Cannot unmount or remove missing NFS Datastore

[netlib]

Using ESXi 5.5.  It used to have an NFS3 Datastore on a Windows Server that died.  So the Datastore shows up as inaccessible.  The Datastore was only used to hold ISO files that could be mapped to the virtual CD/DVD of a VM. There were never any virtual machines or virtual disks stored on it.

I am trying to unmount the NFS Datastore, but I keep getting the message "Datastore is still in use".   I went to settings in each VM on the host to make sure that the virtual CD/DVD was not pointing to the Datastore.  But still no luck.

Is there any way to remove a Datastore that no longer exists?

Thanks.

[EricChigoz]

Screen shot of this environment would help.

[a_p_]

went to settings in each VM on the host to make sure that the virtual CD/DVD was not pointing to the Datastore.

That's indeed the reason in most cases. However it's important to not only make sure that no VM points to this datastore (or an ISO on it), but also that no VM has active snapshots, which were created at a time when an ISO was still attached to that VM.

André

[netlib]

André, sorry for my ignorance, but what is an "active" snapshot?  Is that the currently selected snapshot (ie, "you are here")?  Or do I have to modify all snapshots that might point to the ISO?

[sjesse]

Do you have snapshots on any vm? If a snapshot was taken while an iso was mounted then was removed after taking the snapshot ,you have to delete that snapshot as it still has a reference to the snapshot.

[a_p_]

... but what is an "active" snapshot?

Sorry if I'm confusing you. Don't worry too much about "active". The way snapshots work in VMware products, all snapshots in a chain (i.e. one or more snapshots) are basically actively used in Read-Only mode.

If one of these snapshots had a reference to a datastore at the time it was created, VMware won't allow you to remove that datastore, because of the option that you could later revert to this snasphot, which may require access to files on that datastore.

André