Boot LUN move and delete old boot LUN

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

After changing ESXi boot LUNs from Dell SAN to NetApp the original boot LUN is unable to be detached from the ESXi hosts, with an error that it is in use.

ESXi host filesystem command shows Bootbank 1 and 2 active from the old LUN.

In the UI the old LUN appears under storage devices with Datastore "Not Consumed" and Operational State as "Detached".

Environment

ESXi (all versions) booting from SAN

Cause

ESXi hosts retained references to old boot LUNs in their storage configuration. Occasionally ESXi may retain previous storage device configuration until explicitly instructed to remove.

Resolution

1. Identify the naa. identifier of the old boot LUNs to remove
2. Disable the LUN with the command: esxcli storage core device set --state=off -d <naa of LUN to detach>
3. Remove the LUN from the host configuration with the command: esxcli storage core device remove -d <naa of LUN to detach>
4. Reboot the ESXi host
5. Unpresent the LUN from the storage array and delete
6. Rescan and Refresh storage from host with the commands: esxcli storage core adapter rescan --all and esxcli storage core refresh
7. Verify no reference to the LUN remains on the host

Additional Information

Detach a LUN device from ESXi hosts

List, mount and unmount a volume/VMFS Datastore