Uninstall NSX-T Data Center from a Physical Host

You can uninstall NSX-T Data Center from a physical host.

Prerequisites

If you are uninstalling NSX-T Data Center from a standalone physical host, verify the following settings:

Procedure

1. From a browser, log in with admin privileges to an NSX Manager at https://<nsx-manager-ip-address>.
2. Navigate the UI based on the NSX-T Data Center version and select a host:
   • (NSX-T Data Center 3.2.2 or later) System > Fabric > Hosts and select the Cluster tab.

   • (NSX-T Data Center 3.2.1 or earlier) System > Fabric > Nodes > Host Transport Nodes

     and from the Managed by dropdown menu, select None: Standalone Hosts.

3. Select the physical host, click Delete. In the confirmation dialog box, by default Uninstall NSX Components is selected. Uncheck Force Delete, click Delete.

   The NSX-T Data Center software is removed from the host.

4. If the uninstall fails, select the host and click Delete again. In the confirmation dialog box, check Force Delete and click Delete.
   The system deletes the host transport node from the management plane, but the host might still have NSX-T Data Center software installed.
5. Verify that the NSX-T Data Center software is removed from the host.
   rpm -qa | grep -E 'nsx|vsipfwlib'
6. If the host goes into a failed state and NSX-T Data Center VIBs cannot be removed, then to forcefully remove NSX-T Data Center from the host, run the del nsx command .
   1. Log into the host's command-line interface as root.
   2. Run nsxcli -c del nsx.
   3. Read the warning message. Enter Yes if you want to go ahead with NSX-T Data Center uninstallation.
      Carefully read the requirements and limitations of this command:
      1.Read NSX documentation for 'Remove a Host from NSX or Uninstall NSX Completely'.
      2.Deletion of this Transport Node from the NSX UI or API failed, and this is the last resort.
      3.If this is an ESXi host:
      a.The host must be in maintenance mode.
      b. All resources attached to NSXPGs must be moved out.
      If the above conditions for ESXi hosts are not met, the command WILL fail.
      4.If this is a Linux host:

      a. This command should be run from the host console and may fail if run from an SSH client or any other network based shell client.

      b. The 'nsxcli -c del nsx' form of this command is not supported.

      5. For command progress check /scratch/log/nsxcli.log on ESXi host or /var/log/nsxcli.log on non-ESXi host.
      Are you sure you want to remove NSX on this host? (yes/no)
      Important: After running the del nsx command, do not use the Resolve functionality in the NSX Manager UI to reprepare the host that is in Disconnected state . If you use the Resolve functionality, the host might go into Degraded state.
   4. Go back to the NSX Manager, on the Host Transport Nodes page, select each host and click Remove NSX.
   5. In the popup window, select Force Delete and begin uninstallation.
   6. On the physical host, verify that system message displayed is Terminated. This message indicates that NSX-T Data Center is completely removed from the host including the application interface that was created for the physical host.
      After running del nsx, NSX-T Data Center packages and the application interface are removed from the host.

Results

When the NSX-T Data Center software is successfully removed, no packages are listed. If any NSX software packages remain on the host, contact VMware support.

What to do next

Remove the segment port that was connected to the application interface of the physical host.