steps to list mounted and unmounted volumes along with steps on how to mount and unmount a volume/VMFS Datastore.

 

Environment

VMware ESXi 6.x
VMware ESXi 7.x
VMware ESXi 8.x

Resolution

Use the esxcli storage filesystem command to list mounted volumes, mount volumes, and unmount a volume.  

You can also specify whether to persist the mounted volumes across reboots by using the --no-persist option:

 

• To list mounted and unmounted volumes :

  • esxcli storage filesystem list

# Note in the Example below there is no listed mount point for the unmounted datastore and the "mounted status" is false

 

• To mount the unmounted volume :

  • esxcli storage filesystem mount --volume-label=<label>|--volume-uuid=<VMFS-UUID>

 

• To unmount the volume :

  • esxcli storage filesystem unmount --volume-label=<label>|--volume-uuid=<VMFS-UUID>

Additional Information

How to detach a LUN device from ESXi hosts: https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/323128/how-to-detach-a-lun-device-from-esxi-hos.html