vSAN Robo/Stretched Cluster decommission Procedure.
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vSAN Robo/Stretched Cluster decommission Procedure.

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Article ID: 392596

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vSAN

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms : 

  • Decommission the vSAN cluster since the data has been migrated to the new vSAN cluster.


  • The procedure can also be used wherein just vSAN is to be decommissioned while VMs on other storage types (FC/iSCSI/NFS) is to be kept intact on the cluster.

Environment

vSphere vSAN 8.x

Resolution

Prerequisites:

  • Please make sure we have no user data on the vSAN datastore except for vCLS VMs. If there is data needed, please make a copy of the data or move the data out of the vSAN datastore.

  • Disable vCLS on a Cluster via Retreat Mode

Important Note: 

Before proceeding with the below steps to decommission the vSAN Cluster, we strongly recommend double- and triple-checking whether it is critical to perform this action. The procedure outlined will permanently delete all data stored on the vSAN cluster. Once the vSAN objects are deleted, they cannot be recovered, which could lead to potential data loss if the decommissioning process is carried out without ensuring that all critical data is backed up.

Please note that VMware by Broadcom is not responsible for any data loss caused by following the below procedure. VMware is also unable to provide guidance on which data can be safely deleted, as this decision lies with the data owner. We advise you to carefully assess your data requirements and confirm that proper backups are in place prior to proceeding with below steps.

 

Steps to decommission vSAN ROBO Cluster. 

 

  1. Power off the unused VM's on the 'Robo vSAN cluster - ECDC' vSAN Cluster 

  2. The data is already replicated to another vSAN Cluster, and all the replication settings are cleared for the current vSAN cluster.

  3. Disable vSAN Performance service using RVC tool on vCenter.

    Refer : Unable to Disable Performance Service in vSAN 8

  4. Disable the vSAN Stretched cluster
     
      • Navigate to the vSAN cluster.
      • Click the Configure tab.
      • Under vSAN, click Fault Domains.
      • Click Disable Stretched Cluster. You will see the following message : 

    Remove Witness Host

    Removing the Witness host from the vSAN Stretched Cluster will leave it in a misconfigured state. You will still be able to use the two fault domains.

      • Click on remove.  


  5. Place the vSAN Data nodes on maintenance mode with no action.

  6. Delete all the vSAN Disk groups.

    Refer to: How to remove a disk from a vSAN disk group/host 

  7. To disable vSAN on the cluster:
    • Open the vSphere Web Client.
    • Click the Hosts and Clusters tab.
    • Select the cluster intended to have vSAN disabled.
    • Validate vSphere HA is disabled on the cluster via Configure > Services > vSphere Availability, if not then temporarily disable it (and re-enable it after disabling vSAN) via Configure > Services > vSphere Availability > Edit > slider to off > OK
    • Click the Configure tab.
    • Under vSAN, select Services and click Turn off vSAN.
    • Click OK.

 

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