Albert Widjaja
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Reclaim free space on thin VMFS 5 data store safely with no downtime ?
Is there any command or way how to reclaim the free disk space from a VMFS5 data store ?
Ideally with no downtime to the VM running on the datastore or can be safely done during the business hours.
Note: my underlying Storage is PureStorage SSD All Flash Array.
Ideally with no downtime to the VM running on the datastore or can be safely done during the business hours.
Note: my underlying Storage is PureStorage SSD All Flash Array.
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ASKER
ok, what's the new reclaim tool software name and how to use it ?
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ASKER
Thanks guys,
So how to calculate the percentage of the free space ?
in the screenshot above, I have 285 GB Free from the 2 TB VMFS datastore total space.
Shall I do 285/2000 * 100% = 14.25%
so therefore the command will be:
or do i have to type if different number with some overhead ?
So how to calculate the percentage of the free space ?
in the screenshot above, I have 285 GB Free from the 2 TB VMFS datastore total space.
Shall I do 285/2000 * 100% = 14.25%
so therefore the command will be:
vmkfstools -y 14.25
or do i have to type if different number with some overhead ?
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I think I would be a little cautious, and use 10%.
ASKER
I'm using ESXi 5.1 Update 1
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ASKER
hi Jim,
Do you mean like vmkfstools -y 10
what about if the value is too large and it causes all of the VM in the datastore stopping or crashed ? would that scenario be possible to happens if I set the value to high ?
@Andrew: I'll try to run the command vmkfstools -y 10 several times and hopefully I can see the free space usable increased slowly but sure.
Do you mean like vmkfstools -y 10
what about if the value is too large and it causes all of the VM in the datastore stopping or crashed ? would that scenario be possible to happens if I set the value to high ?
@Andrew: I'll try to run the command vmkfstools -y 10 several times and hopefully I can see the free space usable increased slowly but sure.
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A reason to consider an upgrade to ESX 5.5: reclaiming deleted blocks on a thin volume doesn't use a single large "balloon" file, but rather several (one after the other) of a specified block size. This essentially eliminates the concern of filling up a datastore during the process, and is much safer to perform during production.
ASKER
Cool, nice to hear that feature is vailable. but i hate the Web console :-|
but at the moment I guess I'll stay withESXi 5.1 Update 2 and then 3 in the next few months ahead.
but at the moment I guess I'll stay withESXi 5.1 Update 2 and then 3 in the next few months ahead.
go through the below link
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1002019