Datastores and devices are not visible on certain ESXi hosts.

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

The user is unable to view the LUN and/or datastore on certain ESXi hosts within the cluster. While other ESXi hosts are able to discover the LUN/datastore, the configuration from the storage backend is uniformly consistent across all ESXi hosts.

Performing a rescan of the storage on an ESXi host via UI and CLI also does not change anything on the ESXi host, which does not show the LUN/datastore.

Environment

VMware vSphere 7.x

VMware vSphere 8.x

Resolution

• A storage rescan is required to accurately reflect modifications on the ESXi hosts when a storage device has been added, removed, or altered within the array. Check the following KB on how to perform rescan of the storage on an ESXi host.
  
  Performing a rescan of the storage on an ESXi host

 

• If the storage device still can't be found after rescanning, and the user has checked that the storage array configuration for that device is correct, then the user can reboot the ESXi hosts that aren't showing the LUN/datastore.
  
  There are several reasons why an ESXi reboot might cause a previously invisible datastore to become visible:
  
  
  • Rescan and Discovery: During the boot process, ESXi performs a scan and discovery of storage devices and LUNs (Logical Unit Numbers). This process can sometimes detect datastores that were not properly recognized or available before the reboot.
    
    
  • Storage Controller Initialization: The reboot process allows the storage controllers to properly initialize and establish connections with the storage arrays. This can make previously unavailable datastores accessible to the ESXi host.
    
    
  • Driver Loading: Sometimes, the necessary drivers for the storage controller or the storage array might not have been loaded correctly before the reboot. The reboot process ensures that all the required drivers are loaded, enabling the ESXi host to recognize and access the datastore.
    
    
  • Configuration Changes: If any configuration changes were made to the storage array or the ESXi host (such as adding new LUNs or modifying permissions), a reboot is often required for these changes to take effect and for the ESXi host to recognize the updated storage landscape.

• If rebooting the host or performing a storage rescan does not resolve the issue, please open a support case with both the storage array vendor and the Broadcom Storage team for further investigation and root cause analysis.
• You can refer the KB for Creating and managing Broadcom cases.