Delete duplicate objects from Aria/VCF Operations object inventory

Products

• VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)
• VCF Operations

Issue/Introduction

• When searching the UI for an object by name, you see multiple objects: one collecting and the other(s) in a non-collecting state.
• Receiving alerts for the non-collecting duplicate objects. 
• Duplicate entries will also consume license, resulting in license over-usage.
• Deployed a new vCenter for a new Workload domain and for some reason 8 different VM objects were created in Aria Operations. Need help to understand what's the problem and how to clean it up.

 

Environment

VMware Aria Operations 8.18.x
VMware Cloud Foundation Operations 9.x

Cause

• When an adapter instance is removed from the integrations in Aria Operations without checking the "Delete Related Objects" checkbox, it can result in orphaned entries. This can result in duplicate entries that will remain in the system until they expire at the end of their retention period. Consequently, we may encounter multiple instances of the same data.
• The migration of resources from one adapter instance to another, such as migrating a host from one vCenter to another, can also result in duplicate resources.
• Multiple failed creation attempts of an object in vCenter with separate MOIDs for each object can result in duplicate resources.

Resolution

NOTE: Create snapshots of the cluster before proceeding with the below steps.

• Snapshot Creation in VMware Aria Operations

1. Navigate to Operations > Configurations > Inventory Management
   
   Notes:
   
   • The UI path in 8.17 and previous versions is Environment > Inventory
   • If Inventory Management is not visible, sign in with the local admin user as it could be a permission issue
2. Use the search bar to find the specific object you wish to investigate for duplicates.
   
   Note: Use the Click here to apply filters button (Blue funnel icon) to more effectively narrow results to specific object types
   
   Example: If the duplicated object type is a Virtual Machine, type the VM name in the Name: field and type Virtual Machine in the Object Type: field and click Apply
3. Click the Show Columns button (blue columns icon) in the Status Bar
4. Place a check next to Creation Time, Internal ID, Creation Status and Identifier 2 and click OK as seen below:
   
   
   Note: Identifier 2 will contain the vCenter Managed Object Identifier (MOID) for objects collected from the vCenter adapter. If the duplicate objects were created by a different adapter, try using Identifiers 1-5 to identify additional identifying information about the objects
5. Review the Identifiers, Creation Time, and Collection State columns to identify the correct object(s) to delete
6. Highlight the object(s) identified in step 5 and click the Delete Object button (blue X Icon) and click Yes in the Confirmation dialog

Additional Information

Navigate to Administration > Global Settings > Data Retention, this page can be customize the setting to retain object for x hours after it no longer exist as desired in your enviroment.