Tying to add a new local datastore and got the following error:

This is quite a common error and most likely the cause is the disk(s) already has partition data  that VMware does not understand.

To fix this error, first make a note of the disk ID, which will be shown in the console.

Next we need to ssh into the esxi host, I like to use putty. By default ssh is not running on the esxi host, so make sure you start it before you try to ssh in.

Once you have connected via ssh.

Run the following command:

This lists all the disks connected to the host.

Find the id of the disk you are trying to add. then run the following command:

This will bring back information on the state of the disk.

We are next going to run a command that will put write an msdos partition.

Once this is done, we will be able to add the storage within vSphere.