The task demonstrates how to use VOMA to check VMFS metadata consistency. VOMA can be used to check and fix minor inconsistency issues for a VMFS datastore or a virtual flash resource. Run VOMA from the CLI of an ESXi host.

Prerequisites

Power off any virtual machines that are running or migrate them to a different datastore.

Procedure

  1. Obtain the name and partition number of the device that backs the VMFS datastore that you want to check.
    #esxcli storage vmfs extent list
    The Device Name and Partition columns in the output identify the device. For example:
    Volume Name  .....  Device Name                             Partition  
    1TB_VMFS6    .....  naa.xxxx                                   3
  2. Check for VMFS errors.

    Provide the absolute path to the device partition that backs the VMFS datastore, and provide a partition number with the device name. For example:

    # voma -m vmfs -f check -d /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.xxxx:x

    The output lists possible errors. For example, the following output indicates that the heartbeat address is invalid.

    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    Phase 2: Checking VMFS heartbeat region
     ON-DISK ERROR: Invalid HB address
    Phase 3: Checking all file descriptors.
    Phase 4: Checking pathname and connectivity.
    Phase 5: Checking resource reference counts.
    
    Total Errors Found:           1