Managed Object - HostDatastoreSystem

Property of: HostConfigManager
See also: Datastore, HostDatastoreSystemCapabilities, HostNasVolumeSpec, HostResignatureRescanResult, HostScsiDisk, HostUnresolvedVmfsResignatureSpec, HostUnresolvedVmfsVolume, VmfsDatastoreCreateSpec, VmfsDatastoreExpandSpec, VmfsDatastoreExtendSpec, VmfsDatastoreOption

Managed Object Description

This managed object creates and removes datastores from the host.

To a host, a datastore is a storage abstraction that is backed by one of several types of storage volumes:

Local file system

A datastore that is backed by a local file system volume uses a host native local file system such as NTFS or ext3. The datastore is created by identifying a file path for a directory in which virtual machine data will be stored. When the datastore is deleted, the mapping from the datastore to the file is deleted. The contents of the directory are not deleted.

NAS Volume

A datastore that is backed by a network-attached storage device is created by specifying the required data needed to attach the volume to the host. Destroying the datastore detaches the volume from the host.

VMFS

A datastore that is backed by a VMware File System (VMFS) is created by specifying a disk with unpartitioned space, the desired disk partition format on the disk, and some VMFS attributes.

An ESX Server system automatically discovers the VMFS volume on attached Logical Unit Numbers (LUNs) on startup and after re-scanning the host bus adapter. Datastores are automatically created. The datastore label is based on the VMFS volume label. If there is a conflict with an existing datastore, it is made unique by appending a suffix. The VMFS volume label will be unchanged.

Destroying the datastore removes the partitions that compose the VMFS volume.

Datastores are never automatically removed because transient storage connection outages may occur. They must be removed from the host using this interface.
See Datastore

Properties

Name	Type	Description
capabilities	HostDatastoreSystemCapabilities	Capability vector indicating the available product features. *Since* VI API 2.5
datastore* P	ManagedObjectReference[] to a Datastore[]	List of datastores on this host.

Name

Type

Description

capabilities

HostDatastoreSystemCapabilities

Capability vector indicating the available product features.

Since VI API 2.5

datastore* P

ManagedObjectReference[]
to a Datastore[]

List of datastores on this host.

*May not be presentP Required privilege: System.View

Methods

Methods defined in this Managed Object
ConfigureDatastorePrincipal, CreateLocalDatastore, CreateNasDatastore, CreateVmfsDatastore, ExpandVmfsDatastore, ExtendVmfsDatastore, QueryAvailableDisksForVmfs, QueryUnresolvedVmfsVolumes, QueryVmfsDatastoreCreateOptions, QueryVmfsDatastoreExpandOptions, QueryVmfsDatastoreExtendOptions, RemoveDatastore, ResignatureUnresolvedVmfsVolume_Task, UpdateLocalSwapDatastore

ConfigureDatastorePrincipal

Configures datastore principal user for the host.

All virtual machine-related file I/O is performed under this user. Configuring datastore principal user will result in all virtual machine files (configuration, disk, and so on) being checked for proper access. If necessary, ownership and permissions are modified. Note that in some environments, file ownership and permissions modification may not be possible. For example, virtual machine files stored on NFS cannot be modified for ownership and permissions if root squashing is enabled. Ownership and permissions for these files must be manually changed by a system administrator. In general, if server process does not have rights to change ownership and file permissions of virtual machine files, they must be modified manually. If a virtual machine files are not read/writeable by this user, virtual machine related operations such as power on/off, configuration, and so on will fail. This operation must be performed while in maintenance mode and requires host reboot.

Required Privileges: Host.Config.Maintenance

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the HostDatastoreSystem used to make the method call.
userName	xsd:string	Datastore principal user name.
password*	xsd:string	Optional password for systems that require password for user impersonation.

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
HostConfigFault	Thrown if unable to configure the datastore principal.
InvalidArgument	Thrown if userName or password is not valid.
InvalidState	Thrown if the host is not in maintenance mode.
NotSupported	Thrown if this feature is not supported on the host.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="ConfigureDatastorePrincipal" type="vim25:ConfigureDatastorePrincipalRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="ConfigureDatastorePrincipalResponse">
            <complexType/>
         </element>

CreateLocalDatastore

Creates a new local datastore.

