: If only the small .vmdk text descriptor is missing but the large -flat.vmdk data file remains, you can manually recreate the descriptor using the vi editor in the ESXi shell. Top Third-Party Recovery Tools
When native tools fail due to severe VMFS corruption or RAID failure, specialized software is often required: vmdk recovery tool esx 5
Corruption of VMDK files can occur due to various reasons, including: : If only the small
| Tool | Key Features | Supports ESXi 5? | |------|--------------|------------------| | | Reads VMFS directly, recovers VMDK & files | ✅ Yes | | SysTools VMDK Recovery | Recovers from corrupt, formatted, or missing VMDK | ✅ Yes | | Stellar Phoenix VMDK Recovery | Handles snapshots, supports ESXi 5.5 | ✅ Yes | | UFS Explorer Professional | VMFS parsing, RAID reconstruction | ✅ Yes | | R-Studio | Network scan of ESXi storage | ✅ Yes | | Kernel for VMDK | Recovers from invalid/flat/delta VMDK | ✅ Yes | | | Restore descriptor file | If -flat
| Method | Steps | |--------|-------| | | Create new VM → add existing disk → point to descriptor VMDK. | | Restore descriptor file | If -flat.vmdk exists but no descriptor, create a new one via vmkfstools -z (see below). | | vmkfstools repair | vmkfstools -x repair /vmfs/volumes/datastore/VM/VM.vmdk | | Check snapshot chains | vmkfstools -D /path/VM.vmdk to see disk chain info. | | Clone VMDK | vmkfstools -i source.vmdk destination.vmdk -d thin (skips some corruption). |