vSphere Storage - ESXi 5.1 - Documentation - VMware

Using vmkfstools 25
vmkfstools is one of the ESXi Shell commands for managing VMFS volumes and virtual disks. You can perform
many storage operations using the vmkfstools command. For example, you can create and manage VMFS
datastores on a physical partition, or manipulate virtual disk files, stored on VMFS or NFS datastores.
NOTE After you make a change using the vmkfstools, the vSphere Client or the vSphere Web Client might
not be updated immediately. You need to use a refresh or rescan operation from the client.
For more information on the ESXi Shell, see Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n “vmkfstools Command Syntax,” on page 255
n “vmkfstools Options,” on page 256
vmkfstools Command Syntax
Generally, you do not need to log in as the root user to run the vmkfstools commands. However, some
commands, such as the file system commands, might require the root user login.
The vmkfstools command supports the following command syntax:
vmkfstools conn_options options target.
Target specifies a partition, device, or path to apply the command option to.
Table 25-1. vmkfstools command arguments
Argument Description
options One or more command-line options and associated arguments that you use to
specify the activity for vmkfstools to perform, for example, choosing the disk
format when creating a new virtual disk.
After entering the option, specify a target on which to perform the operation.
Target can indicate a partition, device, or path.
partition Specifies disk partitions. This argument uses a disk_ID:P format, where disk_ID is
the device ID returned by the storage array and P is an integer that represents the
partition number. The partition digit must be greater than zero (0) and should
correspond to a valid VMFS partition.
VMware, Inc. 255