Required Privileges: Host.Config.Storage

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the HostDatastoreSystem used to make the method call.
name	xsd:string	The name of a datastore to create on the local host.
path	xsd:string	The file path for a directory in which the virtual machine data will be stored.

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a Datastore

Faults

Type	Description
DuplicateName	Thrown if a datastore with the same name already exists.
FileNotFound	Thrown if path doesn't exist
HostConfigFault	Thrown if unable to create the datastore on host.
InvalidName	Thrown if name is not valid datastore name
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="CreateLocalDatastore" type="vim25:CreateLocalDatastoreRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="CreateLocalDatastoreResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:ManagedObjectReference"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

CreateNasDatastore

Creates a new network-attached storage datastore.

Required Privileges: Host.Config.Storage

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the HostDatastoreSystem used to make the method call.
spec	HostNasVolumeSpec	The specification for creating a network-attached storage volume.

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a Datastore	The newly created datastore.

Faults

Type	Description
AlreadyExists	Thrown if the local path already exists on the host, or the remote path is already mounted on the host.
DuplicateName	Thrown if a datastore with the same name already exists.
HostConfigFault	Thrown if unable to mount the NAS volume.
InvalidArgument	Thrown if the datastore name is invalid, or the spec is invalid.
NoGateway	Thrown if VMkernel gateway is not configured.
NoVirtualNic	Thrown if VMkernel TCPIP stack is not configured.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="CreateNasDatastore" type="vim25:CreateNasDatastoreRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="CreateNasDatastoreResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:ManagedObjectReference"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

CreateVmfsDatastore

Creates a new VMFS datastore.

Required Privileges: Host.Config.Storage

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the HostDatastoreSystem used to make the method call.
spec	VmfsDatastoreCreateSpec	The specification for creating a datastore backed by a VMFS.

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a Datastore	The newly created datastore.

Faults

Type	Description
DuplicateName	Thrown if a datastore with the same name already exists.
HostConfigFault	Thrown if unable to format the VMFS volume or gather information about the created volume.
InvalidArgument	Thrown if the datastore name is invalid, or the spec is invalid.
NotSupported	Thrown if the host is not an ESX Server system.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="CreateVmfsDatastore" type="vim25:CreateVmfsDatastoreRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="CreateVmfsDatastoreResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:ManagedObjectReference"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

ExpandVmfsDatastore

Increases the capacity of an existing VMFS datastore by expanding (increasing the size of) an existing extent of the datastore.

Required Privileges: Host.Config.Storage
Since: vSphere API 4.0

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the HostDatastoreSystem used to make the method call.
datastore	ManagedObjectReference to a Datastore	The datastore whose capacity should be increased.
spec	VmfsDatastoreExpandSpec	The specification describing which extent of the VMFS datastore to expand.

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a Datastore	The expanded datastore.

Faults

Type	Description
HostConfigFault	Thrown if unable to expand the VMFS volume.
NotFound	Thrown if a datastore with the name could not be found.
NotSupported	Thrown if the host is not an ESX Server.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="ExpandVmfsDatastore" type="vim25:ExpandVmfsDatastoreRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="ExpandVmfsDatastoreResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:ManagedObjectReference"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

ExtendVmfsDatastore

Increases the capacity of an existing VMFS datastore by adding new extents to the datastore.

Required Privileges: Host.Config.Storage

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the HostDatastoreSystem used to make the method call.
datastore	ManagedObjectReference to a Datastore	The datastore whose capacity should be increased.
spec	VmfsDatastoreExtendSpec	The specification describing what extents to add to a VMFS datastore.

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a Datastore	The extended datastore.

Faults

Type	Description
HostConfigFault	Thrown if unable to extend the VMFS volume.
NotFound	Thrown if a datastore with the name could not be found.
NotSupported	Thrown if the host is not an ESX Server.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="ExtendVmfsDatastore" type="vim25:ExtendVmfsDatastoreRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="ExtendVmfsDatastoreResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:ManagedObjectReference"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

QueryAvailableDisksForVmfs

Query to list disks that can be used to contain VMFS datastore extents. If the optional parameter name is supplied, queries for disks that can be used to contain extents for a VMFS datastore identified by the supplied name. Otherwise, the method retrieves disks that can be used to contain new VMFS datastores.

