This guide outlines the critical first steps, manual recovery techniques via the ESXi command line, and automated software options to safely recover a deleted VMFS partition. 1. Critical Immediate Actions
Pro tip: VMFS6 partitions have a different backup superblock location. If Quick Search fails, run [Deeper Search] . This may take hours but often finds secondary copies of the partition table.
It happens in a split second. A tired system administrator, a misclick in fdisk , an automated script aimed at the wrong LUN. One moment, your datastore is humming along, hosting critical virtual machines. The next moment—it’s gone. The partition table entry for your VMFS (Virtual Machine File System) volume has been deleted.
Have a VMFS recovery war story? Share it in the comments below.
Before attempting any recovery, create a forensic image of the affected device. Use dd or ddrescue on a Linux host:
esxcli storage core adapter rescan --all
Your heart races. Are the VMs lost forever? Is the backup your only hope?
. 3. Get End Block partedUtil getUsableSectors Identifies the last usable sector on the disk. 4. Rebuild Table partedUtil setptbl gpt "1 2048 <end_block> AA31E02A400F11DB9590000C2911D1B8 0" Re-enters the VMFS partition entry into the GPT table using the standard VMFS GUID. 5. Mount Volume vmkfstools -V Triggers a rescan to discover and mount the VMFS volume. Professional Recovery Tools If command-line methods fail or are too risky, specialized software can scan the disk and reconstruct the VMFS structure. DiskInternals VMFS Recovery : Supports remote recovery via SSH and features a "Reader Mode" to preview files within VMDKs before committing to a full recovery. BitRecover VMFS Recovery Wizard : Offers specialized modes for deleted, formatted, or raw partition data recovery. Hetman Partition Recovery : Can perform a full analysis of VMFS partitions to extract individual virtual machine files even if the host OS is damaged. RS Partition Recovery : Effective for recovering deleted files directly from VMFS partitions when the virtual machine itself is damaged or removed. YouTube +6 Data Extraction Scenarios Damaged Host OS
Recover Deleted Vmfs Partition New! -
This guide outlines the critical first steps, manual recovery techniques via the ESXi command line, and automated software options to safely recover a deleted VMFS partition. 1. Critical Immediate Actions
Pro tip: VMFS6 partitions have a different backup superblock location. If Quick Search fails, run [Deeper Search] . This may take hours but often finds secondary copies of the partition table.
It happens in a split second. A tired system administrator, a misclick in fdisk , an automated script aimed at the wrong LUN. One moment, your datastore is humming along, hosting critical virtual machines. The next moment—it’s gone. The partition table entry for your VMFS (Virtual Machine File System) volume has been deleted. recover deleted vmfs partition
Have a VMFS recovery war story? Share it in the comments below.
. 3. Get End Block partedUtil getUsableSectors Identifies the last usable sector on the disk. 4. Rebuild Table partedUtil setptbl gpt "1 2048 <end_block> AA31E02A400F11DB9590000C2911D1B8 0" Re-enters the VMFS partition entry into the GPT table using the standard VMFS GUID. 5. Mount Volume vmkfstools -V Triggers a rescan to discover and mount the VMFS volume. Professional Recovery Tools If command-line methods fail or are too risky, specialized software can scan the disk and reconstruct the VMFS structure. DiskInternals VMFS Recovery : Supports remote recovery via SSH and features a "Reader Mode" to preview files within VMDKs before committing to a full recovery. BitRecover VMFS Recovery Wizard : Offers specialized modes for deleted, formatted, or raw partition data recovery. Hetman Partition Recovery : Can perform a full analysis of VMFS partitions to extract individual virtual machine files even if the host OS is damaged. RS Partition Recovery : Effective for recovering deleted files directly from VMFS partitions when the virtual machine itself is damaged or removed. YouTube +6 Data Extraction Scenarios Damaged Host OS