From Datastore [top] | Recover Vmdk

| Task | Command | |------|---------| | List deleted files | vmfsundelete /vmfs/volumes/DS -l | | Recover by inode | vmfsundelete -R -i 12345 -o /recovery/disk.vmdk | | Repair VMDK header | vmkfstools -x repair disk.vmdk | | Clone VMDK skipping errors | vmkfstools -i bad.vmdk -d thin good.vmdk | | Scan for recoverable VMDK signatures | vmkfstools -V /vmfs/volumes/DS | | Show VMDK descriptor info | cat disk.vmdk |

| File Type | Extension | Role | |-----------|-----------|------| | Flat VMDK | -flat.vmdk | Raw disk data (binary) | | Descriptor | .vmdk | Metadata (geometry, CID, parent link) | | Delta (Snapshot) | -delta.vmdk | Changes since snapshot | | Snapshot descriptor | -00000x.vmdk | Pointer to delta | | VM swap | .vswp | Memory overcommit (non-critical) | recover vmdk from datastore