Powered-off VMs remain in vCenter inventory for VMware Cloud Director after deletion of vAPP

Products

• VMware Cloud Director
• VMware Telco Cloud Platform

Issue/Introduction

After initiating a deletion request from VMware Cloud Director, powered-off virtual machines (VMs) may still be visible within the  vCenter Server inventory.

Environment

• VCD: 10.3.3.2, 10.x
• TCP:3.x, 4.x, 5.x

Cause

This is the expected architectural behavior for VM templates residing in a VMware Cloud Director catalog. VMware Cloud Director provisions and stores catalog items (vApp and VM templates) as powered-off virtual machines within the underlying vCenter Server infrastructure. Unless the templates are deleted from the VCD catalog itself, they remain in the inventory.

Resolution

No technical remediation is required as this is expected behavior. To remove the VMs from the vCenter inventory, delete the corresponding vApp or VM templates from the VMware Cloud Director catalog.

1. Log in to the VMware Cloud Director Tenant or Provider portal.
2. Navigate to Libraries > Content Libraries > vApp Templates (or VM Templates).
3. Locate the template associated with the powered-off VMs in vCenter.
4. Delete the template from the catalog.

Additional Information

For guidance on managing catalog items, refer to Working with Catalogs in the VMware Cloud Director Tenant Portal