Cannot remove or disable unwanted plug-ins from vCenter Server and vCenter Server Appliance

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

This article provides the steps to remove or disable any unwanted plug-ins from the vCenter Server or vCenter Server Appliance.

Symptoms:

• Cannot remove plug-ins from the vSphere Client, the error message presented is similar to:

vCenter {Plugin Name} Disabled {Plugin Name} vCenter plugin The following error occurred while downloading the script plugin from https:///vmware/Plugin-NamePlugin.xml:Invalid URI: The host name could not be parsed.

• Even though uninstalled plug-ins from the Windows machine on which vCenter Server is running, the plugins are still in the Plug-in Manager in the vSphere Client.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 6.x

VMware vCenter Server 7.x

VMware vCenter Server 8.x 

Resolution

Note: If vCenter Server is in linked mode, perform this procedure on the vCenter Server that is used to install the plug-in initially, then restart the vCenter Server services on the linked vCenter Server.

To resolve this issue, remove unwanted plug-ins from the available plug-in list.

To remove unwanted plug-ins from the available plug-in list:

1. In a web browser, navigate to https://vCenter_Server_name_or_IP/mob.
   
   Where vCenter_Server_name_or_IP/mob is the name of the vCenter Server or its IP address. Log in with the vCenter SSO admin credentials.
    
2. Click Content.
3. Click ExtensionManager.
4. Select and copy the name of the plug-in to remove from the list of values under Properties. For a list of default plug-ins, see the Additional Information section of this article.
5. Click UnregisterExtension. A new window appears.
6. Paste the key of the plug-in and click Invoke Method. This removes the plug-in and results in void.
7. Close the window.
8. Refresh the Managed Object Type:ManagedObjectReference:ExtensionManager window to verify that the plug-in is removed successfully.

Note: If the plug-in still appears, a restart of the vSphere Client may be required.

 

To disable the plugin through the Client Plug-In manager within the vSphere Web Client 5.1 and later:

1. Log in to the vSphere Web Client with an vCenter Server Administrative user.
2. When the error appears, click No.
3. Navigate to Administration > Client Plug-Ins.
4. Locate the client plug-in to disable.
5. Right-click this entry and select Disable.
6. Click Yes on the pop-up box for disabling the plugin.

Additional Information

Default vSphere extensions

 

Extension Name	Service Description
com.vmware.vim.eam	vSphere ESX Agent Manager
com.vmware.vim.inventoryservice	vCenter Inventory Service
com.vmware.vim.ls	Licensing Services
com.vmware.vim.sms	VMware vCenter Storage Monitoring Service
com.vmware.vim.sps	VMware vSphere Profile-drive Storage Service
com.vmware.vim.stats.report	Performance charts built-in extension
com.vmware.vim.stats.vsm	Service Manager
cim-ui	vCenter Hardware Status
health-ui	vCenter Service Status
hostdiag	Internal extension to declare diagnostic events from VMware Host systems
VirtualCenter	VirtualCenter dynamic events and tasks
com.vmware.h4	VMware Cloud Provider Services Plugin
com.vmware.orchestrator	VMware vRealize Orchestrator plugin (formerly known as VMware vCenter Orchestrator plug-in)
com.vmware.rbd	Auto Deploy
com.vmware.syslog	VMware Syslog Collector Configuration
com.vmware.vcDr	VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager Extension
com.vmware.vcHms	vSphere Replication Management (VRM)
com.vmware.vcIntegrity	VMware vSphere Update Manager Extension
com.vmware.vShieldManager	vShield Manager
vCloud Director-1	vCloud Director
com.vmware.vcops	vRealize Operations Manager (formerly known as vCenter Operations Manager)
com.vmware.vadm	VMware vRealize Infrastructure Navigator (formerly known as vCenterInfrastructure Navigator)
com.vmware.vdp	vSphere Data Protection 5.1
com.vmware.vdp2 com.vmware.vdp2.config	vSphere Data Protection 5.5/5.8
com.vmware.vsan.health	vSAN Health Check Plug-in
com.vmware.heartbeattasks	vCenter Server Heartbeat
com.vmware.hbwc	vCenter Server Heartbeat
com.vmware.heartbeat	vCenter Server Heartbeat
com.neverfail.heartbeat	vCenter Server Heartbeat