Regardless of the reason to destroy the cluster whether it is to relocate and reuse an existing kit or switch to a different hypervisor, to build something new often means to destroy something that already exists and Nutanix has a process for it.

1. Migrate all user VMs off the cluster.

2. Reclaim licenses. Ensure there are no errors displayed. 

3. Stop the cluster.

4. Destroy the cluster.

Not too bad, right?

Some things to keep in mind is that cluster destruction does not affect either:

• IPMI configuration. Which is convenient if you wish to re-use the settings in the new environment. 

• Installed hypervisor. Nodes would have to be re-imaged should a different hypervisor be required.

Migrate all workloads off the cluser prior to executing the cluster destroy. Cluster destroy clears all metadata and data on the storage.

Useful links:

KB-3716 Reclaiming Cluster License

Acropolis Advanced Administration Guide: Destroying a Cluster

Field Installation Guide