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Browse All Articles > HOW TO: Fix An error has occurred adding datastores to an ESXi 5.x host
In my previous Experts Exchange Articles, most have featured Basic and Intermediate VMware and Virtualisation Topics.
If you would like to read my Basic VMware articles, they are listed at the end of the article for your convenience.
During this series of articles VMware released VMware vSphere 5.5 and VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.5. These articles are also applicable to VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.0 and 5.5. For consistency, I have used VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.1 throughout this series.
I feel this is a little more advanced, so I've not included it in the Basic VMware article series, as it does require some basic Linux skills and command line usage.
Last week, whilst installing VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.5 U2 I came across an issue, when trying to add a VMFS5 datastore to an ESXi 5.5 U2 server the following error message was displayed".
Call "HostDatastoreSystem.QueryVmfsDatastoreCreateOptions" for object "datastoreSystem-xx" on vCenter Server "hostname" failed."
and the datastore failed to be created. It surprised me that this issue still exists with VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.5 U2.
In this article we will show you HOW TO: Fix An error has occurred adding datastores to an ESXi 5.x host. This method can be used with any version of the VMware vSphere Hypervisor from 5.0 to 5.5.
The issue is simply the VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi), does not understand the existing information on the hard disk or storage array LUN. I've seen the issue when using existing left over disks from previous installations of Windows, Linux or Solaris, even after destroying the contents using the vendor array utilities.
1. Login remotely via SSH or at the console of the ESXi host server.
Login and connect to the VMware vSphere Host ESXi server which has access to the disks or LUN you are trying to create the new datastore on.
There are two methods to address this issue, remove all the individual partitions from the disk, or overwrite the standard partition table that the VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) can deal with. I'm going to use the last method, it's quicker and achieves the same goal.
The supported partition utility in VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.x, is called partedUtil.
this command replaces the partition table on the disk, with a legacy msdos partition table, remember MS DOS? - ("Toto, I don't think we're in DOS anymore"). The legacy MS DOS partition table is a partition table, with which VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) can deal with, remove and create the VMFS5 datastore. PLEASE NOTE: this will ERASE ALL DATA on the disk specified, so it's important to specify the correct disk.
3. How do we find the correct disk?
At the console prompt type, the following this will show your disks or LUNs on your VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) host server.
the above screenshot shows the disks attached to the VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi), partitions are shown as :1, :2, :3, :4.
The "vml." listings are symbolic links to your disks, which start with mpx.vmhba:C0:XX:XX:XX:Y or they could be listed as "naa.".
4. Erasing the Partition
Check you have identified the correct disk to delete. PLEASE NOTE: this will ERASE ALL DATA on the disk specified, so it's important to specify the correct disk.
In this tutorial I'm going to delete the partition on disk
vml.0000000000766d686261313a333a30 -> mpx.vmhba1:C0:T3:L0
the required is mpx.vmhba1:C0:T3:L0
in the following screenshot, you can see the partition (:1) has disappeared from the last disk - vml.0000000000766d686261313a333a30 -> mpx.vmhba1:C0:T3:L0
The disk has been erased.
Congratulations, you have successfully destroyed the partition, you will now be able to add your VMFS5 datastore correctly without the error Call "HostDatastoreSystem.QueryVmfsDatastoreCreateOptions" for object "datastoreSystem-xx" on vCenter Server "hostname" failed."
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Our community of experts have been thoroughly vetted for their expertise and industry experience. Experts with Gold status have received one of our highest-level Expert Awards, which recognize experts for their valuable contributions.
EE Fellow, MVE, Expert of the Year 2021,2017-11, Scribe 2016-2012, Author of the Year 2018-6,2013-2012 VMware vExpert Pro, vExpert 2022-2011
Comments (1)
Commented:
How do I format my drive to become 4K sector so that it is usable for VMFS data store ?