How to properly remove node from cluster?

McShadow

New Member
Sep 24, 2025
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Hi all,

I am looking for some guidance on the clean removal of a node from Proxmox cluster.

What I did so far:
- Created cluster named 'Test-PVE'
- Added three nodes (proxmoxVE01-03) to the cluster
- Verified cluster manager status and nodes via 'pvecm status' and 'pvecm nodes' -> all three nodes were shown
- Created zfs pool on all three nodes via Datacenter > Storage > Add > ZFS > added all three nodes
- Removed the third node (proxmoxVE03) from the cluster using
Code:
pvecm delnode proxmoxVE03
- Checked cluster manager status and nodes again -> only the two remaining nodes were shown

According to Proxmox documentation, that should be all that's required. My Datacenter also only shows the two remaining nodes, as expected.

However, I still see the old node (proxmoxVE03) under /etc/pve/nodes/.
I also noticed that my /etc/pve/storage.cfg still lists proxmoxVE03 as a node for ZFS pool. In Datacenter > Storage > ZFS pool > proxmoxVE03 is not shown.
There might still be some more leftovers.

Some more context:
- v9.0.3
- HA is disabled
- Removed node did not host any VMs or replication tasks

Is there an additional cleanup step needed to completely remove the leftovers?

Thanks and best wishes,
McShadow
 
Last edited:
According to Proxmox documentation, that should be all that's required. My Datacenter also only shows the two remaining nodes, as expected.

However, I still see the old node (proxmoxVE03) under /etc/pve/nodes/.
Hi!

The documentation also mentions the following:
"The configuration files for the removed node will still reside in/etc/pve/nodes/hp4. Recover any configuration you still need and remove the directory afterwards."

So once you're sure you don't need any of the configuration files anymore or have them saved elsewhere, you can remove the node's directory.
 
Hi!

The documentation also mentions the following:
"The configuration files for the removed node will still reside in/etc/pve/nodes/hp4. Recover any configuration you still need and remove the directory afterwards."

So once you're sure you don't need any of the configuration files anymore or have them saved elsewhere, you can remove the node's directory.
Hi!

Thanks for the quick reply. I totally overlooked that.

At least that explains one part. known_hosts are also mentioned.

What about the remaining configurations? For example storage.cfg? Do I have to check and edit everything manually as well?