Recover Vmfs Metadata May 2026

vmfs-fs-rescue /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.6000...:1 This creates a lost+found directory with recoverable files. It does not preserve original folder structure but may recover VMDK and VMX files. VMFS does not have an fsck like ext4. Instead, VMware relies on journal replay on mount. To force replay:

Without valid metadata, a datastore appears as a raw partition, empty, or reports the dreaded "Not a VMFS datastore" error. However, the actual virtual machine data (VMDK files, memory state, logs) often remains physically present on the disk. Recovering the metadata is therefore less about file “undelete” and more about reconstructing the logical map that points to existing data blocks. recover vmfs metadata

esxcfg-volume -l # List snapshot volumes esxcfg-volume -r <vol_name> # Resignature (keeps data) VMFS6 stores redundant copies of critical metadata structures. You can manually copy a backup superblock: vmfs-fs-rescue /vmfs/devices/disks/naa

VMFS version: 6.81 Volume UUID: 4a5b3c2d-... Number of heartbeats: 3 If it fails with No VMFS filesystem found , metadata is corrupt or missing. Use dd and hdparm to check if basic partition table is readable: Instead, VMware relies on journal replay on mount