VMFS gone after partition table wiped

[henkdejong]

My VMFS is gone after my partition table was wiped out (data is still there i think). I have used PTDD to recover the partition table as suggested in another post, i have gotten my other partitions back but not the VMFS.

My current partition table (fdisk -l):

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System

/dev/sda2 * 14 650 5116702+ 83 Linux

/dev/sda4 1161 49571 388861357+ f Win95 Ext'd (LBA)

/dev/sda5 1161 1363 1630566 82 Linux swap

/dev/sda6 49249 49317 554211 82 Linux swap

/dev/sda7 49318 49571 2040223+ 83 Linux

The VMFS was in an extended partition as far as i remember.

Does anyone know how to get it back?

Thanks,

Henk

[bister]

We fixed ours using this method from VMware support:

1. esxcfg-vmhbadevs -q for ESX 3.X (this will give you the list of linux device and their vmkernel name)

2. esxcfg-vmhbadevs -m for uuid information

3. fdisk -lu will confirm that the partition is no longer here

4. type fdisk /dev/sdX (X is the partition you are missing)

5. type n (to create a new partition)

6. type p (to create a primary partition)

7. type 1 (to create the 1st partition)

8. type \[enter] to keep the default value

9. type \[enter] to keep the default value

10. type t (to change the type of partition)

11. type fb (to set the partition as VMFS)

12. type w (to save)

13. type vmkfstools -V (to discover the VMFS)

[henkdejong]

Thanks for the reply. I have seen this before, it said there that this method is only for when it is a whole disk VMFS and not in an extended partition like i have. Can anyone confirm this?

[bister]

You're right, I remember the support engineer said s.th. like this. Sorry.

[jonhutchings · Accepted solution]

Unfortunalty it's very difficult or to recover data from inside an extended partition in the case of partition table corruption. I think you'll be talking to data recovery people if your vms are business critial.

Good Luck!