Recover Deleted Datastore Esxi

If your datastore was on a SAN/NAS, check the storage array’s management interface for hardware-level snapshots that can be restored. 2. Recovery via Command Line (Advanced)

If the datastore was deleted but the partition table remains intact or can be rebuilt, you can use the ESXi Shell (SSH):

When native VMware commands fail, specialized software can scan the raw sectors of the VMFS file system to reconstruct deleted directory trees and .vmdk files. Recommended tools include: recover deleted datastore esxi

Useful for scanning physical disks removed from the ESXi host and connected to a Windows machine. 4. Restoration from Backups

Here’s a concise technical review of recovering a deleted datastore in VMware ESXi. If your datastore was on a SAN/NAS, check

# Recover deleted datastore def recover_datastore(datastore_name, recovery_location): # Use esxcli to recover datastore if recovery_location == "original": subprocess.check_call(["esxcli", "storage", "filesystem", "recover", datastore_name]) else: subprocess.check_call(["esxcli", "storage", "filesystem", "recover", datastore_name, "--new-location", recovery_location])

This review provides a comprehensive overview of recovering a deleted datastore in ESXi. While the process can be complex and time-consuming, following the steps outlined above and implementing best practices can help prevent data loss and ensure a smooth recovery. When you "delete" a datastore

Accidentally deleting a datastore in VMware ESXi can feel like a nightmare, but unless you’ve already started writing new data to that physical disk, your virtual machine files are often still physically present . When you "delete" a datastore, ESXi typically just removes the partition table entry rather than wiping the actual data blocks. Immediate First Steps Stop all disk activity: Do not create a new datastore or attempt to move VMs to that disk. Writing any new data increases the risk of overwriting the "deleted" files. Verify it's truly gone: Rescan your storage adapters and refresh the storage view in the vSphere Client to ensure it wasn't just a temporary disconnection. Check Storage Snapshots: If your datastore was hosted on a SAN or NAS, check for storage-level snapshots or clones. This is often the fastest recovery path. Method 1: Manual Partition Recovery (Advanced) If the datastore was local and only the partition table was removed, you can sometimes recreate it via the ESXi command line. Identify the disk: Enable SSH and use

# Recover deleted datastore recover_datastore(deleted_datastores[0], "original")