ESXi Notes

 


VMware USB Arbitration Service: Allows USB devices plugged into the HOST to be usable by the guest.

VMFS on USB is NOT officially supported by VMware


Check Arbitrator service status, it is ON by default, here it is OFF


[root@HomeESXi:~] chkconfig usbarbitrator --list

usbarbitrator           off


insert USB drive, new USB drives start with mpx.vmhba

[root@HomeESXi:~] ls /dev/disks
mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0                                          vml.0000000000766d68626133323a303a30
mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:1                                        vml.0000000000766d68626133323a303a30:1
mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:2                                        vml.0000000000766d68626133323a303a30:2
mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0                                          vml.0000000000766d68626133333a303a30
mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0:1                                        vml.0000000000766d68626133333a303a30:1
mpx.vmhba34:C0:T0:L0                                          vml.0000000000766d68626133343a303a30
mpx.vmhba34:C0:T0:L0:1                                        vml.0000000000766d68626133343a303a30:1
naa.600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811                          vml.0200000000600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811536572766552
naa.600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811:1                        vml.0200000000600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811536572766552:1
naa.600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811:2                        vml.0200000000600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811536572766552:2
naa.600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811:3                        vml.0200000000600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811536572766552:3
naa.600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811:5                        vml.0200000000600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811536572766552:5
naa.600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811:6                        vml.0200000000600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811536572766552:6
naa.600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811:7                        vml.0200000000600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811536572766552:7
naa.600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811:8                        vml.0200000000600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811536572766552:8
naa.600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811:9                        vml.0200000000600605b002beb2f001e289e02fc51811536572766552:9
naa.600605b002beb2f029a3c473294af397                          vml.0200000000600605b002beb2f029a3c473294af397536572766552
naa.600605b002beb2f029a3c473294af397:1                        vml.0200000000600605b002beb2f029a3c473294af397536572766552:1

Check passthrough USB device list

[root@HomeESXi:~] esxcli hardware usb passthrough device list
Bus Dev VendorId ProductId Enabled Can Connect to VM Name
--- --- -------- --------- ------- --------------------------------- -----------------------------------
3 2 2109 715 false no (usbarbitrator is not running) VIA Labs, Inc.
3 3 1058 2627 false no (usbarbitrator is not running) Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
4 2 4b3 4010 false no (usbarbitrator is not running) IBM Corp.
7 2 d49 3200 false no (usbarbitrator is not running) Maxtor Personal Storage 3200
[root@HomeESXi:~]

Enable USBarbitrator

/etc/init.d/usbarbitrator start



Disable passthrough for the specific USB device by specifying Bus, Dev, VendorID and ProductID


esxcli hardware usb passthrough device disable -d 3:3:1058:2627


[root@HomeESXi:~] esxcli hardware usb passthrough device list
Bus  Dev  VendorId  ProductId  Enabled  Can Connect to VM          Name
---  ---  --------  ---------  -------  -------------------------  -----------------------------------
3    2    2109      715          false  no (passthrough disabled)  VIA Labs, Inc.
3    3    1058      2627         false  no (passthrough disabled)  Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
4    2    4b3       4010         false  no (passthrough disabled)  IBM Corp.
7    2    d49       3200         false  no (passthrough disabled)  Maxtor Personal Storage 3200

Create USB datastore greater than 2TB

https://williamlam.com/2022/02/creating-a-vmfs-datastore-greater-than-2tb-on-a-usb-device-in-esxi.html

DEVICE_PATH="/vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba34:C0:T0:L0"

partedUtil mklabel ${DEVICE_PATH} msdos

END_SECTOR=$(eval expr $(partedUtil getptbl ${DEVICE_PATH} | tail -1 | awk '{print $1 " \\* " $2 " \\* " $3}') - 1)

/sbin/partedUtil "setptbl" "${DEVICE_PATH}" "gpt" "1 2048 ${END_SECTOR} AA31E02A400F11DB9590000C2911D1B8 0"

/sbin/vmkfstools -C vmfs6 -b 1m -S usb-datastore ${DEVICE_PATH}:1

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