Removing old vCenter plugins

Mar 15, 2023
Graeme Lewis

A customer recently asked for a few old plugins be removed from vCenter. In order to do this we need to enter the vCenter Managed Object Browser or MOB for short. This is a web based application built into ESXi\vCenter that allows you to view and perform actions on objects in vSphere (i.e. virtual machines, datastores, resource pools, vCenter, etc).

Here’s how to do it:

 

Testing if MOB is enabled

Firstly you need to see if the MOB is enabled in your environment (Note: It’s disabled by default on vSphere 6.x)

1. Open a web browser and browse to  http://x.x.x.x/mob, where x.x.x.x is the IP Address of your target vCenter Server or ESX/ESXi host

2. If MOB is enabled you’ll be prompted for credentials. If it’s not enabled you’ll get an error.

 

Enabling MOB

To enable MOB:

1. Open vSphere

2. In Hosts and Clusters, click on the host or vCenter server

3. Click Configure

4. Under Systems, click Advanced System Settings

5.  Find and select the option called ‘Config.HostAgent.plugins.solo.enableMob’ 

6. Click Edit and enable it

 

Removing the old vCenter Plugin

1. Open a web browser and browse to  http://x.x.x.x/mob, where x.x.x.x is the IP Address of your target vCenter Server

2. Login using your SSO admin credentials

3. Click Content

 

MOB Content

 

4. Click Extension Manager

 

MOB ExtensionManager

 

5. Find the name of the extension you want to remove (Listed under ‘Properties’)

6. Click Unregister Extension. A new window opens up.

 

MOB UnregisterExt

 

7. Enter the name of the extension in the value field and click Invoke Method

 

MOB InvokeMethod

 

The plugin should be now be removed from vCenter (You may need to refresh the page to see it removed.