Recovering Vmfs Datastore — Patched

# Find VMFS partition start (in sectors) using a hexdump dd if=/dev/disks/naa.XXX of=/tmp/header bs=512 count=2048 | hexdump -C | grep "VMFS" Recreate partition entry (example: start sector 2048, end sector auto) partedUtil set /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.XXX 1 2048 <end> 0

esxcli storage vmfs snapshot list Output example: recovering vmfs datastore

If the partition table is missing but the device exists, VMFS metadata may still be recoverable. Scenario A: Accidental Deletion of Datastore (but not reformatted) When you "delete" a datastore in vSphere, only the VMFS volume header and UUID are removed. Data remains until overwritten. # Find VMFS partition start (in sectors) using

Always test recovery steps on a dummy LUN before attempting on production data. Always test recovery steps on a dummy LUN

# List snapshots esxcli storage vmfs snapshot list vim-cmd storage/vmfs_mount_snapshot <snapshot-uuid> RecoveredDS

Volume Name UUID Extent Number Snapshot UUID Datastore1 abc123... 0 def456... To mount without resignaturing (temporary, read-only):

vim-cmd storage/vmfs_mount_snapshot <snapshot-uuid> <datastore-name> # Check if the device appears esxcli storage core device list -d naa.600601605a281800 Check partition table partedUtil get /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.600601605a281800