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Unable to create a VMFS3 partition on a metaLUN or LUSE LUN
Details
This article troubleshoots a situation where you are unable to create a VMFS3 volume/partition on a LUN that is made out of multiple logical devices. This is typically referred to as a meta LUN or a LUSE LUN.
In some instances, the first logical device that makes up this LUN may be corrupt or may contain invalid VMFS header information from a previous configuration. This can happen if this device was part of another metaLUN or LUSE LUN.
Solution
To create a VMFS3 partition on this LUN perform one of the following:
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Clear the LUN's partition table from within the ESX host:
Find out what device name this LUN is exported as.
esxcfg-vmhbadevs -qThe device name that is associated with your LUN has a name similar to /dev/sdX where X is one or more alphabetical letters. Issue the following command the clear the partition on this device:dd if=/dev/null of=/dev/sdX bs=512 count=1
Note: Extreme care must be taken when issuing the following command because it erases the partition on the device that you specify as the parameter "of=".
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If this is a metaLUN or a LUSE LUN which is made up of multiple logical devices, unpresent the LUN from the array side and change its first logical device. It is possible that the existing first logical device contains an invalid partition table, perhaps from a time when it was previously being used by non-ESX host. After this change is made, re-present this LUN back to the ESX host and rescan for new LUNs on the ESX host. The SAN administrator can make this change.
After either option try creating the VMFS volume.
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- KB Article: 1000286
- Updated: Aug 14, 2009
- Products:
VMware ESX - Product Versions:
VMware ESX 3.0.x