Uninstalling HCX from VMware Cloud on AWS deployments requires removing the service from both the source and destination site.

A graceful uninstall of HCX appliances is always initiated from the source side. The process requires that HCX is fully functional, including site pairings and communication between source and destination site appliances.

Prerequisites

All migrations and replications, including disaster recovery (DR) operations, are finalized.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the HCX Manager Service UI.
  2. Verify that no migration or protection operations are running.
  3. To remove all network extensions from source-site data centers, complete the following substeps:
    1. Go to Services > Network Extension.
    2. Review each stretched network and decide whether you want the network to be connected on the cloud side gateway after uninstalling HCX.
    3. Expand each extended network and click Unextend.

      The system displays information about the Unextend Network.

    4. Under Cloud Network, expand the network entry.
      Note:

      By default, the cloud network is disconnected from the cloud Edge Gateway after the network is unextended. This disconnection is done to prevent an edge gateway with dynamic routing activated from advertising the route of the network and causing a potential routing conflict with the network in the source site.

    5. (Optional) Use the check boxes to keep the cloud network connected or to force the network to unextend.
    6. Click Unextend.
  4. For any of the unextended networks that are unused, complete the following substeps to remove them from the destination site:
    Note:

    Unextending networks does not remove them from the destination.

    1. Access the VMware Cloud on AWS management interface: https://console.cloud.vmware.com
    2. Select your organization and data center (SDDC).
    3. Select Network & Security > Network > Segments.
    4. Select the unextended network from the list and click Delete.
  5. In the HCX Manager containing the Service Mesh configuration, complete the following substeps to delete all Service Mesh instances:
    Note:

    Removing a Multi-Service Mesh from the source site also deletes it from the destination site.

    1. Go to Interconnect > Multi-Site Service Mesh.
    2. For each Service Mesh, click Delete.
    3. Before proceeding to the next step, check that the Service Mesh no longer appears in the HCX Manager Service UI.
  6. To disconnect all HCX site pairings, complete the following substeps:
    1. From the HCX dashboard, navigate to Site Pairing.
    2. For each site pair, click Disconnect.
  7. (DX only) To remove direct connect private interfaces from the destination (VMware Cloud on AWS) site, complete the following substeps:
    1. Access the VMware Cloud on AWS management interface: https://console.cloud.vmware.com
    2. Select your organization and data center (SDDC).
    3. Select Add Ons.
    4. Navigate to the SDDC tab and click Open HCX.
    5. Enter the [email protected] user and credentials and click Log In.
    6. Navigate to the Infrastructure > Interconnect.
    7. Click the Network Profiles tab.
    8. Select the direct connect network profile and click Edit.
    9. Clear the IP ranges, Prefix length, and Gateway address.
    10. Click Update.
  8. To remove HCX Manager from the destination (VMware Cloud on AWS) site, complete the following substeps:
    Note:

    For deployments between HCX clouds on VMware Cloud on AWS (cloud-to-cloud), repeat this procedure at the source site.

    1. Access the VMware Cloud on AWS management interface: https://console.cloud.vmware.com
    2. Select your organization and data center (SDDC).
    3. Navigate to Networking & Security > Gateway Firewall > Management Gateway and delete any rules related to HCX.
    4. Click Add Ons.

      The system displays all SDDCs with HCX deployed.

    5. Click Undeploy HCX.
      While the HCX undeploy operation is in progress, click View Details for a list of HCX undeployment stages. Each stage is a consolidation of the operations performed by VMware services for undeploying HCX along with the status of each operation. When the undeploy operations have successfully completed, VMware Cloud on AWS automation cleans up SDDC HCX Manager services and removes the HCX Cloud Manager.
  9. To remove HCX Connector on-premises, complete the following substeps:
    Note:

    For cloud-to-cloud deployments using VMware Cloud on AWS, skip this step. This step applies only in on-premises to VMware Cloud on AWS deployments.

    1. Navigate to the vCenter Hosts and Clusters tab.
    2. Expand the cluster where the HCX Manager is deployed and locate the virtual machine.
    3. Right-click on the HCX Manager virtual machine and power off the selection.
    4. Right-click on the HCX Manager virtual machine and select Delete from Disk.
  10. Unregister the HCX Plug-in from the vCenter Server using the instructions on how to remove or deactivate unwanted plug-ins using the KB article, https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1025360.

    Remove all HCX extensions that include com.vmware.hybridity in the path. Also, remove entries with the following extensions:

    • com.vmware.hcsp.alarm

    • com.vmware.vca.marketing.ngc.ui