“Remove from Inventory” & “Delete from Disk”
In VMware, “Remove from Inventory” unregisters a virtual machine from the host, or from a vCenter Server, where as “Delete from Disk” permanently deletes the virtual machines and its files from the datastore.
Remove from inventory
This option unregisters the VM from the host and the vCenter Server inventory, it removes the VM from the list, but the VM’s files are still available on the datastore. If the VM needs to be used again it has to be re-registered to the inventory, go to the datastore to the VM folder and select the .vmx file and select “Register VM”.
.
Delete from Disk
This option removes the VM from the inventory and permanently deletes all the files associated with the VM from the datastore, its a irreversible action, please tread with caution. Once the VM is deleted, files from the storage is deleted, the only way you can get the VM back is from the backup, if you have taken one.
It’s important to remember:
- Power off the VM
- Verify the VM does not share disk with other VM
- Take backup of the VM