Knowledge Base

Thin Provisioning Block Space Reclamation (VAAI UNMAP) does not work (2048466)
Symptoms
When using thin provisioned SAN LUN(s) with enough space on the datastore, and the The SAN array supplying the shared storage supports the vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI) primitive UNMAP:
Issuing the UNMAP command (using the vmkfstools -y command) to the array succeeds but the operation completes in a few seconds, regardless of the amount of space which could be reclaimed.
When you check the results of the UNMAP command, you see that nothing has changed on the SAN array; the usage of the thin provisioned LUN has not decreased.
Running the esxcli storage vmfs unmap -l datatsore command in vSphere 5.5 to UNMAP, you see an error similar to
FSDisk: 262: Issue of delete blocks failed [sync:1] numDescs 1 Address is not aligned on required boundary 0x412fc3750540
Cause
This issue is caused by a misaligned partition table. For VAAI to function properly, some arrays require specific alignment of the underlying partition.
The cause of the misalignment could be:
The volume is not native VMFS-5 (it has been converted from VMFS-3)
The partition table of the LUN has been created manually
Note: If the VMFS datastores are created using the vSphere Client or vCenter Server, it is likely that all requests will be aligned. If a LUN is incorrectly partitioned using low-level tools such as fdisk or
partedUtil, the operation might revert to using the software Data Mover.
For more information, see VMware vSphere Storage APIs Array Integration (VAAI) documentation (http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/VMware-vSphere-Storage-API-Array-Integration.pdf) .
Resolution
The VAAI primitive UNMAP only works on SAN arrays where the partition offset is a multiple of 1 MB.
To resolve this issue, create and use a VMFS-5 datastore:
Migrate any files off the upgraded VMFS-5 datastore using Storage vMotion or cloning. 1.
Delete the now empty upgraded datastore. 2.
Confirm that the LUN previously housing the problem datastore is now available for use in Add Storage. 3.
Create a native VMFS-5 datastore on the LUN. 4.
To confirm that VAAI UNMAP is now working correctly:
Create a test virtual machine on the new native VMFS-5 datastore. 1.
Delete the test virtual machine. 2.
Retry an UNMAP operation using the vmkfstools -y command. For ESXi 5.5 host, see Using ESXCLI in vSphere 5.5 to reclaim VMFS deleted blocks on thin-provisioned LUNs (2057513)
(search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=2057513) .
3.
You now see the space being reclaimed correctly on the thin provisioned SAN LUN. 4.
Note:
The vmkfstools -y command works regardless of the status of the EnableBlockDelete variable. EnableBlockDelete is used to disable/enable the automated space reclamation. For more
information, see Disabling VAAI Thin Provisioning Block Space Reclamation (UNMAP) in ESXi 5.0 (2007427) (search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=2007427) .
The vmkfstools -y command only works in vSphere 5.0 U1 or later and vSphere 5.1. For more information on UNMAP, see Using vmkfstools to reclaim VMFS deleted blocks on thin-provisioned
LUNs (2014849) (search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=2014849) .
Additional Information
Native VMFS-5 volumes have a GPT partition table. To determine if a LUN has a GPT partition table:
To check the partition type, run this command:
# esxcli storage core device partition showguid
Example output:
Device Partition Layout GUID
-------------------------------------------------------------
naa.6090a078607099871de8a463b767816c 0 MBR N/A
naa.6090a078607099871de8a463b767816c 1 MBR N/A
naa.6090a0c820f0398e9108b5a86a01c017 0 GPT 00000000000000000000000000000000
naa.6090a0c820f0398e9108b5a86a01c017 1 GPT aa31e02a400f11db9590000c2911d1b8
In this example, there are two LUNs:
LUN 1: VMFS-5 (upgraded from VMFS-3) MBR partition
Unique Identifier: naa.6090a078607099871de8a463b767816c
LUN 2: VMFS-5 (native VMFS-5) GPT partition
Unique Identifier: naa.6090a0c820f0398e9108b5a86a01c017
1.
To check the offset of the partitions, run this command:
# esxcli storage core device partition list
2.
VMware KB: Thin Provisioning Block Space Reclamation (VAAI ... http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en...
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Example output:
Device Partition Start Sector End Sector Type Size
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
naa.6090a078607099871de8a463b767816c 0 0 3221237760 0 1649273733120
naa.6090a078607099871de8a463b767816c 1 128 3221225280 fb 1649267277824
naa.6090a0c820f0398e9108b5a86a01c017 0 0 3221237760 0 1649273733120
naa.6090a0c820f0398e9108b5a86a01c017 1 2048 3221237727 fb 1649272667648
On LUN 1, the first partition has an offset of 128 sectors, which is 64 KB (128*512 bytes), while the first partition on LUN 2 (native VMFS-5 datastore with a GPT partition) has an offset of 2048 sectors,
which is 1 MB (2048*512 bytes).
See Also
Disabling the VAAI functionality in ESXi/ESX (1033665) ( http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1033665)
Disabling VAAI Thin Provisioning Block Space Reclamation (UNMAP) in ESXi 5.0 (2007427) ( http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2007427)
Using vmkfstools to reclaim VMFS deleted blocks on thin-provisioned LUNs (2014849) ( http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2014849)
Using esxcli in vSphere 5.5 to reclaim VMFS deleted blocks on thin-provisioned LUNs (2057513) ( http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2057513)
Request a Product Feature
To request a new product feature or to provide feedback on a VMware product, please visit the Request a Product Feature (http://www.vmware.com/contact/contactus.html?department=prod_request) page.
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KB: 2048466
Updated: Nov 20, 2013
Categories:
Troubleshooting
Languages:
English
Product(s):
VMware ESXi
Product Version(s):
VMware ESXi 5.0.x
VMware ESXi 5.1.x
VMware ESXi 5.5.x
VMware KB: Thin Provisioning Block Space Reclamation (VAAI ... http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en...
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