Unable to uninstall VMware tools from virtual machines operating in a non-vSphere environment

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• A Windows virtual machine was migrated from vSphere to a non-vSphere environment without uninstalling VMware Tools.

• Microsoft installer fails to uninstall the VMware tools.

• No errors are identified during the uninstallation process. 

Environment

Non-vSphere Environment 

Cause

After migrating the VM to a different platform, the VMware Tools uninstallation process fails because the virtual machine is not running within a vSphere environment.

Resolution

• This is an expected behavior.

• VMware Tools should be uninstalled prior to migrating the virtual machines out of the vSphere environment.

• Once the migration is completed, the virtual machine is no longer under the support of VMware by Broadcom.