A popular tool that can connect directly to an ESXi host or scan a raw physical drive to extract VM files.
# Recover deleted datastore recover_datastore(deleted_datastores[0], "original")
(First Step)
For cases where the partition was wiped, advanced users may use fdisk or partedUtil to recreate the partition with the exact same starting sector and a type of fb (VMFS). Warning: This is high-risk and can permanently destroy data if the offsets are incorrect. 3. Using Third-Party Recovery Tools
To , the first and most critical rule is to stop writing any data to the affected disk immediately to avoid overwriting the underlying VMFS metadata . Unlike standard operating systems, VMware ESXi does not have a "Recycle Bin" for deleted datastores or virtual machine files. 1. Immediate Diagnostic Steps recover deleted datastore esxi
The user interface for this feature could be a simple and intuitive wizard that guides the user through the recovery process. Here's a possible layout:
# Recover deleted datastore def recover_datastore(datastore_name, recovery_location): # Use esxcli to recover datastore if recovery_location == "original": subprocess.check_call(["esxcli", "storage", "filesystem", "recover", datastore_name]) else: subprocess.check_call(["esxcli", "storage", "filesystem", "recover", datastore_name, "--new-location", recovery_location]) A popular tool that can connect directly to
When native VMware commands fail, specialized software can scan the raw sectors of the VMFS file system to reconstruct deleted directory trees and .vmdk files. Recommended tools include:
# Scan storage subsystem for deleted datastores def scan_storage_subsystem(): # Use esxcli to scan storage subsystem output = subprocess.check_output(["esxcli", "storage", "filesystem", "list"]) # Parse output to identify deleted datastores deleted_datastores = [] for line in output.decode("utf-8").splitlines(): if " deleted" in line: datastore_name = line.split()[0] deleted_datastores.append(datastore_name) return deleted_datastores success depends on several factors.
Datastore Recovery
if the datastore was just removed from the inventory (not wiped) and the underlying VMFS partition remains intact. However, success depends on several factors.