Knowledge Base

1. Run this command and identify the device to be tagged and its SATP:
   
   # esxcli storage nmp device list
   
   You see an output similar to:
   
   naa.6006016015301d00167ce6e2ddb3de11
   Device Display Name: DGC Fibre Channel Disk (naa.6006016015301d00167ce6e2ddb3de11)
   Storage Array Type: VMW_SATP_CX
   Storage Array Type Device Config: {navireg ipfilter}
   Path Selection Policy: VMW_PSP_MRU
   Path Selection Policy Device Config: Current Path=vmhba4:C0:T0:L25
   Working Paths: vmhba4:C0:T0:L25
   
   In this sample output, the SATP is VMW_SATP_CX.
   
   Note: If you have the SSD drives in the RAID 1 setup, the RAID controller does not pass the correct parameters. This could be a a potential issue while getting the information for particular device. 
   
   
2. Run this command to add a PSA claim rule to mark the device as SSD:
   
   # esxcli storage nmp satp rule add --satp SATP --device
   
   For example
   
   # esxcli storage nmp satp rule add --satp VMW_SATP_CX --device
   
   You see an output similar to:
   
   naa.6006016015301d00167ce6e2ddb3de11  --option "enable_ssd"
   
   
3. Run this command to unclaim the device:
   
   # esxcli storage core claiming unclaim --type device --device naa.ID
   
   
4. Run this command to reclaim the device:
   
   # esxcli storage core claimrule load
   # esxcli storage core claimrule run 
   
   
5. Run this command to check the SSD status:
   
   # esxcli storage core device list -d naa.ID
   
   You should see an output similar to:
   
   naa.6006016042fa19010a12d9b16d6ade11
       Display Name: DGC Fibre Channel Disk (naa.6006016042fa19010a12d9b16d6ade11)
       Size: 204800
       Device Type: Direct-Access
       Multipath Plugin: NMP
       Devfs Path: /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.6006016042fa19010a12d9b16d6ade11
       Vendor: DGC
       Model: RAID 5
       Revision: 0220
       SCSI Level: 4
       Is Pseudo: false
       Status: on
       Is RDM Capable: true
       Is Local: false
       Is Removable: false
            Is SSD: true  
            Is Thin Provisioned: unsupported
       Attached Filters:
       VAAI Status: unknown
       Other UIDs:       
       vml.02000100006006016042fa19010a12d9b16d6ade11524149442035

Notes:

• You can also use a generic vendor model notation instead of device/LUN. For example:
  
  # esxcli storage nmp satp rule add --satp VMW_SATP_CX --vendor "foo" --model "bar" --option "enable_ssd"
  
  
• Ensure not to change the SATP that would have been normally required for the device to function.
• To untag the device, you need to do the whole process in reverse. You need to remove the claimrule, unclaim the device, load the claimrules again, and then reclaim.
• You must reboot the ESXi host to tag the local datastore (if ESXi is installed locally) as the SSD drive.