Local datastore not accessible after replacing local storage controller on ESXi host

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms: 

• After replacing a local storage controller, the local VMFS datastore now appears to be inaccessible in the vSphere Client (Choose Host or VM -> Datastores Tab):
  
  
  
  
• VM's located on the datastore may also appear as inaccessible. 
• The physical storage device appears to be attached, but not consumed in the vSphere Client (Choose Host -> Configure Tab -> Storage Devices):
  
  
  
  
• From an ssh session to the host, the datastore does not appear in the /vmfs/volumes directory. 

Environment

• VMware ESXi (All versions)

Cause

• The datastore now appears to be a LUN replica/snapshot copy of the original disk.
• This is due to the controller replacement.
• When you replace a controller, the disk may report a new device ID ( t10.*, naa.*, or eui.*) or LUN ID (reflected in the vml.* ID) or both, triggering the snapshot LUN detection. 

 

Verification:

• To verify if the LUN is being detected as a snapshot, see the following KB: Troubleshooting LUNs detected as snapshot LUNs in vSphere

Resolution

• The datastore will need to be resignatured. See KB: Troubleshooting LUNs detected as snapshot LUNs in vSphere
• After resignaturing, you may rename the datastore back to its original name. See KB: Renaming a datastore
• Any inaccessible VM's that were located on the datastore, will need to be unregistered, then re-registered.  See KB: Add or Register a Virtual Machine (VM) in vCenter Server