Unable to remove vCLS VMs from cluster

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• When entering Retreat Mode for the cluster, some vCLS VMs are removed, but some remain
• When exiting Retreat Mode, new vCLS VMs are deployed, but the old ones remain
• Unable to Remove from Inventory, unable to Delete from Disk
• The remaining vCLS VMs are associated to a specific datastore
  • The datastore is listed in Cluster > Configure > vSphere Cluster Services > Datastores

Environment

vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

The vCLS VM becomes associated with the Datastore listed in Cluster > Configure > vSphere Cluster Services > Datastores and does not remove with Retreat Mode.

Resolution

To remove the vCLS VMs, remove the datastore in Cluster > Configure > vSphere Cluster Services > Datastores.

Additional Information

In vCenter Server 8.x, vCLS VMs are embedded and do not require configured Datastores.