Recover Deleted Vmdk From Datastore [2021] -

# Navigate to datastore path cd /vmfs/volumes/DatastoreName/ ls -la .vh.sf/ If present, restore using vmkfstools vmkfstools -U "orphaned.vmdk" # Remove stale lock cp .vh.sf/deleted-file-pointer.vmdk ./restored.vmdk

The .vh.sf directory is a hidden system folder storing deleted file pointers. Not always persistent across reboots. 4.2. Recovery via vSphere CLI (vmkfstools) If the VMDK was a thin-provisioned or delta (snapshot) file : recover deleted vmdk from datastore

| Tool | Key Feature | |------|--------------| | | VMFS block-level scan, reconstructs VMDK from raw fragments | | UFS Explorer RAID Recovery | Excellent for SAN/NFS-backed datastores | | DiskInternals VMFS Recovery | Recovers VMDK even after datastore reformat | | Klennix VMFS Recovery | Supports VMFS3 to VMFS6, works with corrupted metadata | Recovery via vSphere CLI (vmkfstools) If the VMDK

# Clone from an existing snapshot or base disk vmkfstools -i /path/to/source-disk.vmdk /path/to/recovered.vmdk -d thin Does restore deleted files but can recreate a missing descriptor file if the flat VMDK still exists. 4.3. Data Recovery Software (Third-Party) When VMFS journal recovery fails, use specialized tools (trial versions can scan for free): recover deleted vmdk from datastore