Procedure to change the IP address of an NFS datastore

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Best practices to be followed for IP address change on NFS datastore. 

 

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

 

Resolution

To change the IP address of an NFS datastore in ESXi, the existing datastore must be unmounted and re-added using the new IP address. Therefore all Virtual Machines residing on the datastore must be either migrated or powered off and unregistered.

Detailed Steps:

• Ensure all virtual machines on the NFS datastore are migrated to another datastore. 
• If unable to migrate the virtual machines, then power off all the virtual machines on the NFS datastore and unregister from the inventory. 
  • To unregister the VM:
    • Right-click each VM and select "Remove from Inventory".
      Warning: Do not select "Delete from Disk," as this will permanently delete the virtual machine data.
• Unmount the NFS Datastore:
  • Navigate storage section in vCenter. 
  • Right-click on the NFS datastore and select Unmount datastore.
  • Choose all the hosts and click OK. 
• Create NFS Datastore with new IP address:
  • Refer: Creating NFS Datastores with the vSphere Client
• Re-register VMs
  • Refer: Add or Register a Virtual Machine (VM) in vCenter Server
• Power on the Virtual Machines.

Important Considerations:

• Ensure ESXi hosts have network connectivity to the new IP address (Update DNS records if required)
• Ensure NFS version supported by storage and ESXi host.
• Make sure using the correct version.