The vCenter adapter provides alert definitions that generate alerts on the datastore objects in your environment.

Health/Critical

These alert definitions have the following impact and criticality information.

Impact
Health
Criticality
Critical
Alert Definition Symptom Recommendations
A storage device for a datastore has been detected to be off. Storage device has been turned off administratively (fault symptom). Ask the administrator about the device state. The fault will be resolved and the alert canceled if the device is turned on. If SCSI devices are detached or permanently removed, you must manually cancel the alert.
Datastore has lost connectivity to a storage device. Host(s) lost connectivity to storage device(s) (fault symptom). The storage device path, for example, vmhba35:C1:T0:L7, contains several potential failure points: Path Element | Failure Point --------------------------------------- vmhba35 | HBA (Host Bus Adapter) C1 | Channel T0 | Target (storage processor port) L7 | LUN (Logical Unit Number or Disk Unit).

To determine the cause of the failure or to eliminate possible problems: Identify the available storage paths to the reported storage device by running esxcfg-mpath - l. For more information, see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003973. Check that a rescan does not restore visibility to the targets. For information on rescanning the storage device by using the command-line interface and the vSphere Client, see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003988. Determine whether the connectivity issue is with the iSCSI storage or the fiber storage.

Troubleshoot the connectivity to the iSCSI storage by using the software initiator:
  1. Check whether a ping to the storage array fails from ESX. For more information, see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003486
  2. Check whether a vmkping to each network portal of the storage array fails. For more information, seehttp://kb.vmware.com/kb/10037828.
  3. Check that the initiator is registered on the array. For more information, contact your storage vendor.
  4. Check that the following physical hardware is functioning correctly: Ethernet switch, Ethernet cables between the switch and the ESX host, and Ethernet cables between the switch and the storage array.
To troubleshoot the connectivity to the fiber-attached storage, check the fiber switch. The fiber switch zoning configuration permits the ESX host to see the storage array. If you require assistance, contact your switch vendor. The fiber switch propagates RSCN messages to the ESX hosts. For more information about configuring the fiber switch, see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1002301.

Finally, check the following physical hardware: the storage processors on the array, the fiber switch and the Gigabit Interface Converter (GBIC) units in the switch, the fiber cables between the fiber switch and the array, and the array itself.

You must rescan after making changes to make sure that the targets are detected. If storage connectivity is restored for all of the affected host and storage device combinations, the fault is cleared and the alert canceled. If storage connectivity for the devices indicated is caused by a permanent loss or change, you must cancel the fault alert as a workaround. The alert will then be canceled automatically.

Health/Immediate

These alert definitions have the following impact and criticality information.

Impact
Health
Criticality
Immediate
Alert Definition Symptom Recommendations
Datastore has one or more hosts that have lost redundant paths to a storage device. Host(s) lost redundancy to storage device(s) (fault symptom). The storage device path, for example, vmhba35:C1:T0:L7, contains several potential failure points:

Path Element | Failure Point --------------------------------------- vmhba35 | HBA (Host Bus Adapter) C1 | Channel T0 | Target (storage processor port) L7 | LUN (Logical Unit Number or Disk Unit).

Use the following guidance to determine the cause of the failure or to eliminate possible problems. Identify the available storage paths to the reported storage device by running esxcfg-mpath - l. For more information, see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003973.

Check that a rescan does not restore visibility to the targets. For information on rescanning the storage device by using the command-line interface and the vSphere Client, see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003988.

Determine whether the connectivity issue is with the iSCSI storage or the fiber storage. Troubleshoot the connectivity to the iSCSI storage by using the software initiator:
  1. Check whether a ping to the storage array fails from ESX. For more information, seehttp://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003486.
  2. Check whether a vmkping to each network portal of the storage array fails. For more information, seehttp://kb.vmware.com/kb/10037828.
  3. Check that the initiator is registered on the array. For more information, contact your storage vendor.
  4. Check that the following physical hardware is functioning correctly: Ethernet switch, Ethernet cables between the switch and the ESX host, and Ethernet cables between the switch and the storage array.
To troubleshoot the connectivity to the fiber-attached storage, check the fiber switch. The fiber switch zoning configuration permits the ESX host to see the storage array. If you require assistance, contact your switch vendor. The fiber switch propagates RSCN messages to the ESX hosts. For more information about configuring the fiber switch, see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1002301.

Finally, check the following physical hardware: the storage processors on the array, the fiber switch and the Gigabit Interface Converter (GBIC) units in the switch, the fiber cables between the fiber switch and the array, and the array itself. You must rescan after making changes to make sure that the targets are detected. If storage connectivity is restored for all of the affected host and storage device combinations, the fault is cleared and the alert canceled. If storage connectivity for the devices indicated is caused by a permanent loss or change, you must cancel the fault alert as a workaround. The alert will be canceled automatically after that.

Risk/Symptom-Based

These alert definitions have the following impact and criticality information.

Impact
Risk
Criticality
Symptom-based
Alert Definition Symptom Recommendations
Datastore is running out of disk space. Symptoms include all of the following:
  • Datastore space usage reaching warning/immediate/critical level
  • ! Datastore space growth above DT
  • Datastore space time remaining is low
  1. Add more capacity to the datastore.
  2. Use vSphere vMotion to migrate some virtual machines to a different datastore.
  3. Delete unused snapshots of virtual machines from datastore.
  4. Delete any unused templates on the datastore.