Custom alarm for storage connectivity does not trigger during path failure tests

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• A custom alarm configured to monitor storage connectivity does not trigger when a storage path or switch failure occurs.
• Relevant events (such as "Storage path redundancy degraded") are logged in the vCenter Events tab during the failure, but the alarm does not activate.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server

Cause

This issue occurs because the alarm is configured to trigger on the "Lost Storage Connectivity" event.

The "Lost Storage Connectivity" event is generated only when all paths to the storage device are down (All Paths Down). In an environment configured with multipathing (redundancy), losing a single path or switch does not result in a total loss of connectivity. Instead, the system generates a "Degraded Storage Path Redundancy" event because the host can still access the storage via the remaining active paths.

Resolution

To ensure the alarm detects individual path or switch failures in a redundant environment:

Change the alarm trigger condition from "Lost Storage Connectivity" to "Degraded Storage Path Redundancy".

• Note: Use "Lost Storage Connectivity" only if you intend to monitor for a complete loss of access to the storage device (APD).