| Tool | Supports VMFS-2 | Supports VMFS-4 | Notes | |------|---------------|----------------|-------| | | Yes | Yes | Best for metadata corruption | | UFS Explorer | Yes | Yes | RAID recovery | | SysTools VMFS Recovery | Partial | Yes | Basic file copy | | Runtime Explorer for VMFS | No | Yes | VMFS-4 only |

vmkfstools -Z /vmfs/volumes/DamagedDS /vmfs/volumes/NewDS These work offline (attach LUN to Windows/Linux VM).

esxcli storage vmfs resignature -l <datastore_name> Or:

# On ESXi shell esxcfg-volume -l # List snapshots esxcfg-volume -M <snapshot_UUID> # Force mount VMware provided fsck.vmfs in service console (ESX 4.x classic) or recovery CD.

esxcli storage vmfs extent list vmkfstools -P /vmfs/volumes/DatastoreName Look at partition table. VMFS-2 often has type 0xfb ; VMFS-4 0xfb as well but different heartbeats. 2. Common Failure Scenarios | Symptom | Likely Cause | |---------|---------------| | Datastore shows as "snapshot" or "not mounted" | Corrupted heartbeating / stale locks | | Files/folders missing or inaccessible | Metadata corruption (FDC, directory tables) | | "Cannot open volume" | Damaged partition table or superblock | | After storage migration | LUN ID changed, or copy not sector-aligned | 3. Recovery Methods (No Guarantees) A. Force Remount (Least invasive) For VMFS-4 only. ESXi 5.x+ may still mount a damaged VMFS-4 in maintenance mode.