VPLEX: Unable to unclaim and forget storage volumes that have been unmasked on the array

Summary: This article addresses an issue where storage volumes were removed directly from the backend array without following the recommended VPLEX procedure.

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Symptoms

Issue:

  • The correct procedure to forget storage-volumes on VPlex was not followed and the LUNs were removed/unmasked directly from the backend array.
  • Running the storage-volume forget command fails and storage-volume unclaim fails with "One or more given storage-volumes could not be unclaimed.  These storage-volumes may be in use or unavailable."
  • The storage volumes in question show as unreachable and unusable:  


Symptoms:

  • Storage-volume summary shows one or more storage-volumes as unreachable.
  • storage-volume summary reports unreachable and critical-failure for the related volumes:
VPlexcli:/> storage-volume summary 
SUMMARY (cluster-1)
StorageVolume Name                        IO Status    Operational Status  Health State
----------------------------------------  -----------  ------------------  ----------------
VPD83T3:600601603d903a00884779a43a123456  unreachable  error               critical-failure
VPD83T3:600601603d903a00b6d5d15a39234567  unreachable  error               critical-failure
  • The 'use' property of the storage-volume(s) is 'unusable'. It has to be set to 'claimed' before they can be unclaimed and set to 'unclaimed' before they can be forgotten.
VPlexcli:/> ll /clusters/cluster-1/storage-elements/storage-volumes
Name                                      VPD83 ID                                  Capacity  Use        Vendor  IO Status    Type         Thin     Provision
----------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------  --------  ---------  ------  -----------  -----------  Rebuild  Type
----------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------  --------  ---------  ------  -----------  -----------  -------  ---------
VPD83T3:600601603d903a00884779a43a123456  VPD83T3:600601603d903a00884779a43a123456  10T       unusable   -       unreachable  normal       true     vias
VPD83T3:600601603d903a00b6d5d15a39234567  VPD83T3:600601603d903a00b6d5d15a39234567  10T       unusable   -       unreachable  normal       true     vias

 

  • Forgetting the logical-unit with the -s argument (forget storage-volume) fails: 
VPlexcli:/> logical-unit forget -s --verbose -u VPD83T3:600601603d903a00884779a43a123456
WARNING: Error forgetting storage-volume: Firmware command error.
0 of 1 logical-units were forgotten.
0 of 1 storage-volumes were forgotten.
  • The show-use-hierarchy command shows that the storage-volume is not in use for any extent or device:
VPlexcli:/> show-use-hierarchy /clusters/cluster-1/storage-elements/storage-volumes/VPD83T3:600601603d903a00884779a43a123456
storage-volume: VPD83T3:600601603d903a00884779a43a123456 (10T, critical-failure)

 

  • The storage-volume unclaim command fails as the storage-volume is unavailable:
VPlexcli:/> storage-volume unclaim VPD83T3:600601603d903a00884779a43a123456
storage-volume unclaim:  Evaluation of <<storage-volume unclaim VPD83T3:600601603d903a00884779a43a123456>> failed.
cause:                   Failed to unclaim storage-volumes.
cause:                   One or more given storage-volumes could not be unclaimed.  These storage-volumes may be in use or unavailable.
  • The storage-volume forget command fails:
VPlexcli:/> storage-volume forget VPD83T3:600601603d903a00884779a43a123456
0 of 1 storage-volumes were forgotten.

 

Cause

The "storage-volume unclaim" command is failing as one of the internal commands "amg movespecificdisks" fails with "the specified storage is not in a spare pool".
There is a pie amf with no slices still above the disk which is the cause of this failure. 

Resolution

This situation will require the involvement of Customer Service. 
If you have encountered this situation, then please open a Service Request and specify this KB number.

Affected Products

VPLEX Series

Products

VPLEX Series, VPLEX VS1, VPLEX VS2
Article Properties
Article Number: 000171240
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 26 Nov 2025
Version:  3
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