vmfs-fuse -o ro /dev/loop0 /mnt/recovery If that fails, carve small files by known headers ( #! for VMX, KDMV for VMDK descriptor). Situation : An administrator ran vmkfstools -C vmfs5 /dev/disks/... on a datastore containing 12 production VMs.
sgrep -b 'VMFS5' vmfs_disk.dd FDs start with a known pattern (e.g., FD 00 00 01 for VMFS5). Scan the entire disk: vmfs recovery
# Check VMDK descriptor consistency vmkfstools -Q recovered_vm.vmdk dd if=recovered_flat.vmdk bs=1M count=1 | hexdump -C Attempt to mount or clone vmkfstools -i recovered_flat.vmdk -d thin verified.vmdk vmfs-fuse -o ro /dev/loop0 /mnt/recovery If that fails,