Use datastore resignaturing if you want to retain the data stored on the VMFS datastore copy. If you do not need to resignature the VMFS datastore copy, you can mount it without changing its signature.

Prerequisites

  • Perform a storage rescan on your host to update the view of storage devices presented to the host.
  • Unmount the original VMFS datastore that has the same UUID as the copy you plan to mount. You can mount the VMFS datastore copy only if it does not collide with the original VMFS datastore.

Procedure

  1. In the vSphere Client object navigator, browse to a host, a cluster, or a data center.
  2. From the right-click menu, select Storage > New Datastore.
  3. Select VMFS as the datastore type.
  4. Enter the datastore name and if necessary, select the placement location for the datastore.
  5. From the list of storage devices, select the device that has a specific value displayed in the Snapshot Volume column.
    The value present in the Snapshot Volume column indicates that the device is a copy that contains a copy of an existing VMFS datastore.
  6. Mount the datastore.
    Option Description
    Mount with resignaturing Under Mount Options, select Assign a New Signature and click Next .
    Mount without resignaturing Under Mount Options, select Keep Existing Signature.
  7. Review the datastore configuration information and click Finish.