This operation will filter out disks that are currently in use by an existing VMFS unless the VMFS using the disk is one being extended. It will also filter out management LUNs and disks that are referenced by RDMs. These disk LUNs are also unsuited for use by a VMFS.

Disk LUNs referenced by RDMs are found by examining all virtual machines known to the system and visiting their virtual disk backends. If a virtual disk backend uses an RDM that is referencing a disk LUN, the disk LUN becomes ineligible for use by a VMFS datastore.

Required Privileges: Host.Config.Storage

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the HostDatastoreSystem used to make the method call.
datastore*	ManagedObjectReference to a Datastore	The managed object reference of the VMFS datastore you want extents for.

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
HostScsiDisk[]	An array of data objects describing SCSI disks.

Faults

Type	Description
HostConfigFault	Thrown if unable to query disk information.
InvalidArgument	Thrown if named VMFS datastore is not a VMFS datastore.
NotFound	Thrown if the named VMFS datastore is not found.
NotSupported	Thrown if the host is not an ESX Server.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="QueryAvailableDisksForVmfs" type="vim25:QueryAvailableDisksForVmfsRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="QueryAvailableDisksForVmfsResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:HostScsiDisk" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

QueryUnresolvedVmfsVolumes

Get the list of unbound VMFS volumes. For sharing a volume across hosts, a VMFS volume is bound to its underlying block device storage. When a low level block copy is performed to copy or move the VMFS volume, the copied volume will be unbound.

Required Privileges: System.Read
Since: vSphere API 4.0

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the HostDatastoreSystem used to make the method call.

Return Value

Type	Description
HostUnresolvedVmfsVolume[]	An array of unbound VMFS datastore

Faults

Type	Description
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="QueryUnresolvedVmfsVolumes" type="vim25:QueryUnresolvedVmfsVolumesRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="QueryUnresolvedVmfsVolumesResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:HostUnresolvedVmfsVolume" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

QueryVmfsDatastoreCreateOptions

Queries options for creating a new VMFS datastore for a disk.
See devicePath

Required Privileges: Host.Config.Storage

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

_this

ManagedObjectReference

A reference to the HostDatastoreSystem used to make the method call.

devicePath

xsd:string

The devicePath of the disk on which datastore creation options are generated.
See devicePath

vmfsMajorVersion*

xsd:int

major version of VMFS to be used for formatting the datastore. If this parameter is not specified, then the highest supported VMFS major version for the host is used.
See devicePath

Since vSphere API 5.0

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
VmfsDatastoreOption[]	An array of VMFS datastore provisioning options that can be applied on a disk.

Faults

Type	Description
HostConfigFault	Thrown if unable to get the current partition information for the device. See devicePath
NotFound	Thrown if the device is not found. See devicePath
NotSupported	Thrown if the host is not an ESX Server. See devicePath
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="QueryVmfsDatastoreCreateOptions" type="vim25:QueryVmfsDatastoreCreateOptionsRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="QueryVmfsDatastoreCreateOptionsResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:VmfsDatastoreOption" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

QueryVmfsDatastoreExpandOptions

Queries for options for increasing the capacity of an existing VMFS datastore by expanding (increasing the size of) an existing extent of the datastore.

Required Privileges: Host.Config.Storage
Since: vSphere API 4.0

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the HostDatastoreSystem used to make the method call.
datastore	ManagedObjectReference to a Datastore	The datastore to be expanded.

Return Value

Type	Description
VmfsDatastoreOption[]	An array of VMFS datastore expansion options that can be applied.

Faults

Type	Description
HostConfigFault	Thrown if unable to get partition information for the devices on which the extents reside
NotFound	Thrown if the specified datastore could not be found or is unmounted.
NotSupported	Thrown if the host is not an ESX Server.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="QueryVmfsDatastoreExpandOptions" type="vim25:QueryVmfsDatastoreExpandOptionsRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="QueryVmfsDatastoreExpandOptionsResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:VmfsDatastoreOption" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

QueryVmfsDatastoreExtendOptions

Queries for options for increasing the capacity of an existing VMFS datastore by adding new extents using space from the specified disk.
See devicePath

Required Privileges: Host.Config.Storage

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the HostDatastoreSystem used to make the method call.
datastore	ManagedObjectReference to a Datastore	The datastore to be extended. See devicePath
devicePath	xsd:string	The devicePath of the disk on which datastore extension options are generated. See devicePath
suppressExpandCandidates*	xsd:boolean	Indicates whether to exclude options that can be used for extent expansion also. Free space can be used for adding an extent or expanding an existing extent. If this parameter is set to true, the list of options returned will not include free space that can be used for expansion. See devicePath *Since* vSphere API 4.0

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
VmfsDatastoreOption[]	An array of VMFS datastore provisioning options that can be applied on a disk.

