Knowledge Base

The workaround involves the resignaturing of VMFS datastores on the local storage attached only to a PERC 4 card and adding virtual machines on those volumes back to the inventory.

Table 1: Firmware Configurations and Their Implications

1. Before upgrading, check the vmhba datastore associated with your local storage. To do so, run the following command from the service console:
   
   $ vmkchdev –L | grep –A1 vmhba
   
   Sample Output:
   
   002:12.0 1077:2312 1077:0100 vmkernel vmhba0
   QLogic Corp. QLA2312 Fibre Channel Adapter
   --
   002:14.0 1028:0013 1028:016c vmkernel vmhba1
   PCI device 1028:0013 (Dell Computer Corporation)
   
   The sample output shows that vmhba1 is associated with the local storage.
   
   
2. Note down the names with which your VMFS datastores are addressed.
   
   
3. Upgrade your PERC firmware. After upgrading, the vmhba local storage volumes are no longer visible to the ESX Server system. When the system reboots, you are instructed to resignature the datastores. See the VMware SAN Configuration Guide at http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_esx_san_cfg.pdf for detailed information about resignaturing.
   
   
4. Check /vmfs/volumes to confirm that the vmhba local storage volumes are inaccessible.
   
   
5. From the service console, run the following command:
   
   $ esxcfg-advcfg –s 1 /LVM/EnableResignature
   
   This enables VMFS datastore resignaturing. VMFS datastore resignaturing involves resignaturing the UUID of the VMFS datastore.
   
   
6. Rescan the vmhba local storage volume from the service console:
   
   $ esxcfg-rescan vmhbaX
   
   X is the value associated with your vmhba datastore.
   
   After rescanning, the vmhba local storage volume appears as /vmfs/volumes/snap-<DIGIT>-<old-label> . ESX Server logical volume manager sees the VMFS datastore as a snapshot of the original datastore.
   
   Caution: Perform a rescan from the service console only. Do not use the VI Client for this task because the process will rescan and therefore resignature all the VMFS datastores including the ones on shared storage. This creates a snapshot of the datastores on the shared storage and makes them inaccessible.
   
   
7. Rename your VMFS datastore (now visible as a snapshot) to the original name associated with your storage from the VI Client.
   
   
8. Disable resignaturing by setting its value to 0:
   
   $ esxcfg-advcfg –s 0 /LVM/EnableResignature
   
   
9. Using VI Client, browse the local VMFS datastores and add your virtual machines to the inventory.