Unmounting a LUN using the command line
To unmount a LUN from an ESXi 5.x/6.0 host using the command line:
Now unmount the datastore by running this command:
# esxcli storage filesystem unmount [-u UUID | -l label | -p path ]
For example, use one of these commands to unmount the LUN01 datastore:
# esxcli storage filesystem unmount -l LUN01
# esxcli storage filesystem unmount -u 4e414917-a8d75514-6bae-0019b9f1ecf4
# esxcli storage filesystem unmount -p /vmfs/volumes/4e414917-a8d75514-6bae-0019b9f1ecf4
Note: If the VMFS filesystem you are attempting to unmount has active I/O or has not fulfilled the prerequisites to unmount the VMFS datastore, you see an error in the VMkernel logs similar to:
WARNING: VC: 637: unmounting opened volume ('4e414917-a8d75514-6bae-0019b9f1ecf4' 'LUN01') is not allowed.
VC: 802: Unmount VMFS volume f530 28 2 4e414917a8d7551419006bae f4ecf19b 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 : Busy
To verify that the datastore is unmounted, run this command:
# esxcli storage filesystem list
You see output similar to:
Mount Point Volume Name UUID Mounted Type Size Free
------------------------------------------------- ----------- ----------------------------------- ------- ------ ----------- -----------
/vmfs/volumes/4de4cb24-4cff750f-85f5-0019b9f1ecf6 datastore1 4de4cb24-4cff750f-85f5-0019b9f1ecf6 true VMFS-5 140660178944 94577360896
/vmfs/volumes/4c5fbff6-f4069088-af4f-0019b9f1ecf4 Storage2 4c5fbff6-f4069088-af4f-0019b9f1ecf4 true VMFS-3 146028888064 7968129024
/vmfs/volumes/4c5fc023-ea0d4203-8517-0019b9f1ecf4 Storage4 4c5fc023-ea0d4203-8517-0019b9f1ecf4 true VMFS-3 146028888064 121057050624
LUN01 4e414917-a8d75514-6bae-0019b9f1ecf4 false VMFS-unknown version 0 0
The Mounted field is set to false, the Type field is set to VMFS-unknown version, and that no Mount Point exists.
Note: The unmounted state of the VMFS datastore persists across reboots. This is the default behavior. If you need to unmount a datastore temporarily, you can do so by appending the --no-persist flag to the unmount command.
To detach the device/LUN, run this command:
# esxcli storage core device set --state=off -d NAA_ID
To verify that the device is offline, run this command:
# esxcli storage core device list -d NAA_ID
You see output, which shows that the Status of the disk is off, similar to:
naa.60a98000572d54724a34655733506751
Display Name: NETAPP Fibre Channel Disk (naa.60a98000572d54724a34655733506751)
Has Settable Display Name: true
Size: 1048593
Device Type: Direct-Access
Multipath Plugin: NMP
Devfs Path: /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.60a98000572d54724a34655733506751
Vendor: NETAPP
Model: LUN
Revision: 7330
SCSI Level: 4
Is Pseudo: false
Status: off
Is RDM Capable: true
Is Local: false
Is Removable: false
Is SSD: false
Is Offline: false
Is Perennially Reserved: false
Thin Provisioning Status: yes
Attached Filters:
VAAI Status: unknown
Other UIDs: vml.020000000060a98000572d54724a346557335067514c554e202020
This device is now successfully detached from the host. It remains visible the UI at this point.
If the device is to be permanently decommissioned, it is now possible to unpresent the LUN from the SAN.
To rescan all devices on the ESXi host, run this command:
# esxcli storage core adapter rescan [ -A vmhba# | --all ]
The devices are automatically removed from the Storage Adapters.
Notes:
A rescan must be run on all hosts that had visibility to the removed LUN.
When the device is detached, it stays in an unmounted state even if the device is re-presented (that is, the detached state is persistent). To bring the device back online, the device must be attached. To do this via the command line, run this command:
# esxcli storage core device set --state=on -d NAA_ID
If the device is to be permanently decommissioned from an ESXi host, (that is, the LUN has been or will be destroyed), remove the NAA entries from the host configuration by running these commands:
To list the permanently detached devices:
# esxcli storage core device detached list
You see output similar to:
Device UID State
---------------------------- -----
naa.50060160c46036df50060160c46036df off
naa.6006016094602800c8e3e1c5d3c8e011 off
To permanently remove the device configuration information from the system:
# esxcli storage core device detached remove -d NAA_ID
For example:
# esxcli storage core device detached remove -d naa.50060160c46036df50060160c46036df
The reference to the device configuration is permanently removed from the ESXi host's configuration.
Note: If the device is detached but still presented (highlighted step was skipped), the preceding command fails to permanently remove the device from the system, and the device is automatically re-attached. You must complete highlighted step for the device to be permanently removed.
Reference: VMware KB# 2004605, 2004684