Best practices for uninstalling vCenter Server 4.x / 5.x

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

This article provides the best practices for uninstalling vCenter Server properly.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x

Resolution

To uninstall vCenter Server:

Note: This procedure modifies the Windows registry. Before making any registry modifications, ensure that you have a current and valid backup of the registry and the virtual machine. For more information on backing up and restoring the registry, see the Microsoft article 136393.

The preceding link was correct as of August 25, 2014. If you find the link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

1. Uninstall vCenter Server and its components. These are the programs that need to be uninstalled. Depending on the installation, there may be other programs that need to be removed:
   
   VMware vSphere Web Client.
   VMware vCenter Server
   VMware vCenter Inventory Service
   vCenter Single Sign On
   
   For more information, see the Uninstall VMware vSphere Components section in VMware vSphere 5.1 Installation and Setup guide.
   
   Note: Ensure to remove the program named AD LDS Instance VMwareVCMSDS that may be present in the uninstall menu.
   
   Note: If the vCenter Server is using a local SQL Express instance this is not uninstalled with the vCenter Server uninstall. This instance is found at localhost\SQLEXP_VIM on 4.x and localhost\VIM_SQLEXP on 5.x installations. However, the ODBC connection is removed during uninstall. It is recommended to make note of the ODBC connection settings before proceeding with the uninstall.
   
   
   
2. Rename all subfolders within C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter Server and C:\ProgramData\VMware \VMware VirtualCenter.
3. Uninstall VMwareVCMSDS from Program Features/Active Directory Lightweight Directory Service from Control Panel.
4. If you are running Windows 2008, remove the LDAP role from Server Manager. In case of Windows 2003, uninstall the Active Directory Service role from Control Panel.
5. Rename the ADAM folder located at C:\Windows.
   
   Note: Do not rename the ADAM folder if you are planning to reinstall on Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2.
   
   
6. Delete these registry keys:
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VMware Inc.\VMware VirtualCenter
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432NODE\VMware Inc.\VMware VirtualCenter
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432NODE\VMware Inc.\VMware Infrastructure
   
   
7. Restart the system.
   

Additional Information

vCenter Server 4.x/5.x をアンインストールする場合のベスト プラクティス