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Table Of Contents
Failure to Mount NFS Datastores
Attempts to mount NFS datastores with names in international languages result in failures.
Problem
The use of non-ASCII characters for directory and file names on NFS storage might cause unpredictable
behavior. For example, you might fail to mount an NFS datastore or not be able to power on a virtual
machine.
Cause
ESXi supports the use of non-ASCII characters for directory and file names on NFS storage, so you can
create datastores and virtual machines using names in international languages. However, when the
underlying NFS server does not offer internationalization support, unpredictable failures might occur.
Solution
Always make sure that the underlying NFS server offers internationalization support. If the server does not,
use only ASCII characters.
VMkernel Log Files Contain SCSI Sense Codes
Certain VMkernel messages related to storage might contain SCSI Sense codes.
Problem
When you analyze ESXi host's /var/log/vmkernel log files, you encounter events or error messages that
contain SCSI Sense codes.
Solution
Ability to interpret the SCSI Sense codes can help you better understand problems in your storage
environment. Because the SCSI Sense code values are assigned by the T10 committee, you need to consult
the T10 standards documentation to determine the meaning of the codes. This topic explains how to use the
T10 documentation to interpret the SCSI Sense codes.
Example: Interpreting SCSI Sense Codes
The following is an example of a SCSI error message that appears in the ESXi log file:
2011-04-04T21:07:30.257Z cpu2:2050)ScsiDeviceIO: 2315: Cmd(0x4124003edb00) 0x12, CmdSN 0x51 to
dev "naa.600508XXXXXXXXXXXXX" failed H:0x0 D:0x2 P:0x0 Valid sense data: 0x5 0x25 0x0
In this example, SCSI Sense codes are represented by two fields, H:0x0 D:0x2 P:0x0 and 0x5 0x25 0x0.
The first field, H:0x0 D:0x2 P:0x0, is a combination of SCSI Status codes for the three components in your
storage environment, the host, the device, and the plug-in. The SCSI Status code is used to determine the
success or failure of a SCSI command. To interpret each SCSI Status code, see the
http://www.t10.org/lists/2status.htm.
NOTE Hexadecimal numbers in the T10 documentation use the NNNh format, while SCSI Sense codes in
the ESXi log files follow the 0xNNN format. For example, 0x2 = 02h.
You will get the following interpretation for the status field of the above example: H:0x0 D:0x2 P:0x0 =
H(host):GOOD D(device):CHECK CONDITION P(plug-in):GOOD.
The second field in a typical SCSI error message provides more detailed information about the error. It is a
combination of Sense Key (sense), Additional Sense Code (asc), and Additional Sense Code Qualifier (ascq)
parameters.
Chapter 7 Troubleshooting Storage
VMware, Inc. 67