vVOL cleanup - Deleted VM will not fully remove from vVOL datastore

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

 vVOL barriers -  details of vVOL cleanup API
After deleting a VM from a vVOLs datastore the VM folder and/or other files will not be removed. 
After 24 hours the files do get removed. 

Environment

ESXi 8.0 
vVOLs Storage 

Cause

This behavior is by design and was put in place in case there was an accidental removal so recover with in the ~24 hours can be possible and is a standard practice for any storage related functionality. 

Resolution

ssh into the host on which the VM was on and go to the VM folder and delete the hidden .meta and .lck files files manually using CLI and the "rm" command 
Example below: 

[root@#########:/vmfs/volumes/vvol:################-################/<vmfolder>] ls -a
.                                                   
.fdc.sf                                             
.##################.lck --> [file blocking the delete] 
.sdd.sf
..                                                 
.pb2.sf                                             
.#################.meta --> [file blocking the delete] 
.vh.sf
.fbb.sf                                             
.pbc.sf                                             
.sbc.sf

[root@#########:/vmfs/volumes/vvol:################-################/<vmfolder>] rm .##################.lck
[root@#########:/vmfs/volumes/vvol:################-################/<vmfolder>] rm .#################.meta

Once the above two files are removed, you can delete the folder using vCenter UI