Can I recover lost data from a filesystem?

Solution Verified - Updated -

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (any version)

Issue

There is a request that is effectively asking for a data recovery service. Example requests can be:

  • I have accidentally used mkfs on a device and I need the old filesystem back.
  • How to restore data after mkfs
  • I have accidentally deleted files, but I need them.

Resolution

  • This type of operation is not supported by Red Hat Technical Support. In this case there is no malfunction to troubleshoot. Therefore, according to the Scope of Coverage this operation is out of scope for Red Hat Technical Support. There are two ways to proceed in such a case:

    • Request for professional data recovery from some specialised agency/company. In this case the device that contains the deleted/lost data has to remain intact, as any write operation could result in overwriting the lost data. It is probably preferable to unmount and disconnect the device, if possible.

    • Restore data from backup.

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