Removing a Cisco Nexus 1000V (or other 3rd party switch) from vCenter Server

Products

VMware vCenter Server VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

Cannot upgrade vCenter Server due to orphaned Cisco Nexus 1000V or other 3rd party switch.
Cannot remove Nexus 1000V or other 3rd party switch from vCenter Server.
You see this error similar to:

Cannot remove the object, since it has active related objects.

Or

Failed to delete dvs from VC. 'VC' is Disconnected. Removing config locally.

Cause

VMware discontinued support of third party switches, including the Nexus 1000v. To assist in vSwitch migration, VMware’s Professional Services Organization can provide services to customer to migrate from third party vSwitch to VDS.

VMware End of Availability Announcement “VMware is announcing the End of Availability (EOA) for the Cisco Nexus 1000V SKU and its associated support SKUs from VMware effective February 2, 2015. Customers who want to buy additional licenses and support for the Cisco Nexus 1000V after February 2, 2015 can buy those licenses and support directly from Cisco. https://community.cisco.com/t5/unified-computing-system/vmware-cisco-nexus-1000v-end-of-availability/td-p/2684299"

Resolution

The following resolution is to be completed on the Cisco side to remove a Nexus 1000V from VMware's vCenter. None of the following can be done on the vCenter side. For more information, see Cisco's Nexus 1000V Switch for VMware vSphere documentation.

Run the command no vmware dvs from an svs connection to remove a Cisco Nexus 1000V VSM from the vCenter Server. You cannot remove the VSM from within vCenter Server. For more information, see Removing the Cisco Nexus 1000V from the vCenter Server in the Cisco Nexus 1000V Troubleshooting Guide.

If you have removed the VSM without running the no vmware dvs command, the old VSM remains in vCenter Server. You have to manually delete the VSM entries.

To delete the remaining VSM:

Reconnect the VSM to vCenter Server, or create a new VSM with the same extension key (either from ISO or OVF).
Ensure the hostname of the VSM matches with the name of the N1KV vDS as seen in vCenter Server. To modify hostname, log in to VSM and run these commands:

n1000v # conf t
n1000v(config)# hostname Oldhostname
n1000v(config)# exit
n1000v # copy run start
Find the extension key tied to the old VSM.

To find the extension key tied to a VSM:
- Log in to vCenter Server using the vSphere Client.
- Go to Home > Networking.
- Click N1KV DVS.
- Click the Summary tab. The extension key string is listed in the Notes field.
For more information, see the Finding the Extension Key on the Cisco Nexus 1000V section in the Cisco Nexus 1000V Troubleshooting Guide.
Configure the extension key on the new VSM with the command:

n1000v(config)# vmware vc extension-key key
Unregister the related extension key on vCenter Server. For more information, see the Unregistering the Extension Key in the vCenter Server section in the Cisco Nexus 1000V Troubleshooting Guide.
Open a browser, browse to the VSM, and download the extension.xml file. Refresh the browser page to get the current extension key.
Register the new extension.xml file in vCenter Server:
1. In vCenter Client, click the Plug-ins menu.
2. Click Manage Plug-ins.
3. Right-click the white space within the dialog and click New Plug-In.
4. Click Browse and choose the cisco_nexus1000v_extension.xml file that you downloaded from the VSM home page.
5. Click Register Plug-In.
For more information, see Creating a Cisco Nexus 1000V Plug-In on the vCenter Server in the Cisco Nexus 1000V Software Installation Guide.

Note: Ensure that the switch name of the VSM is the same as one you are trying to delete.
Reconnect the VSM to vCenter Server using these commands:

n1000v# conf t
n1000v(config)# svs conn VC
n1000v(config-svs-conn)# protocol vmware-vim
n1000v(config-svs-conn)# remote ip address [IP_address of VC]
n1000v(config-svs-conn)# vmware dvs datacenter-name [DC_name]
n1000v(config-svs-conn)# connect

Note: You must be connected to vCenter Server before you remove the DVS.
When it connects to vCenter Server, delete the VSM using the no vmware dvs command under an svs connection.

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Note: The links in this article were correct as of February 17, 2021. If you find a broken link, please provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

Workaround:
If the Cisco documentation above does not work in removing the Nexus 1000V, the user would need to install a new vCenter. See the About vCenter Server Installation and Setup guide.

Additional Information

For details on more commands, see Managing Server Connections in the Cisco Nexus 1000V System Management Configuration Guide.

Also, see:

Impact/Risks:
If the Nexus 1000V or other third party vSwitch was not removed properly while it was still supported by the third party vendor, the third party switch can get orphaned on the vCenter Server. The vCenter Server cannot control the third party switch because the third party switch is controlled through API calls from the third party vendor's software to the vCenter Server. As a result, vCenter cannot be updated due to this third party switch being installed.