Unable to unregister vSphere Replication due to Thumbprint Error

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to unregister or uninstall vSphere Replication  via VAMI console, fails with the error message:" A specified parameter was not correct: connection.thumbprint "

Environment

VMware vSphere Replication

Cause

The issue is caused by a certificate mismatch or an "Unknown" certificate state on the vSphere Replication appliance.
Because the certificate thumbprint stored in the configuration does not match the actual certificate presented by the appliance, the VR service cannot securely authenticate with vCenter Server to complete the unregistration process.

From VR, dr.log:
From VR, dr.log there is an error event with "certificate mismatch"
2026-03-09 10:48:34,291 [srm-reactive-thread-3] WARN com. vmware. srm. client.infrastructure.init.workflow.Configurator #########-####-####-####-##########- Failed to create web com. vmware. vim. vmomi. client. exception. SslException: Unable to connect to Lookup Service at https://dc-######.#######:443/lookupservice/sdk. Reason: javax.net.ssl.SSLExceptionservice.
at com. vmware. vim. vmomi. client. common. impl. ResponseImpl. setError (ResponseImpl. java: 261)
at com. vmware. vim. vmomi. client.http.impl. HttpExchangeBase.setResponseError (HttpExchangeBase.java:356)
at com. vmware. vim. vmomi. client.http.impl. HttpAsyncExchange$1$1.invokeWithinScope (HttpAsyncExchange. java: 131)
com. vmware. vim. vmomi. client.http.impl. TracingScopedRunnable.run (TracingScopedRunnable.java:24)
at com. vmware.dr.ui.tools.utilities. ThreadContext.lambda$wrap$1 (ThreadContext.java:55)
at com. vmware.dr.ui.tools. utilities.ThreadContext.execute (ThreadContext.java:209)
at com. vmware.dr.ui.tools. utilities. ThreadContext. execute (ThreadContext. java: 185)
at com. vmware.dr.ui.tools.utilities. ThreadContext.setupContext (ThreadContext.java: 76)
at java. util.concurrent. ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run (ThreadPoolExecutor.java: 624)
at java.lang. Thread.run (Thread. java: 750)
Caused by: javax.net.ssl.SSLException: Certificate thumbprint mismatch.
at com. vmware.srm.client.topology.impl.vmomi.ssl.DynamicVerifier.onSuccess (DynamicVerifier. java:80)ionCompilerBase$1.onSuccess (HttpConfigurationCompilerBase.java:223) com. vmware. vim. vmomi. client. http. impl. HttpConfiguratic at com. vmware. vim.
vmomi. client. http. impl. ThumbprintTrustManager$VlsiSslIoSessionStrategy. verifySession (ThumbprintTrustManager. java: 756)

From vSphere Replication VAMI, certificate is in known state and expired:

Resolution

To resolve this error and successfully unregister the appliance, refresh the VR certificate using complete FQDN.

• Log in to the vSphere Replication VAMI (https://<VR_Appliance_IP>:5480).
  
  
• Navigate to the Configuration tab.
  
  
• Under the Certificate section, ensure you are using the Complete FQDN of the appliance.
  
  
• Click on Change and update the certificate. (This action forces the appliance to regenerate or re-bind the thumbprint correctly.)
  
  
• Reconfigure the appliance.
  
  
• Once the certificate state is validated and healthy, attempt to Unregister the VR service again from the VAMI.

The "connection.thumbprint" error should no longer appear, allowing the unregistration to complete successfully.