Removing CA Certificates from the TRUSTED_ROOTS store in the VMware Endpoint Certificate Store(VECS) in vCSA using script

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Remove certificates from the TRUSTED_ROOTS store in a streamlined way
This is the scripted way of the following kb Removing Expired CA Certificates from the TRUSTED_ROOTS store in the VMware Endpoint Certificate Store(VECS) (2146011)

Symptoms:

• You see a critical alarm in the vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client for a Certificate expiry.
• A CA Certificate that is in use in the environment is expiring or expired.
• You have already renewed the certificates and have a new, valid CA Certificate in place. Remove expired old SSL certificate.
• Attempts to remove the expired CA Certificate using the Web Client or other methods fail, and the Certificate is copied back to VMware Endpoint Certificate Store (VECS) after deletion.
• Remove/delete trusted root certificate.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5.x

VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.7.x 

VMware vCenter Server 7.0.x

VMware vCenter Server 8.0.x

 

Cause

Certificates are copied back to the VECS store because the CA Certificate which is expiring is published to the VMware Directory Service (VMDIR). When the Certificate is removed from VECS, VMDIR adds the Certificate back to VECS during a sync operation. This is done in order to ensure the integrity of the TRUSTED_ROOTS Certificate store, as deletion of an incorrect Certificate from this store could cause the environment to be irreparably damaged.

Resolution

To un-publish expired/expiring/unwanted certificates from TRUSTED_ROOTS VECS Store:

1. Download the attached removeroot.sh script attached to this article
2. Upload to attached script to the VCSA with embedded PSC or external PSC in the /tmp folder, or copy its contents to a text file on the appliance using vi

Note: You may use WinSCP to upload the script to VCSA. For additional information, see Error when uploading files to vCenter Server Appliance using WinSCP (2107727) .

If you get an error for connecting to the VCSA via WinSCP run the following command:

chsh -s /bin/bash root as per above link.

3. cd to /tmp folder
4. Run chmod +x removeroot.sh to make the file executable
5. Run ./removeroot.sh

6. Enter the number of the certificate you want to remove from the list above, e.g. 2, then enter the administrator password for your SSO domain

7. Restart all services on the PSCs and on the vCenter Servers and ensure that all services start and respond normally and that you can log in and manage the environment.

 

Additional Information

• Removing Expired CA Certificates from the TRUSTED_ROOTS store in the VMware Endpoint Certificate Store(VECS) (2146011)
• VMware Skyline Health Diagnostics for vSphere - FAQ
• Refer to KB CertificateStatusAlarm - There are certificates that expired or about to expire / Certificate Status Change Alarm Triggered on VMware vCenter Server for more information on removing expired certificates from other certificate stores.

Impact/Risks:
WARNING:

• Proceed with EXTREME CAUTION. If the wrong Certificate is un-published and removed from VECS, this can damage the environment which can be irreparable.
• Be absolutely certain that the Certificate you are removing is the correct Certificate to remove.
• Validate the root certificate which is about to expire is renewed and all certificates from this root certificate are also renewed/replaced before un-publishing.

Mandatory precaution:

• Ensure that all Platform Services Controllers in the federated environment are shut down and take a snapshot of all of them while they are powered off. They should be powered down to ensure that no replication takes place partially during the snapshot operation. Power On all the PSCs when the snapshot operation is complete. Also, take snapshots of the vCenter Systems while powered off. 
• Snapshot revert (If required to recover from a damage) should happen on all the nodes to the same powered off snapshot state to ensure replication data consistency.