Use the esxcli command to list available multipathing claim rules.

Claim rules indicate whether the NMP multipathing plug-in or a third-party MPP manages a given physical path. Each claim rule identifies a set of paths based on the following parameters:

  • Vendor/model strings
  • Transportation, such as SATA, IDE, Fibre Channel
  • Adapter, target, or LUN location
  • Device driver, for example, Mega-RAID

In the procedure, --server=server_name specifies the target server. The specified target server prompts you for a user name and password. Other connection options, such as a configuration file or session file, are supported. For a list of connection options, see Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces.

Prerequisites

Install vCLI or deploy the vSphere Management Assistant (vMA) virtual machine. See Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces. For troubleshooting, run esxcli commands in the ESXi Shell.

Procedure

  • ♦ List the multipathing claim rules by running the esxcli --server=server_name storage core claimrule list --claimrule-class=MP command.

Example: Sample Output of the esxcli storage core claimrule list Command

Rule Class  Rule   Class    Type       Plugin     Matches
MP          0      runtime  transport  NMP        transport=usb
MP          1      runtime  transport  NMP        transport=sata
MP          2      runtime  transport  NMP        transport=ide
MP          3      runtime  transport  NMP        transport=block
MP          4      runtime  transport  NMP        transport=unknown
MP          101    runtime  vendor     MASK_PATH  vendor=DELL model=Universal Xport
MP          101    file     vendor     MASK_PATH  vendor=DELL model=Universal Xport
MP          200    runtime  vendor     MPP_1      vendor=NewVend model=* 
MP          200    file     vendor     MPP_1      vendor=NewVend model=* 
MP          201    runtime  location   MPP_2      adapter=vmhba41 channel=* target=* lun=* 
MP          201    file     location   MPP_2      adapter=vmhba41 channel=* target=* lun=* 
MP          202    runtime  driver     MPP_3      driver=megaraid 
MP          202    file     driver     MPP_3      driver=megaraid 
MP          65535  runtime  vendor     NMP        vendor=* model=*
This example indicates the following:
  • The NMP claims all paths connected to storage devices that use the USB, SATA, IDE, and Block SCSI transportation.
  • You can use the MASK_PATH module to hide unused devices from your host. By default, the PSA claim rule 101 masks Dell array pseudo devices with a vendor string DELL and a model string Universal Xport.
  • The MPP_1 module claims all paths connected to any model of the NewVend storage array.
  • The MPP_3 module claims the paths to storage devices controlled by the Mega-RAID device driver.
  • Any paths not described in the previous rules are claimed by NMP.
  • The Rule Class column in the output describes the category of a claim rule. It can be MP (multipathing plug-in), Filter, or VAAI.
  • The Class column shows which rules are defined and which are loaded. The file parameter in the Class column indicates that the rule is defined. The runtime parameter indicates that the rule has been loaded into your system. For a user-defined claim rule to be active, two lines with the same rule number should exist, one line for the rule with the file parameter and another line with runtime. Several low numbered rules, have only one line with the Class of runtime. These are system-defined claim rules that you cannot modify.