Unable to remove decommissioned ESXi host from vCenter Server inventory with an error " A general system error occurred: vDS host error: see faultCause"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to remove an ESXi host from inventory that has already been powered down and physically removed from the environment, you receive an error in the vSphere Client similar to:

• A general system error occurred: vDS host error: see faultCause

Environment

VMware vSphere 7.0.x

VMware vSphere 8.0.x

Cause

This issue occurs because the host that has been powered down and physically removed from the environment still had a VM Template associated with it, and the VM template is configured with a vDS port group.  This connection between the VM template and vDS port group is preventing the removal of the host from the vCenter inventory.

• All VMs and VM Templates should be migrated off of a host prior to decommissioning the host.
• A host must be removed from all connected vSphere Distributed Switches before it can be removed from the vCenter inventory.
  • How to remove hosts from a vSphere Distributed Switch is detailed here:  Remove Hosts from a vSphere Distributed Switch

Resolution

To resolve this issue:

• The distributed port group attached to the VM template can be deleted if it is no longer in use.  Doing so will remove the lingering association between the vDS and the decommissioned host, to allow the decommissioned ESXi host to be removed from the vCenter Server inventory.