ESXi

Hello VMware community. I use VMware ESXI 5.5,

I have VM with VMDK 15TB, by mistake all snapshot was delated, when ipoweron the VM fond only 11.5GB old data from 2016 !!

I found 3 VMDK :

• Xxx1_1-flat.vmdk (with size 11.5GB)
• Xxx1_1-000001-sesparse.vmdk (with size 2.5GB)
• Xxx1_1-000002-sesparse.vmdk (with size 15TB)

I only can mount the Xxx1_1-flat.vmdk and I found data from 2016, when I download those vmdk’s to windows server I found the size was changed , Xxx1_1-flat.vmdk downloaded with size 15TB, Xxx1_1-000001-sesparse.vmdk downloaded with size 62GB.

I need to merge those VMDK’s to be able to find all the data, or any other idea ??

Do you still have access to the original datastore where you found these files ?
A 12 gb basedisk with a 15tb snapshot looks a bit strange - maybe something was wrong with the download ?
Unfortunately you have a sesparse snapshot - so thirdpartytools have problems.
That means you have to build a valid snapshot-chain with ESXi.
Here is the todo-list:
1. unmount any vmdks as soon as possible. - The longer you use a basedisk without the associated snapshots the more files will get corrupted.
2. if possible you should find the original descriptorfiles - and / or the original files as they are probably in a better shape than those that you already copied once
3. check all of the 3 files with hexdump -C files | less - that will show wether they have been renamed - and give further clues for the correct size
4. create new descriptorfiles
5. create VM with a LinuxliveCD for a first test. Before you start for the first time make sure you create a new additional snapshot
....
Next steps will follow once the reports come in.
If this is important stuff I highly recommend we do this together  via Anydesk. Call me via skype ...
For best results you should try to do the recovery with the original files on the datastore - so try to stop all access to the original datastore.
And as this is a 15 TB vmdk keep in mind that any operations like a checkdisk or fsck or a recovery scan will take days with a vmdk of that size - so do not make any further attempts if you are not sure wether you got it right.
Ulli

> A 12 gb basedisk with a 15tb snapshot looks a bit strange ...
Strange but that was really the way the VM was configured.
The creator must have created a snapshot after initial setup of the VM and then forgot about it.
Not recommended - especially not for important valuable data !!!
Anyway - we now have access to the complete data and we are running integrity checks now.
So far everything is looking good !
Ulli

can you help me with similar problem?