First, a clarification on the word "hot." In VMware terms, "Hot Add" or "Hot Extend" refers to adding storage while the VM is running. However, if you are connecting a VMFS drive to a Windows OS, that Windows OS treats it as a foreign device.
If you prefer a GUI-based Windows application, third-party recovery tools can scan VMFS 6 partitions and extract files. Note that most of these require a paid license for full data extraction.
While there's no native "mount" button in Windows Explorer for a VMFS 6 volume, several powerful techniques exist to bridge this gap. This guide explores the most effective methods, from leveraging a secondary ESXi host to using specialized tools, with a special focus on the "hot" operation of adding a virtual disk to a running Windows VM for recovery.
Ensure whatever software tool you utilize accesses the drive in Read-Only mode to prevent metadata corruption. Summary of Options Difficulty DiskInternals / SysTools Paid (Free Trial) Fast, reliable file extraction and RAID recovery. Linux VM Passthrough Advanced users comfortable with command lines. FTK Imager Quick forensic file browsing and exporting. mount vmfs 6 windows hot
files, and even mount them as local drive letters in read-only mode. Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2)
Attach your VMFS 6 storage device to your Windows machine via SAS, SATA, Fibre Channel, or iSCSI.
In the end, your choice depends on your environment, your technical comfort level, and whether you need read-only or full read-write access. The "hot" aspect of this operation is best realized through the in a functioning VMware environment, which allows for seamless, non-disruptive access to virtual disks. For simple disaster recovery, the physical mounting of disks to a secondary ESXi host remains the most direct and dependable path. First, a clarification on the word "hot
. While older versions like VMFS 3 can sometimes be accessed using legacy open-source drivers, modern Windows systems require specialised third-party software or virtualisation workarounds to "hot" mount and read these partitions. Mounting VMFS 6 on Windows
: Right-click the required virtual disk and copy it directly to an NTFS or ReFS volume.
To extract files from an ESXi datastore drive on a Windows machine, you must use software that acts as a translator. Note that most of these require a paid
Drop a comment below. And remember: always back up before attempting mounts on production disks.
In the world of enterprise virtualization, VMware’s VMFS (Virtual Machine File System) is the gold standard for storing virtual disks, snapshots, and configuration files. With the introduction of VMFS 6 (released alongside vSphere 6.5 and later), VMware brought improvements like automatic space reclamation and support for larger block sizes. However, one persistent challenge remains for Windows administrators:
If you need “hot” access but want to avoid direct disk mounting, consider:
If free tools fail or you need to mount a VMDK directly (read/write) without powering on a VM, commercial drivers are the standard solution.