VSAN datastore still appears in vCenter after disabling vsan service.

Products

• VMware vSAN 8.x

Issue/Introduction

VSAN datastore still appears in vCenter even after disabling VSAN service.

Environment

VMware VSAN (All Versions)

Cause

This can happen if VSAN Service is turned off before disk groups are properly removed and hosts are not removed from the VSAN cluster.

Resolution

Disabling vSAN Service:

Disabling the vSAN service on a cluster only stops the distributed storage functionality and disables the vSAN modules.
It does not remove the vSAN datastore or any data stored on it. 

vSAN Cluster Removal:

To remove the vSAN datastore, you need to remove the vSAN cluster itself from vCenter. 
This process involves placing hosts in maintenance mode, migrating data, and removing the vSAN configuration from the hosts. 

Disabling vs. Decommissioning:

Disabling the vSAN service is a different operation than decommissioning a vSAN datastore.
Disabling stops vSAN functionality, while decommissioning removes the datastore and its data.

Removing Disks and Partitions:

In some cases, you may need to remove the disks from the vSAN cluster and potentially erase the partitions from the disks before the datastore is completely removed from vCenter. 

vCLS VMs:

If vCLS VMs are residing on the vSAN datastore, they might become inaccessible after vSAN is disabled, and their status might not be reflected correctly in vCenter.
You may need to manually remove these VMs or configure retreat mode to ensure they are cleaned up before disabling vSAN.

Cleaning up vSAN Datastore:

After disabling vSAN and removing the cluster, you may still see the datastore in vCenter. 
You might need to use the esxcli vsan storage remove command to remove the disks making up the datastore.

In summary:

Disabling the vSAN service is a temporary measure, while removing the vSAN cluster and potentially cleaning up disks is necessary to completely remove the datastore from vCenter.