If the above methods do not yield results, third-party data recovery tools may be necessary:
VMware VMDK (Virtual Machine Disk) files are a crucial component of virtual machines (VMs) in a VMware environment. These files store the data and configuration of a VM, making them essential for the proper functioning of the virtualized system. However, data loss or corruption can occur due to various reasons, such as accidental deletion, hardware failures, or software issues. In such scenarios, being able to undelete or recover a VMDK file is vital. vmware undelete vmdk
| Datastore Type | Deletion Behavior | Recovery Option | |----------------|-------------------|------------------| | | Deleted files may be unrecoverable quickly | .trash folder if lucky, else block-level recovery tools | | NFS | Standard NFS semantics (no undelete) | Snapshots (array-level) or file recovery software | | vSAN | Objects deleted erasure-coded across nodes | vSAN file service trash? Very low – restore from backup | | vVols | VMDK as object – delete triggers array-side | Storage array snapshots required | If the above methods do not yield results,
