Adding an Extent to a VMFS Datastore

Use the vmkfstools command to add an extent to a VMFS datastore.

When you add an extent, you span the VMFS datastore from the head partition across the partition specified by span_partition.

-Z|--spanfs span_partition head_partition

You must specify the full path name for the head and span partitions, for example /vmfs/devices/disks/disk_ID:1. Each time you use this option, you add an extent to the VMFS datastore, so that the datastore spans multiple partitions.

Caution: When you run this option, you lose all data that previously existed on the SCSI device you specified in span_partition.

Example for Extending a VMFS Datastore

In this example, you extend the existing head partition of the VMFS datastore over a new partition.

~ vmkfstools -Z /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.disk_ID_2:1 /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.disk_ID_1:1

The extended datastore spans two partitions, naa.disk_ID_1:1 and naa.disk_ID_2:1. In this example, naa.disk_ID_1:1 is the name of the head partition.