Knowledge Base

• VMware vSphere Client
• Command line

ESXi 5.x

1. Log in to the vSphere Client and select the server from the inventory panel.
2. Click the Configuration tab and click Storage in the Hardware panel.
3. Click Add Storage.
4. Select the Disk/LUN storage type and click Next.
5. From the list of LUNs, select the LUN that has a datastore name displayed in the VMFS Label column and click Next.
   
   Note: The name present in the VMFS Label column indicates that the LUN is a copy that contains a copy of an existing VMFS datastore.
   
   
6. Under Mount Options, these options are displayed:
   
   • Keep Existing Signature  - Persistently mount the LUN (for example, mount LUN across reboots)
   • Assign a New Signature  - Resignature the LUN
   • Format the disk  - Re-format the LUN.
     
     Note: This option will delete any existing data on the LUN.
     
     
7. Select the desired option for your volume.
8. In the Ready to Complete page, review the datastore configuration information and click Finish.

• To list the volumes detected as snapshots, run this command:
  
  # esxcli storage vmfs snapshot list
  
  The output appears similar to:
  
  49d22e2e-996a0dea-b555-001f2960aed8
     Volume Name: VMFS_1
     VMFS UUID: 4e26f26a-9fe2664c-c9c7-000c2988e4dd
     Can mount: true
     Reason for un-mountability:
     Can resignature: true
     Reason for non-resignaturability:
     Unresolved Extent Count: 1
  
  
• To mount a snapshot/replica LUN that is persistent across reboots:
  
  # esxcli storage vmfs snapshot mount -l <label>|-u <uuid>
  
  For example:
  
  # esxcli storage vmfs snapshot mount -l "VMFS_1"
  # esxcli storage vmfs snapshot mount -u "49d22e2e-996a0dea-b555-001f2960aed8"
  
  
• To mount a snapshot/replica LUN that is NOT persistent across reboots:
  
  # esxcli storage vmfs snapshot mount -n -l <label>|-u <uuid>
  
  For example:
  
  # esxcli storage vmfs snapshot mount -n -l "VMFS_1"
  # esxcli storage vmfs snapshot mount -n -u "49d22e2e-996a0dea-b555-001f2960aed8"
  
  
  
• To resignature a snapshot/replica LUN:
  
  # esxcli storage vmfs snapshot resignature -l <label>|-u <uuid>
  
  For example:
  
  # esxcli storage vmfs snapshot resignature -l "VMFS_1"
  # esxcli storage vmfs snapshot resignature -u "49d22e2e-996a0dea-b555-001f2960aed8"

ESX/ESXi 4.x

1. Log in to the vSphere Client and select the server from the inventory panel.
2. Click the Configuration tab
3. Click Storage in the Hardware panel.
4. Click Add Storage.
5. Select the Disk/LUN storage type and click Next.
6. From the list of LUNs, select the LUN that has a datastore name displayed in the VMFS Label column and click Next.
   Note: The name present in the VMFS Label column indicates that the LUN is a copy that contains a copy of an existing VMFS datastore.
   
   
7. Under Mount Options, these options are displayed:
   
   • Keep Existing Signature  - The VMFS Metadata will not change. The volume will be detected as a snapshot after the reboot. All other hosts accessing this device/LUN will continue to see this as a snapshot volume. (To mount it persistently, see the Command Line section)
   • Assign a New Signature  - Resignature the LUN
   • Format the disk  - Re-format the LUN.
     Note: This option will delete any existing data on the LUN.
     
     
8. Select desired option for your volume.
   
   
9. In the Ready to Complete page, review the datastore configuration information and click Finish.

• Execute this command to list the volumes that are detected as snapshots/replicas:
  
  # esxcfg-volume -l
  
  The output appears similar to:
  
  VMFS3 UUID/label: 49d22e2e-996a0dea-b555-001f2960aed8/VMFS_1
  Can mount: Yes
  Can resignature: Yes
  Extent name: naa.60a98000503349394f3450667a744245:1 range: 0 - 97023 (MB)
  
  Here the Datastore UUID is 49d22e2e-996a0dea-b555-001f2960aed8 and its last label is VMFS_1.
  
  
• To mount the volume without performing a resignaturing of that volume (this volume is unmounted when the ESX host is rebooted), run this command:
  
  # esxcfg-volume -m <VMFS UUID|label>
  
  For example:
  
  # esxcfg-volume -m "VMFS_1"
  # esxcfg-volume -m "49d22e2e-996a0dea-b555-001f2960aed8"
  
  
• To mount the volume without performing a resignaturing of that volume (this volume is mounted when the ESX host is rebooted), run this command:
  
  # esxcfg-volume -M <VMFS UUID|label>
  
  For example:
  
  # esxcfg-volume -M "VMFS_1"
  # esxcfg-volume -M "49d22e2e-996a0dea-b555-001f2960aed8"
  
  
• Run this command to resignature the volume (the volume is mounted immediately after the resignature):
  
  # esxcfg-volume -r <VMFS UUID|label>
  
  For example:
  
  # esxcfg-volume -r "VMFS_1"
  # esxcfg-volume -r "49d22e2e-996a0dea-b555-001f2960aed8"