Remove vCenter HA option fails with generic error "Cannot destroy VCHA on local node"

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Issue/Introduction

• When navigating to vCenter HA interface within the vCenter Server UI, the following error is seen: vCenter HA has invalid configuration. Remove vCenter HA to destroy the current cluster configuration and set up vCenter HA again
  
  
• Remove vCenter HA option fails with: A general system error occurred: Cannot destroy VCHA on local node
  
  
• Attempts to force-remove the vCenter HA configuration via the CLI using the 'vcha-destroy -f' command are also unsuccessful.
  
  
• Reviewing /var/log/vmware/vpxd/vpxd.log on the vCenter Server, the following errors are seen:
  
  YYYY-MM-DD THH:MM:SS info vpxd[52549] [Originator@6876 sub=vpxLro opID=########-10351-auto-7zk-h5:########] com.vmware.vcenter.vcha.cluster.undeploy: taskId task-23###83:a9de6f5f-####-####-####-59e185dd####
YYYY-MM-DD THH:MM:SS error vpxd[62975] [Originator@6876 sub=vpxUtil opID=########-10351-auto-7zk-h5:########] System command failed; '/bin/sudo', args: [/bin/sudo_py_vmw_path_wrapper.sh,/usr/lib/vmware-vcha/scripts/executeCmd.py,/usr/bin/python /usr/lib/vmware-vcha/scripts/destroyVcha.py -q], exit code: 1
--> stdout: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  RC = 6
--> Stdout =
--> Stderr = userdel: user 'vcha' does not exist
-->
--> Traceback (most recent call last):
-->   File "/usr/lib/vmware-vcha/scripts/destroyVcha.py", line 421, in <module>
-->     main()
-->   File "/usr/lib/vmware-vcha/scripts/destroyVcha.py", line 386, in main
-->     revokeCertificates()
-->   File "/usr/lib/vmware-vcha/scripts/destroyVcha.py", line 293, in revokeCertificates
-->     for it in os.scandir(vchaSslDir):
--> FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/etc/vmware-vcha/ssl'
-->
-->
--> stderr:
YYYY-MM-DD THH:MM:SS info vpxd[62975] [Originator@6876 sub=FailoverClusterOperator opID=########-10351-auto-7zk-h5:########] com.vmware.vcenter.vcha.cluster.undeploy Request:
--> Spec: {
-->     "force_delete": false,
-->     "vc_spec": null,
-->     "vms": null
--> }
YYYY-MM-DD THH:MM:SS error vpxd[62975] [Originator@6876 sub=vpxLro opID=########-10351-auto-7zk-h5:########] [VpxLRO] Unexpected Exception: N5Vmomi5Fault11SystemError9ExceptionE(Fault cause: vmodl.fault.SystemError
--> )
--> [context]#####################[/context]
YYYY-MM-DD THH:MM:SS error vpxd[62975] [Originator@6876 sub=FailoverClusterOperator opID=########-10351-auto-7zk-h5:########] Exception: N5Vmomi11MethodFault9ExceptionE(Fault cause: vmodl.fault.SystemError
--> )
--> [context]#####################[/context]
YYYY-MM-DD THH:MM:SS info vpxd[62975] [Originator@6876 sub=vpxLro opID=########-10351-auto-7zk-h5:########] [VpxLRO] -- FINISH task-23###83
YYYY-MM-DD THH:MM:SS error vpxd[62975] [Originator@6876 sub=Default opID=########-10351-auto-7zk-h5:########] [VpxLRO] -- ERROR task-23###83 --  -- Datacenters -- com.vmware.vcenter.vcha.cluster.undeploy: :vmodl.fault.SystemError
--> Result:
--> (vmodl.fault.SystemError) {
-->    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
-->    faultMessage = <unset>,
-->    reason = "Cannot destroy VCHA on local node"
-->    msg = ""
--> }
--> Args:

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 7.x
VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

The failure occurred due to a pre-existing, invalid VCHA configuration.

Resolution

1. Take a snapshot of the vCenter Server. Refer: Snapshot Best practices for vCenter Server Virtual Machines.
   
   
2. Create SSL directory under /etc/vmware-vcha/
mkdir -p /etc/vmware-vcha/ssl
   
   
3. Set appropriate permissions for the SSL directory:
   chown vpxd:root /etc/vmware-vcha/ssl
   
   
4. Remove invalid vCenter HA configuration 
   vcha-destroy -f

Note: If issues persist while removing the VCHA configuration, contact Broadcom support for further assistance.

Additional Information

Japanese Version:
vCenter HA の削除オプションが一般的なエラー "Cannot destroy VCHA on local node" で失敗する