http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1002511
This video demonstrates how to recreate a missing virtual machine disk descriptor .vmdk file.
Note: VMware recommends to attempt to restore the missing descriptor file from backups if possible. If this is not possible, proceed with recreating the virtual machine disk descriptor file.
To create a virtual machine disk descriptor file:
– Identify the size of the flat file in bytes.
– Create a new blank virtual disk that is the same size as the original. This serves as a baseline example that is modified in later steps.
– Rename the descriptor file (also referred to as a header file) of the newly-created disk to match the name of the original virtual disk.
– Modify the contents of the renamed descriptor file to reference the flat file.
– Remove the leftover temporary flat file of the newly-created disk, as it is not required.
This procedure will not work on virtual disks configured with a Para-virtualized SCSI controller in the virtual machine
For additional information, see VMware Knowledge Base article 1002511 at the following URL https://kb.vmware.com/kb/1002511