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  • 1.  ESXi host does not have persistent storage / fsUUID is null

    Posted Feb 08, 2016 09:40 PM

    Hello,

    The issue I'm having involves a HP N40L Microserver w/ local storage on a HP SmartArray P410 controller.  6 HDDs are configured in a RAID10 array, and the ESXi host OS is operating on local USB stick.

    A recent issue w/ the raid array caused a crash of the resident VMs, and now the "ESXi host does not have persistent storage" message is displayed.

    I have resolved the HDD issues w/ the array (replaced a disk), and the array is shown under Devices as 'HP Serial Attached SCSIDisk'.  Identifier is naa.600508b1001c8d82bf5f4a33f0e2bc04

    However, the datastore does not show up in the Datastores tab.  I have refreshed and rebooted multiple times w/ no success.

    This datastore was running on an ESXi 5.1 install (HP customized ISO) for a couple of years w/out issue.

    To try and resolve the issue, I installed ESXi 6.0 U1 on a fresh USB stick that is now happily running in the Microserver, but exhibiting the same behavior regarding the Datastore.

    Output from esxcli storage filesystem list -

    Mount Point                                    Volume Name  UUID                             Mounted  Type   Size   Free

    -------------------------------------------------  -----------  -----------------------------------  -------  ----  ---------  ---------

    /vmfs/volumes/56b8f1c5-732f51cf-68ec-a0b3cce4eb3a           56b8f1c5-732f51cf-68ec-a0b3cce4eb3a true  vfat  299712512   88342528
    /vmfs/volumes/bd8588e2-04362b85-e425-db3beeb1519c           bd8588e2-04362b85-e425-db3beeb1519c true  vfat  261853184  261844992
    /vmfs/volumes/fd2695e7-253111b8-b8f2-4a0b47e4542e           fd2695e7-253111b8-b8f2-4a0b47e4542e true  vfat  261853184   69287936

    Output from esxcfg-scsidevs -c -

    Device UID                        Device Type  Console Device                        Size  Multipath PluginDisplay Name
    mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0              Direct-Access /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0  15484MB   NMP Local USB Direct-Access (mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0)
    naa.600508b1001c8d82bf5f4a33f0e2bc04  Direct-Access                                          11446225MBNMP HP Serial Attached SCSI Disk (naa.600508b1001c8d82bf5f4a33f0e2bc04)

    I am trying to go back through the list of commands I have tried to get more information, and at one point received a "fsUUID is null" response when trying to query the naa identifier.

    All input welcome, thanks.



  • 2.  RE: ESXi host does not have persistent storage / fsUUID is null

    Posted Feb 09, 2016 09:13 AM

    I had similar problem.

    I was booting off ESXi of usb disk. When connected to ESXi, I got a "does not have persistent storage" message or something similar.

    What I did was allocating  a datastore for the system logs and the message never came back.

    Dan



  • 3.  RE: ESXi host does not have persistent storage / fsUUID is null

    Posted Feb 09, 2016 03:24 PM

    Can you run this command
    dd if=/dev/disks/naa.600508b1001c8d82bf5f4a33f0e2bc04  bs=1M | gzip > /tmp/eay.30.gz
    and attach eay.30.gz to your next reply ?
    Did you check the partitiontable ?
    partedUtil getptbl /dev/disks/naa.600508b1001c8d82bf5f4a33f0e2bc04

    Ulli



  • 4.  RE: ESXi host does not have persistent storage / fsUUID is null

    Posted Feb 09, 2016 03:56 PM

    Good Morning,

    Thank You for the replies.

    Regarding the dd command, it looked to me like that was going to gzip my entire datastore?  I took a look at it in WinSCP, and stopped it at 22mb...

    Output from partedUtil -

    partedUtil getptbl /dev/disks/naa.600508b1001c8d82bf5f4a33f0e2bc04

    gpt

    1459188 255 63 23441869232

    1 2048 23441868799 AA31E02A400F11DB9590000C2911D1B8 vmfs 0

    Thanks again for taking a look at this with me.

    Eddie



  • 5.  RE: ESXi host does not have persistent storage / fsUUID is null

    Posted Feb 09, 2016 05:34 PM

    Oops - sorry. I really forgot to add count=30
    I just wanted to look at the VMFS headers.
    The partitiontable looks fine to me.
    Lets check the VMFS-headers next.



  • 6.  RE: ESXi host does not have persistent storage / fsUUID is null

    Posted Feb 09, 2016 11:24 PM

    Sounds good...

    I ran the dd command, and have attached the file here.

    Thanks again,

    Eddie



  • 7.  RE: ESXi host does not have persistent storage / fsUUID is null
    Best Answer

    Posted Feb 10, 2016 02:58 PM

    Please tell me what FreeNas has to do with this ?
    I would suggest that we have a closer look at this together. If you want - call me via skype
    Ulli



  • 8.  RE: ESXi host does not have persistent storage / fsUUID is null

    Posted Feb 10, 2016 03:58 PM

    That's an interesting question... this box had FreeNas on it as a test a few years ago?  I believe I may have experimented also with having FreeNas as a VM at one point, but that didn't stick.

    The VMs that are on this datastore are Win2012 and Win7.

    I left a contact request on skype for you, and tried a voice call as well.  eddie_321

    Thanks,

    Eddie



  • 9.  RE: ESXi host does not have persistent storage / fsUUID is null

    Posted Feb 11, 2016 04:52 PM

    Ulli,

    Thanks again for all your help off-line in looking at my environment. 

    If I manage to blow up my new ESXi install I'll be sure to come find you for more help.  :smileyhappy:



  • 10.  RE: ESXi host does not have persistent storage / fsUUID is null

    Posted Feb 12, 2016 01:42 PM

    Short summary:
    We were able to read the datastore with vmfs-fuse - but not all directories were healthy.
    In fact inly a small VM that we did not care about was visible.
    I then tried to find further VMs manually.
    I found it but unfortunately each of the 4 x 2TB vmdks were so heavily fragmented that it would be too time consuming ( and too expensive) to carve them out manually with dd.
    So Eddie decided to rebuild from scratch.
    Ulli