Unable to create VMFS datastore using "Not Consumed" storage device on ESX host

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• New storage device appears as "Not consumed" in vSphere Client > Host > Configure > Storage Device:

  

• But when attempting to create a VMFS5/VMFS6 datastore, the device does not appear in the "New Datastore" wizard:

  

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

• The storage device is unavailable to be used for VMFS5/VMFS6 datastore creation as it has an unrecognizable label/partition scheme.

• If the partedUtil gettbl command is run for this storage device from the ESXi host, the unrecognizable label/partition scheme will show as "unknown":

  [root@esxi:~ ] partedUtil getptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/#######
unknown
887193 255 63 14252769280

• ESXi host requires the GPT label/partitioning scheme for VMFS5 and VMFS6 datastores.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, the below was performed:

1. Validate and select the right storage device in vSphere Client > Host > Configure > Storage Device, and clear the partition table from the storage device. 

2. Next, in an SSH to host which can access this storage device, run the following command to change the label/partition scheme to GPT: partedUtil mklabel /vmfs/devices/disks/########

3. Post this the storage device will be available for VMFS5/VMFS6 datastore creation. 

Additional Information

• Clear a Device Partition Table in theVMware Host Client.

• Create a vSphere VMFS Datastore.