Mounting an iSCSI share in Vcenter/VSphere/ESXi

This proceed will mount an iSCSI share in Vcenter to be used as a datastore.

If things are not working right, rescan the adapter and rescan storage and wait. :-)

Add the iSCSI storage

1. On the Inventory page, click on a host then Storage Adapters. Add the iSCSI Software Adapter if you haven’t already.
2. Select the iSCSI Software Adapter. Under “Dynamic Discovery”, add the name or IP address for your iSCSI storage server.
3. If you are using CHAP, under “Dynamic Discovery”, select the iSCSI server and click “Authentication”. Select “Use Unidirectional CHAP”. Add the name and secret for your iSCSI share.
4. Rescan the adapter.
5. Rescan Storage.
6. Now you wait a bit. When you storage shows up under “Static Discovery”, you can proceed.
7. Select the iSCSI Software Adapter. You should see the new storage under Devices and Paths. If not, rescan and wait.

Format the new Storage

1. Under the Storage icon, right-click on the “Datacenter” and select Storage and New Datastore.
2. Select VMFS and click Next.
3. Name your new datastore and select a host. Your new storage should appear. Select it and press Next.
4. Select VMFS 6 unless you have older hosts. Press Next.
5. Use the defaults unless you have a really good reason. Press Next.
6. Review the settings and press Finish.

You are ready to go.