Symptoms:
When attempting to remove a host from an inactive cluster, it fails with the error:
Fetch Remove ESXi Host(s) Data from the SDDC Manager Inventory
/var/log/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/domainmanager.log
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS DEBUG [vcf_dm,xxxxxxxxxxxx4b2f,30c7] [c.v.v.h.a.RemoveHostEntityStatusActionUtil,dm-exec-19] Validate cluster status
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ERROR [vcf_dm,xxxxxxxxxxxx4b2f,30c7] [c.v.e.s.o.model.error.ErrorFactory,dm-exec-19] [T3M45D] REMOVE_HOSTS_FROM_NOT_ACTIVE_CLUSTER_ERROR Removal for hosts [FQDN1.Domain.local, FQDN2.Domain.local, FQDN3.Domainlocal] from not active cluster is not allowed.
com.vmware.evo.sddc.orchestrator.exceptions.OrchTaskException: Removal for hosts [FQDN1.Domain.local, FQDN2.Domain.local, FQDN3.Domainlocal] from not active cluster is not allowed.
When the cluster is in not in an ACTIVE state, the removal of hosts is not supported. For removing all the hosts in the cluster, delete cluster operation has to be performed.
Workaround:
Note: Before proceeding further with the above steps its recommended to take a backup of the database or make sure that there is valid snapshot taken.