ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere 9.13

Add storage to a vVols datastore

You can increase the available storage by using the Add Storage wizard to add FlexVol volumes to an existing VMWare Virtual Volumes (vVols) datastore.

About this task

When you add a FlexVol volume, you also have the option of changing the storage capability profile associated with that volume. You can either use the VASA Provider auto-generate feature to create a new profile for the volume, or you can assign one of the existing profiles to the volume.

While expanding a vVols datastore with replication capabilities, you cannot create new FlexVol volumes but can only select pre-configured FlexVol volumes from the existing list.
When cloning a protected virtual machine deployed on datastore with vVols replication fails due to insufficient space, then you should increase the FlexVol volume size.
When a vVols datastore is created on a ETERNUS AX series, then you cannot expand the datastore with another FlexVol volume that has auto generate storage capability profile.
- You can expand the vVols datastore with FlexVol volumes that have pre-created storage capability profiles.

Steps

On the vSphere Client Home page, click Hosts and Clusters.
Right-click the vVols datastore, and then select ONTAP tools > Expand Storage of vVol Datastore.

On the Expand Storage of vVols Datastore page, you can either add an existing FlexVol volume to the vVols datastore, or create a new FlexVol volume to add to the database.

If you select…

Perform the following…

Select volumes

Select the FlexVol volumes that you want to add to the vVols datastore.
In the Storage Capability Profiles column, use the drop-down list to either create a new profile based on the FlexVol volumes, or select one of the existing profiles.

The auto-generate feature creates a profile based the storage capabilities that are associated with that FlexVol volume. For example: disk type, high availability, disaster recovery, performance features, and deduplication.

Create new volumes

Enter the name, size, and storage capability profile for the FlexVol.

The aggregates are selected by the system based on the storage capability profile selected.
Click ADD to add the FlexVol to the list of volumes.

Reminder: All FlexVol volumes in a vVols datastore must be from the same storage virtual machine (SVM, formerly known as Vserver).

After you create a FlexVol volume, you can edit it by clicking the Modify button. You can also delete it.

Select a default storage capability profile to be used during virtual machine creation, and then click Next to review the summary of the storage added to vVols datastore.
Click Finish.

Result

The wizard adds the storage that you specified to the vVols datastore. It displays a success message when it finishes.

The Expand Storage of vVols Datastore wizard automatically handles any ESXi storage rescans or any other significant operations that are required. Because a vVols datastore is a logical entity controlled by VASA Provider, adding the FlexVol volume is the only thing you need to do to enlarge the capacity of your storage container.