PowerFlex: SDS device stuck in "Remove-pending" state after removal operation

Summary: SDS devices stay in "Remove-pending" state for a long time after issuing a device removal command. This problem can manifest after removing one or more SDS devices.

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Symptoms

The device stays in the system. scli --query_sds states it is "Remove-pending":

# scli --query_sds --sds_name SDSx
(...)
Device information (total 1 devices):
         1: Name: /dev/sdb  Path: /dev/sdb  Original-path: /dev/sdb  ID: 657b5b5e00000000
                Storage Pool: sp1, Capacity: 108 GB, State: Remove-pending
                Scanned 658 MB, Unresolved Read errors: 0/0, Unresolved Compare errors: 0/0

Rebalance is disabled for the Storage Pool where we are removing the devices from:

scli --query_all
(...)
Storage Pool sp1 (Id: f5293c1100000000) has 4 volumes and 88.4 GB (90560 MB) free net capacity. 928.0 GB (950272 MB) volume allocation limit.
        The number of parallel rebuild/rebalance jobs: 2
        Rebuild is enabled and using Limit-Concurrent-IO policy with the following parameters:
          Number of concurrent IOs per device: 1
=>        Rebalance is disabled. <=

Cause

Rebalance is disabled on the Storage Pool level. Device removal operation is in fact a rebalance, so if it is disabled, the device removal will not progress.

 

Resolution

Enable rebalance for the Storage Pool.

 

Affected Products

PowerFlex Software
Article Properties
Article Number: 000183050
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 26 Nov 2025
Version:  7
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