Proxmox remove node from cluster – How we safely remove it?

Are you looking for how to remove a node from the cluster in Proxmox? We can help you remove it

Removing a node from the cluster can be done with a few simple steps.

At Bobcares, we often get requests on Proxmox management, as a part of our Infrastructure Management Services.

Today, we will discuss how our Support Engineers remove a node from cluster in Proxmox.

A quick look at Proxmox, cluster, and node

Proxmox VE is a popular open-source server virtualization platform. By using Proxmox we can manage two virtualization technologies – KVM for VMs and LXC for containers. The advantage is, we can manage both using a single web-based interface.

A cluster is a group of physical servers and other resources connected together. It enables high availability and parallel processing as per setup. In Proxmox we can create the cluster using Proxmox VE cluster manager or pvecm. Whereas a single physical system is known as a node in virtualization.

So now let us see how our Support Engineers remove a node from the cluster.

How to remove a node from the Proxmox cluster?

Removing a node from a cluster is something we must do with care. Because this should not affect the already running nodes. So there are the steps our Support Engineers follow to remove the node.

1. Initially, we move all VMs to another active node. We do live or offline migration by looking at the storage type.

2. Next we login to another active node to list the nodes in the cluster. This is to get the node ID of the node we remove.

3. Then we shut down the node we want to remove.

4. Finally, we execute the command to remove the node. And the command appears as,

5. Then we verify it using the below command. The list should display without the deleted node.

pvecm nodesCopy Code

6. Later we remove the node from Proxmox GUI. For this, we login to any active node. Then we check /etc/pve/nodes folder. And we check for the folder name of the removed node and remove it. Otherwise, the GUI displays the removed node in it.

[Still, having trouble in removing a node from the Proxmox cluster? – We can help you.]

Conclusion

So far, we saw the steps to remove a node from the Proxmox cluster. We also how our Support Engineers do this will all precautions to avoid errors afterward.