For production environments: (e.g., Ontrack, Gillware) if data is critical. Do not attempt DIY undelete on VMFS without a full block-level backup.
If your datastore is on a SAN (e.g., HPE Alletra/Nimble ), use the storage array's management console to clone a previous snapshot of the LUN and mount it as a new datastore to retrieve the files . Step 3: Use Professional VMFS Recovery Tools vmfs undelete
Select the "Undelete" or "Full Recovery" mode. The software will scan the unallocated space for file descriptors . For production environments: (e
Never attempt to "fix" the datastore by reformatting or re-creating it, as this will destroy the existing file system metadata . Step 2: Check for Existing Backups or Replicas For production environments: (e.g.