Use vmkfstools --queryls on the flat file to get correct size in sectors. (if metadata destroyed) Tools that understand VMDK flat structure:
| Tool | Key Feature | |------|--------------| | | Good for VMFS datastore + flat file recovery | | R‑Studio for VMware | Scans flat files for FAT/NTFS/exFAT signatures | | DiskInternals VMFS Recovery | Rebuilds VMDK from raw flat + descriptor | | Stellar Toolkit for VMware | Handles deleted or corrupted flat files | vmdk flat file recovery
# Disk DescriptorFile version=1 CID=xxxxxxxx parentCID=ffffffff createType="vmfs" RW 83886080 VMFS "VM-flat.vmdk" Use vmkfstools --queryls on the flat file to