Expected output from vmfs-fs-probe if metadata intact:
esxcfg-volume -l # List snapshot volumes esxcfg-volume -r <vol_name> # Resignature (keeps data) VMFS6 stores redundant copies of critical metadata structures. You can manually copy a backup superblock: recover vmfs metadata
dd if=/vmfs/devices/disks/naa.6000... bs=512 count=1 | hexdump -C Look for “VMFS” ASCII signature at offset 0x200. If present but higher-level structures corrupt, recovery is possible. Recovery options depend on whether you have backups, ESXi’s built-in repair utilities, or need third-party tools. 3.1 First Line: ESXi Built-in Commands A. vmfs-fs-rescue (VMFS3/5 only – deprecated in newer versions) For older environments, this utility attempts to rebuild the FDC table from residual metadata. If present but higher-level structures corrupt, recovery is
VMFS version: 6.81 Volume UUID: 4a5b3c2d-... Number of heartbeats: 3 If it fails with No VMFS filesystem found , metadata is corrupt or missing. Use dd and hdparm to check if basic partition table is readable: metadata is corrupt or missing.