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Cbaur88
Contributor
Contributor

Accidental Files Deleted in Datastore Browser

Long story short a Junior Admin attempted to delete a folder located under the volume datastore. Apparently it wouldn't let him delete the entire folder but it did apparently delete some files. The VM seems to be fine and up and running normally however we are no longer able to clone or take snapshots of this virtual server and fear shutting it down. The confusion of deleting this folder was in the naming, this server must have had a different name at some point and re-named, however the folder in the datastore remained the original name which lead to him attempting to delete. What options do we have if any of saving this Server or are we SOL? Attached is what is left of the attempted deleted folder. Thanks much in advance for your time and help! Smiley Happy

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2 Replies
a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

The important files were locked, and it looks like that only the .vmdk descriptor file is missing. I created a .vmdk descriptor file for the 150GB virtual disk with virtual hardware version 8 (ESXi 5.0 compatibility), which you need to upload to the VM's folder on the datasatore. I can't tell you whether ESXi will immediately recognize the file, or whether you need to shut down and restart the VM and/or even reload though. (see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1026043)

André

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Cbaur88
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks Andre, I really appreciate it going to give this a try this weekend. Can't thank you enough for going the extra mile and attaching the file. I will let you know how I make out!!! Take care!!!

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