Vmfs Undelete: Esxi 5

You might see your missing VMDK files here. If you do, congratulations! Simply copy them to a safe location (an external USB or a different datastore mounted on the Linux box) using cp or rsync .

: A widely used tool that can reconstruct VMFS structures and undelete virtual machines by scanning the raw drive for lost partitions or files. vmfs undelete esxi 5

Do not attempt to run these tools inside the ESXi shell. ESXi is a hardened hypervisor; it lacks the FUSE (Filesystem in Userspace) modules required. You need a separate Linux rescue machine (Ubuntu or a Live CD works best). You might see your missing VMDK files here

If only the header file ( .vmx ) was lost but the data disks ( -flat.vmdk ) are still present: : A widely used tool that can reconstruct

Navigate to the mount point:

It’s the heart-stopping moment every VI Admin dreads. You’re cleaning up a datastore, perhaps a bit too quickly after a long maintenance window, and you hit Enter. Suddenly, you realize the VM you just deleted wasn't the retired file server—it was the production database you meant to migrate.