Faults

Type	Description
HostConfigFault	Thrown if unable to get the current partition information for the device. See devicePath
NotFound	Thrown if a datastore or device with the given name could not be found or if the datastore is unmounted. See devicePath
NotSupported	Thrown if the host is not an ESX Server. See devicePath
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="QueryVmfsDatastoreExtendOptions" type="vim25:QueryVmfsDatastoreExtendOptionsRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="QueryVmfsDatastoreExtendOptionsResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:VmfsDatastoreOption" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

RemoveDatastore

Removes a datastore from a host.

Required Privileges: Host.Config.Storage

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the HostDatastoreSystem used to make the method call.
datastore	ManagedObjectReference to a Datastore	The datastore to be removed.

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
HostConfigFault	Thrown if unable to umount the NAS volume for NAS datastore, or gather the existing volume information.
NotFound	Thrown if the datastore could not be found.
ResourceInUse	Thrown for a VMFS volume if there is any VM registered on any host attached to this datastore.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="RemoveDatastore" type="vim25:RemoveDatastoreRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="RemoveDatastoreResponse">
            <complexType/>
         </element>

ResignatureUnresolvedVmfsVolume_Task

Resignature an unbound VMFS volume. To safely enable sharing of the volume across hosts, a VMFS volume is bound to its underlying block device storage. When a low level block copy is performed to copy or move the VMFS volume, the copied volume will be unbound. In order for the VMFS volume to be usable, a resolution operation is needed to determine whether the VMFS volume should be treated as a new volume or not and what extents compose that volume in the event there is more than one unbound volume.

With 'Resignature' operation, a new Vmfs Uuid is assigned to the volume but its contents are kept intact. Resignature results in a new Vmfs volume on the host. Users can specify a list of hosts on which the volume will be auto-mounted.

Required Privileges: Host.Config.Storage
Since: vSphere API 4.0

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the HostDatastoreSystem used to make the method call.
resolutionSpec	HostUnresolvedVmfsResignatureSpec	A data object that describes what the disk extents to be used for creating the new VMFS volume.

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a Task	This method returns a Task object with which to monitor the operation. The task result (info.result) contains a HostResignatureRescanResult object that identifies the newly created VMFS datastore.

Faults

Type	Description
HostConfigFault	Thrown for all other configuration failures.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.
VmfsAmbiguousMount	when ESX is unable to resolve the extents of a VMFS volume unambiguously. This is thrown only when a VMFS volume has multiple extents and multiple copies of non-head extents are detected, and the user has not specified one copy of every extent. Please note that some versions of ESX may not support resolving the situation where multiple copies of non-head extents are detected, even if one copy of every extent is specified in the method parameter. To resolve such a situation, the user is expected to change the configuration (for example, using array management tools) so that only one copy of each non-head extent is presented to ESX.

Events

Type
None

UpdateLocalSwapDatastore

Choose the localSwapDatastore for this host. Any change to this setting will affect virtual machines that subsequently power on or resume from a suspended state at this host, or that migrate to this host while powered on; virtual machines that are currently powered on at this host will not yet be affected.

Required Privileges: Host.Config.Storage
Since: VI API 2.5

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the HostDatastoreSystem used to make the method call.
datastore*	ManagedObjectReference to a Datastore	The selected datastore. If this argument is unset, then the localSwapDatastore property becomes unset. Otherwise, the host must have read/write access to the indicated datastore.

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
DatastoreNotWritableOnHost	Thrown if the datastore argument is set and the host cannot write to the indicated datastore.
InaccessibleDatastore	Thrown if the datastore argument is set and the host cannot access the indicated datastore.
NotSupported	Thrown if the datastore argument is set and the localSwapDatastoreSupported capability is not true for the host.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="UpdateLocalSwapDatastore" type="vim25:UpdateLocalSwapDatastoreRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="UpdateLocalSwapDatastoreResponse">
            <complexType/>
         </element>