Identify the exact size of the flat file in bytes: ls -l *-flat.vmdk
# Example: Scan for VMDK header signature ("COWD" or "KDMV") dd if=/dev/disks/naa.600123456789 of=/tmp/vmdk_recovery.dd bs=512 skip=START_BLOCK count=BLOCKS strings /tmp/vmdk_recovery.dd | grep -i "vmfs" how to recover deleted vmdk esxi
In the worst-case scenario—where there are no snapshots and no valid backups—the situation requires low-level forensic recovery. When a file is deleted in ESXi, the operating system removes the pointer to the data, but the actual binary data remains on the physical storage blocks until they are overwritten. The immediate critical step is to . Any new data written to the datastore risks overwriting the blocks containing the deleted VMDK, making recovery impossible. The VM should be powered off, and the datastore should be unmounted or put into maintenance mode to prevent further I/O. Identify the exact size of the flat file
Once the storage is secured, specialized data recovery software comes into play. Tools such as DiskInternals VMFS Recovery or UFS Explorer are designed specifically to scan VMFS (Virtual Machine File System) partitions. These tools ignore the file system’s table of contents and scan the raw disk sectors for VMDK signatures. If the tool can identify the start and end of the deleted file and the blocks have not been corrupted, it can reconstruct the file. This process is time-consuming and carries no guarantee of success, but it is often the final hope for recovering critical data. It is worth noting that because VMFS is a proprietary file system, standard NTFS or FAT32 recovery tools are usually ineffective; VMFS-specific tools are required. Any new data written to the datastore risks
If the VMDK was deleted but its metadata remains intact, ESXi’s native voma tool can sometimes resurrect the file.