Unable to remove ESXi host from VCF SDDC manager due to database mismatch | Steps to remove ESXi Hosts from the SDDC Manager DB

Products

• VMware Cloud Foundation

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

ESXi host in Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) manager VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) environment is in a state where it cannot be removed from the SDDC manager via the GUI. There may be multiple reasons for this state of SDDC manager, but usually the most expedient method to remove hosts is through deleting the references to those ESXi hosts in the VCF SDDC manager database.

Environment

VMware Cloud Foundation 4.x

VMware Cloud Foundation 5.x

Cause

Sometimes ESXi hosts are not in a good state with regard to the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) manager.  Most likely there is a mismatch with the database or an ESXi host is in an error state. 

Sometimes this happens when an ESXi host has a hardware error and is not recoverable, but still is referenced in the VCF SDDC manager database.

Resolution

This often requires VMware Technical Support to have a live call with the customer to properly resolve this issue.  A log bundle from SDDC Manager can help with the process.

To get a log bundle, do the following:

1 Log into SDDC manager via SSH using the vcf user

2 su to root

3 cd /opt/vmware/sddc-support

4 ./sos --sddc-manager-logs --zip

Then upload to desktop using favorite product to transfer, many people like WinSCP.

Then upload the log bundle to the Broadcom Portal.