Unable to Uninstall VMtools from VMs running in a non-vSphere environment

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• A Windows VM from vSphere migrated to a non-vSphere environment without uninstalling VMtools.
• Microsoft Installer fails to uninstall the VMtools.
• No errors are identified during the uninstallation process. 

Environment

Non-vSphere Environment 

Cause

Upon trying to uninstall VMtools after migrating the VM to a different platform, the vmtools installer will exit due to the VM being run in a non-vSphere environment.

Resolution

• This is an expected behaviour.
• VMtools must be uninstalled before the VM is migrated off the vSphere environment.
• Once the migration is completed, the VM is no longer under the support of VMware by Broadcom.