You can delete a VI workload domain from SDDC Manager UI.

When you delete a workload domain, the clusters within that workload domain are deleted and the hosts are returned to the free pool with a need cleanup host state.

Deleting a VI workload domain also removes the components associated with the VI workload domain from the management domain. This includes the vCenter Server instance and the NSX Manager cluster instances.
Note: If the NSX Manager cluster is shared with any other VI workload domains, it will not be deleted.

The network pools used by the workload domain are not deleted as part of the VI workload domain deletion process and must be deleted separately.

Caution: Deleting a workload domain is an irreversible operation. All clusters and virtual machines within the VI workload domain are deleted and the underlying datastores are destroyed.
It can take up to 20 minutes for a VI workload domain to be deleted. During this process, you cannot perform any operations on workload domains.

Prerequisites

  • If remote vSAN datastores are mounted on a cluster in the VI workload domain, then the VI workload domain cannot be deleted. To delete such VI workload domains, you must first migrate any virtual machines from the remote datastore to the local datastore and then unmount the remote vSAN datastores from vCenter Server.
  • If you require access after deleting a VI workload domain, back up the data. The datastores on the VI workload domain are destroyed when it is deleted.
  • Migrate the virtual machines that you want to keep to another workload domain using cross vCenter vMotion.
  • Delete any workload virtual machines created outside VMware Cloud Foundation before deleting the VI workload domain.
  • Delete any NSX Edge clusters hosted on the VI workload domain. See KB 78635.

Procedure

  1. In the navigation pane, click Inventory > Workload Domains.
  2. Click the vertical ellipsis (three dots) next to the VI workload domain you want to delete and click Delete Domain.
    A list of menu options for workload domains, showing Delete Domain.
  3. On the Delete Workload Domain dialog box, click Delete Workload Domain.
    A message indicating that the VI workload domain is being deleted appears. When the removal process is complete, the VI workload domain is removed from the domains table.

What to do next

Decommission the hosts that were part of the VI workload domain, then re-image with ESXi and commission them again. See Managing ESXi Hosts in VMware Cloud Foundation.