VMware Cloud Foundation 

Host Decommissioning

Welcome to this demonstration on removing hosts from VMware Cloud Foundation, a process referred to as host decommissioning. 

Re-assigning server capacity and performing server maintenance is a critical aspect to successfully managing your private cloud.  In support of this, the SDDC Manager leverages advanced automation to make it easy to add and remove servers to facilitate this.

From the SDDC Manager dashboard we can see a single management domain and a total of 12 hosts

• Click [Workload Domains]

• Click [mgmt-domain]

• Click [Hosts]

• Click [Scroll Bar]

We see this environment is configured with a single Management domain of just 4 hosts

• Click [Hosts] under the Inventory menu

• Click [Unassigned Hosts]

• Click [Scroll bar]

We see hosts esxi-5 to esxi-12 are in a "Need Cleanup" state.  They were used in a workload domain that has been removed

Removing these servers from the Inventory will allow them to be reimaged.  Once reimaged they can be commissioned back into SDDC Manager to be used to provide capacity in a new workload domain(s).

• Click the [FQDN Checkbox] to select all hosts in the "Need Cleanup' state

• Click [Decommission Selected Hosts]

We are asked to confirm that we want to remove the selected host from the Cloud Foundation host inventory. 

• Click [Confirm]

A workflow is initiated to remove the host from the Cloud Foundation host inventory.  It will take approximately 5 minutes to remove a single host.  This time can vary based on the number of hosts being removed.

• Click [Expansion Arrow] to view the running task

We see the workflow has completed successfully, indicating that the hosts have been removed.

Here we see the eight tasks that were automated to remove the host. 

• Click [X] to close the task pane

SDDC Manger now shows just the four management domain hosts in the All Hosts tab

• Click [Unassigned Hosts]

Note that hosts esxi-5 to esxi-12 have been removed from the host inventory.

These hosts can now be re-imaged and commissionssioned back into SDDC Manager so they can be used in a new workload domain

This concludes our demonstration on removing hosts in Cloud Foundation.

Cloud Foundation makes it easy to add and remove hosts in the private cloud.  Whether you need to reassign capacity, replace failed hosts, or perform other server maintenance activities, the advanced automation capabilities of the SDDC Manager make it quick and easy to add and remove hosts enabling you to be respond quickly to changing business needs.

For more information on VMware Cloud Foundation, visit our website at vmware.com/go/cloudfoundation.