Local datastore is missing and detected as a snapshot LUN on ESXi

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• • The local VMFS datastore is missing from the vSphere Client inventory.
  • The physical device is visible under Host > Configure > Storage Devices.
  • Running the command esxcli storage vmfs snapshot list displays the local datastore as an unresolved snapshot.
  • The ESXi host may have undergone hardware changes, RAID controller replacement, or LUN ID mapping changes.

Environment

• VMware ESXi 7.x
• VMware ESXi 8.x

Cause

ESXi detects a mismatch between the physical LUN identity and the VMFS metadata. This causes the host to identify the volume as a snapshot LUN to prevent accidental data corruption. For local disks, this typically occurs if the disk geometry or identity reported by the controller changes.

Resolution

To restore the local datastore, recreate the VMFS partition using the partedUtil utility.

1. Identify the device ID for the local disk: esxcfg-scsidevs -l
2. Verify the current partition table: partedUtil getptbl "/vmfs/devices/disks/####"
3. Delete the existing VMFS partition (typically partition 8 on local ESXi installs): partedUtil delete "/vmfs/devices/disks/####" 8
4. Recreate the partition. Note: Obtain the start and end sectors from the getUsableSectors command: partedUtil setptbl "/vmfs/devices/disks/####" gpt "8 <start> <end> AA31E02A400F11DB9590000C2911D1B8 0"
5. Perform a storage rescan: esxcli storage core adapter rescan --all

Additional Information

For detailed usage of the partitioning tool, see KB 323144