Growing a local datastore from the command line in vSphere ESX 4.x
Growing a local datastore from the command line in vSphere ESX 4.x
Purpose
VMFS
Datastores in vSphere 4.x can be increased in size by adding a new
extent on a different storage device (spanning), or by increasing the
size of the existing storage device and then growing the existing
datastore extent to fill that available adjacent capacity.
VMFS Datastore extents may be contained within Primary or Logical
partitions, following the MBR/EBR partitioning scheme. VMFS Datastores
on the ESX boot device are contained within a Logical partition, and
those on an ESXi boot device are contained within a Primary partition.
Datastore extents within a Primary partition on a non-Local storage
device can be grown into adjacent space using the vSphere Client. For
more information, see the Changing VMFS Datastore Properties section of the ESX/ESXi Server Configuration Guide for your version of vSphere.
Datastore extents within Extended and Logical partitions on a
Local or Boot storage device cannot be grown into adjacent space using
the vSphere Client. This is the default layout for an ESX 4.x
installation. This article provides steps for growing an existing VMFS
Datastore in a Logical partition to fill available adjacent space on the
local boot device.
Notes:
This article assumes that the underlying storage volume has already
had its capacity increased from the hardware perspective, possibly by
adding additional disk to a RAID set. For more information, engage your
hardware vendor.
A Datastore's partitions can only be grown into contiguous
adjacent space on the disk. Ensure that the partitions in question are
at the end of the disk.
Warning: Be very careful to not overlap the any Primary and Logical partitions. This could result in data loss.
Resolution
To
increase the size of a Datastore on a local boot storage device,
recreate the partition layout to accommodate the larger filesystem, and
then grow the Datastore to fill the larger partition.
Use the boot device hardware's management tools to add additional
disk capacity to the device. For more information, engage your hardware
vendor.
VMFS-3.33 file system spanning 1 partitions. File system label (if any): DatastoreName Mode: public Capacity 145223581696 (138496 file blocks * 1048576), 43937431552 (41902 blocks) avail UUID: 4a14d968-88bf7161-700f-00145ef48f76 Partitions spanned (on "lvm"): mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0:5
Note: To obtain this information for the Datastore containing the Service Console virtual disk (VMDK) on ESX, use the command: vmkfstools -P `esxcfg-init --cos-vmdk`
partedUtil get "/vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0"
For example, a disk containing an ESX 4.x installation with 4 existing partitions: 17834 255 63 286515200 - Geometry of the disk. Disk size in sectors is 286515200. 1 63 2249099 131 128 - Primary #1, Type 131=0x83=Linux, Bootable, Sectors 63-2239099 2 2249100 2474009 252 0 - Primary #2, Type 252=0xFC=VMKcore, Sectors 2249100-2474009 3 2474010 286487144 5 0 - Primary #3, Type 5=Extended, Sectors 2474010-286487144 5 2474073 286487144 251 0 - Logical #5, Type 251=0xFB=VMFS, Sectors 2474010-286487144 | | | | | | | | | \--- attribute | | | \------- type | | \----------------- ending sector | \------------------------- starting sector \--------------------------- partition number
Identify the partitions which need to be resized, and the size
of the space to be used. From the example in step 5, Logical Partition 5
is contained within Extended Partition 3, they are the last partitions
on the disk, and there is empty free space between them and the end of
the disk. For example:
Datastore
2474073
286487114
Logical Partition 5 Type 251 (VMFS)
63
2249099
2240100
2474009
2474010
286487114
286487145
286515199
Primary Partition 1
Primary Partition 2
Extended Partition 3
Type 5
Empty Space To Be Used
Identify the desired ending sector number for the target VMFS
Datastore's partitions. To use all space out to the end of the disk,
subtract 1 from the disk size in sectors as reported in step 5 to obtain
the last usable sector.
For example, Disk sector count 286515200 - 1 = 286515199 as the last usable sector.
Resize the partition(s) containing the target VMFS Datastore using the partedUtil command, specifying the existing starting sector of the partition and the desired ending sector:
The partition tables have been adjusted, but the VMFS Datastore
within the partitions is still the same size. There is now empty space
within the partition in which the VMFS Datastore can be grown. For
example:
Datastore
Empty Space
2474073
286515199
Logical Partition 5
Type 251 (VMFS), Now Larger
63
2249099
2240100
2474009
2474010
286515199
Primary Partition 1
Primary Partition 2
Extended Partition 3
Type 5, Now Larger
Grow the VMFS Datastore in to the new space using the vmkfstools --growfs command, specifying the partition containing the target VMFS Datastore twice.
