When you need the host to access the masked storage device, unmask the paths to the device.

Note: When you run an unclaim operation using a device property, for example, device ID or vendor, the paths claimed by the MASK_PATH plug-in are not unclaimed. The MASK_PATH plug-in does not track any device property of the paths that it claims.

Prerequisites

Install ESXCLI. See Getting Started with ESXCLI. For troubleshooting, run esxcli commands in the ESXi Shell.

Procedure

  1. Delete the MASK_PATH claim rule.
    esxcli storage core claimrule remove -r rule#
  2. Verify that the claim rule was deleted correctly.
    esxcli storage core claimrule list
  3. Reload the path claiming rules from the configuration file into the VMkernel.
    esxcli storage core claimrule load
  4. Run the esxcli storage core claiming unclaim command for each path to the masked storage device.
    For example:

    esxcli storage core claiming unclaim -t location -A vmhba0 -C 0 -T 0 -L 149

  5. Run the path claiming rules.
    esxcli storage core claimrule run

Results

Your host can now access the previously masked storage device.