Add and Remove vSAN Storage

You can use ESXCLI commands to add and remove vSAN storage. You can also retrieve information about the vSAN storage configuration.

Procedure

1. Add an HDD or data disk for use by vSAN.

   esxcli vsan storage add --disks <device_name>

   Note: The command expects an empty disk, which is partitioned or formatted. Specify a device name, for example, mpx.vmhba2:C0:T1:L0.
2. Add an SSD disk for use by vSAN.

   esxcli vsan storage add --ssd <device_name>

   Note: The command expects an empty disk, which is partitioned or formatted. Specify a device name, for example, mpx.vmhba2:C0:T1:L0.
3. List the vSAN storage configuration. You can display the complete list, or filter to show only a single device.

   esxcli vsan storage list --device <device>

4. Remove disks or disk groups.
   Note: You can remove disks or disk groups only when vSAN is in manual mode. For the automatic disk claim mode, the remove action is not supported.
   • Remove an individual vSAN disk.

     esxcli vsan storage remove --disk <device_name>

     Instead of specifying the device name, you can specify the UUID if you include the --uuid option.
   • Remove a disk group's SSD and each of its backing HDD drives from vSAN usage.

     esxcli vsan storage remove --ssd <device_name>

     Instead of specifying the device name, you can specify the UUID if you include the --uuid option. Any SSD that you remove from vSAN becomes available for such features as Flash Read Cache.