If you need to uninstall the spherelet from an ESXi host, you might encounter some issues. This blog post will guide you through the process based on the following CLI outputs.

Initial Steps

First, check if the Spherelet is installed on the ESXi host:

[root@vcf-mgmt-esx1:~] esxcli software vib list | grep spherelet
spherelet                      2.3.2-24203661                        VMware  VMwareCertified   2024-12-27    host

If the Spherelet is listed, proceed with the uninstallation process.

Attempt Uninstallation

Try to remove the Spherelet VIB:

[root@vcf-mgmt-esx1:~] esxcli software vib remove -n spherelet

You might encounter the following error.

 [LiveInstallationError]
 VMware_bootbank_spherelet_2.3.2-24203661: Failed to unmount tardisk spherele.v00 of VIB VMware_bootbank_spherelet_2.3.2-24203661: Error in running [/bin/rm /tardisks/spherele.v00]:
 Return code: 1
 Output: rm: can't remove '/tardisks/spherele.v00': Device or resource busy

To resolve this, follow these steps:

Check Spherelet Service Status

Check the status of the Spherelet service:

[root@vcf-mgmt-esx1:~] /etc/init.d/spherelet status
2024-12-28 23:17:55,772 init.d/spherelet spherelet is running

Stop the Spherelet Service

Stop the Spherelet service to free up the resources:

[root@vcf-mgmt-esx1:~] /etc/init.d/spherelet stop
2024-12-28 23:18:02,329 init.d/spherelet spherelet stopped

Verify that the service has stopped:

[root@vcf-mgmt-esx1:~] /etc/init.d/spherelet status
2024-12-28 23:18:06,950 init.d/spherelet spherelet is not running

Remove the Spherelet VIB

After stopping the service, retry the VIB removal:

[root@vcf-mgmt-esx1:~] esxcli software vib remove -n spherelet
Removal Result
   Message: Operation finished successfully.
   VIBs Installed:
   VIBs Removed: VMware_bootbank_spherelet_2.3.2-24203661

Verify that the Spherelet VIB is removed:

[root@vcf-mgmt-esx1:~] esxcli software vib list | grep spherelet
[root@vcf-mgmt-esx1:~]