APEX: PowerStore LUNs show as 0 bytes or unknown capacity on ESXi operating system.

Summary: PowerStore LUNs show as 0 bytes or unknown capacity on ESXi operating system. This is due to the LUNs being used as a Storage Array Controller Device (SACD) and Virtual Volume (vVol) physical end point. ...

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Symptoms

From the ESXi host perspective, the LUNs starting with na.68ccf numbers are showing capacity as 0 bytes or unknown capacity. 

Example screenshot: 
Esxi host screenshot

 
 
 

Cause

This is a known part of the PowerStore Host Configuration. 
Reference to the PowerStore Host Configuration Guide for LUN 0
Reference to the PowerStore Host Configuration Guide for LUN 254 and 255  

PowerStore exposes SACD by default, and it is under LUN 0.

PowerStore exposes vSphere Virtual Volumes LUN 254 and 255 for the vVol Physical Endpoint. 
These LUNs are not "real" LUNs that cannot be used for any volume mapping.

Resolution

It is intended for these LUNs to be shown as 0 bytes and unknown capacity. 
Validate that the LUNs numbers are shown as 0, 254, and 255 by checking using vCenter or esxcli.

vCenter instruction.
Choose ESXi host then click Configure. 
Click Storage Devices. 
Example screenshot:
vCenter storage devices screenshot

Run esxcli command.
Enable SSH on the host. 
Run the following command to only grab PowerStore LUNs. 
  
esxcli storage core path list | grep -A 4 naa.68ccf

Example command:  
[root@esxi01:~] esxcli storage core path list | grep -A 4 naa.68ccf
iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:esxi01:892308163:64-00023d000001,iqn.2015-10.com.dell:dellemc-powerstore-apm00214210928-a-02f4e4ab,t,1-naa.68ccf090000000003b095696e2b848a3
   UID: iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:esxi01:892308163:64-00023d000001,iqn.2015-10.com.dell:dellemc-powerstore-apm00214210928-a-02f4e4ab,t,1-naa.68ccf090000000003b095696e2b848a3
   Runtime Name: vmhba64:C0:T0:L0
   Device: naa.68ccf090000000003b095696e2b848a3
   Device Display Name: DellEMC iSCSI RAID Ctlr (naa.68ccf090000000003b095696e2b848a3)
   Adapter: vmhba64
   Channel: 0
   Target: 0
   LUN: 0
--
iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:esxi01:892308163:64-00023d000001,iqn.2015-10.com.dell:dellemc-powerstore-apm00214210928-b-2466cdf1,t,1-naa.68ccf098007635b66b047a2d0930b715
   UID: iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:esxi01:892308163:64-00023d000001,iqn.2015-10.com.dell:dellemc-powerstore-apm00214210928-b-2466cdf1,t,1-naa.68ccf098007635b66b047a2d0930b715
   Runtime Name: vmhba64:C0:T1:L254
   Device: naa.68ccf098007635b66b047a2d0930b715
   Device Display Name: DellEMC iSCSI Disk (naa.68ccf098007635b66b047a2d0930b715)
   Adapter: vmhba64
   Channel: 0
   Target: 1
   LUN: 254

The SACD LUN 0 can be masked by creating a volume, by setting the device LUN ID to 0. 
This requires the user to manually host rescan to discover the new device. 
 
 

Affected Products

APEX, PowerStore, APEX Data Storage Services, VMware ESXi 6.7.X, VMware ESXi 7.x
Article Properties
Article Number: 000204347
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 17 May 2023
Version:  3
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