Veritas Volume Manager (VxVM) VMware environments report clone_disk and udid_mismatch flags in connection with VCS VMwareDisks agent

Problem

Veritas Volume Manager (VxVM) VMware environments report clone_disk and udid_mismatch flags in connection with Veritas Cluster (VCS) VMwareDisks agent. The VMDK disks are marked with clone_disk and udid_mismatch flags if VMWARE Virtual Machine properties are not set correctly.

 

Error Message

This may lead to DG import failure because of clone/udid_mismatch flags on the disk.

Sample output
 

root@server101 ~]# vxdisk list
DEVICE          TYPE            DISK         GROUP        STATUS
sda          auto:LVM        -            -            LVM
sdaf         auto:cdsdisk    sdaf         testdg       online
sdag         auto:cdsdisk    sdag         testdg       online
 

[root@server101 ~]#  vxdisk -o udid list | egrep 'sdaf|sdag'
sdaf         VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5FOTHER%5FDISKS%5Fserver101%5F%2Fdev%2Fsdaf VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5FOTHER%5FDISKS%5Fserver101%5F%2Fdev%2Fsdaf -
sdag         VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5FOTHER%5FDISKS%5Fserver101%5F%2Fdev%2Fsdag VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5FOTHER%5FDISKS%5Fserver101%5F%2Fdev%2Fsdag -

[root@server102 ~]# vxdisk -o udid list | egrep 'sdaf|sdag'
sdaf         VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5FOTHER%5FDISKS%5Fserver102%5F%2Fdev%2Fsdaf VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5FOTHER%5FDISKS%5Fserver102%5F%2Fdev%2Fsdaf -
sdag         VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5FOTHER%5FDISKS%5Fserver102%5F%2Fdev%2Fsdag VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5FOTHER%5FDISKS%5Fserver102%5F%2Fdev%2Fsdag -
 

Cause
 

If the disk.EnableUUID parameter is not set to "TRUE" in VMware Virtual Machine (VM) properties. SCSI inquiries against VMDK disks become impossible for such devices.

Therefore, all these device types will get claimed under other_disks category, and hence the udid_mismatch and clone_disk flags will be set.

How to identify the issue:

# vxdisk -o udid list

Execute diagnostic utility

# /etc/vx/diag.d/vxcheckasl.

In the generated output, check for libvxvmdk related messages.
 

Sample Error

libvxvmdk: Pages 0x83 not implemented. Verify that 'disk.EnableUUID' parameter is set to TRUE in VMware Virtual Machine Properties for /dev/sda
 

Solution

Set the parameter disk.EnableUUID to "TRUE" in VMware Virtual Machine properties.

For each Virtual Machine (VM) participating in the cluster, the disk.EnableUUID parameter must be set to "TRUE" for each virtual machine

The disk.EnableUUID parameter is necessary to ensure the VMDK disk always presents a consistent UUID to all virtual machines


Sample Output

Now with disk.EnableUUID set to "TRUE":
 

[root@server101 ~]# vxdisk -o udid list
DEVICE            PRIV_REGION_UDID                                                  DDL_UDID                                                           ATTR
sda               -                                                                 VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5FOTHER%5FDISKS%5Fserver101%5F%2Fdev%2Fsda - invalid
server101_vmdk0_0 VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5Fvmdk%5F6000C296EB5FE7F23E4A8FF7B52DB5EC VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5Fvmdk%5F6000C296EB5FE7F23E4A8FF7B52DB5EC  -
server101_vmdk0_1 VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5Fvmdk%5F6000C29E8B65611C0FF9D639E55D83E5 VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5Fvmdk%5F6000C29E8B65611C0FF9D639E55D83E5  -
 

[root@server102 ~]# vxdisk -o udid list
DEVICE            PRIV_REGION_UDID                                                  DDL_UDID                                                           ATTR
sda               -                                                                 VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5FOTHER%5FDISKS%5Fserver102%5F%2Fdev%2Fsda - invalid
server102_vmdk0_0 VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5Fvmdk%5F6000C296EB5FE7F23E4A8FF7B52DB5EC VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5Fvmdk%5F6000C296EB5FE7F23E4A8FF7B52DB5EC  -
server102_vmdk0_1 VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5Fvmdk%5F6000C29E8B65611C0FF9D639E55D83E5 VMware%5FVirtual%20disk%5Fvmdk%5F6000C29E8B65611C0FF9D639E55D83E5  -

 

Follow the steps below from the vSphere client to enable the disk UUID on each Virtual Machine:
 

Enabling disk UUID on virtual machines
 

1. Power off the guest

2. Select the guest and select Edit Settings

3. Select the Options tab on top

4. Select General under the Advanced section

5. Select the Configuration Parameters... on right hand side

6. Check to see if the parameter disk.EnableUUID is set, if it is there then make sure it is set to TRUE
If the parameter is not there, select Add Row and add it

7. Power on the guest

Applies To

Storage Foundation in guest with VMWARE.