Error: vSAN Disk Group Unhealthy or Unknown after disk replacement

Products

• VMware vSAN

Issue/Introduction

 

• A vSAN cache or capacity disk is replaced.
• The new disk is not recognized by the host or remains in an "Unclaimed" state.
• The vSAN Disk Management screen shows the Disk Group as Unhealthy or in an Unknown state.
• Skyline Health reports "Unknown disk health state" or "Disk is no longer participating in the VSAN disk group."
• Command line vdq -i shows the disk as a UUID rather than an NAA ID.

 

Environment

 

• Broadcom VMware vSAN (all versions)
• ESXi hosts (e.g., Lenovo, Dell, HPE)

 

Cause

Disks are not healthy or recognized by host.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, manually remove the stale disk reference using the ESXi CLI:

1. Place the host in Maintenance Mode with "Ensure Accessibility."
2. Connect to the host via SSH.
3. Identify the stale disk UUID:
   bash

    

   vdq -i

4. Force-remove the stale disk entry:
   bash

    

   esxcli vsan storage remove -u <UUID_from_step_3>

5. Rescan the storage adapters:
   bash

    

   esxcli storage core adapter rescan --all

6. Recreate the disk group via the vSphere Client (Cluster > Configure > vSAN > Disk Management).
7. Exit Maintenance Mode and verify Skyline Health.