Uninstall SCCM Primary Site | Remove ConfigMgr Primary Site

In this article, we’ll look at how to remove ConfigMgr primary site or uninstall SCCM primary site from the setup. You can use this guide to quickly delete a primary site.

The steps to remove or uninstall a primary site are simple. However, if you plan to remove a primary site, you must first go through the prerequisites, which are important.

If you have a CAS in your setup, you can also remove the central administration site from the hierarchy, but keep the primary site. You can run Configuration Manager setup to uninstall the CAS that doesn’t have child primary sites.

Reasons for removing a Primary Site in Configuration Manager

Let’s figure out why you want to uninstall or remove a primary site in SCCM. For the following reasons, you might want to uninstall a primary site from your hierarchy:

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• Consolidate sites to reduce costs and complexity
• Reconfigure or redesign the sites of the hierarchy

You uninstall a Configuration Manager primary site that has got many issues, and you may want to get rid of it and set up a new site again.

If you are running Configuration Manager in your lab, you may want to remove the existing primary site and build a new one. In such situations, one can consider removing a primary site.

SCCM Site Reset vs SCCM Site Uninstall

There is a difference between site reset and site uninstall in SCCM. Site Reset helps you to re-apply the default files and registry permissions on the site server. It also re-installs each Configuration Manager component. Whereas, a site uninstall will completely remove all the SCCM components from your server.

Refer to the following guide on how to perform SCCM site reset. In this article, we will cover the steps to uninstall SCCM primary site from your setup.

ConfigMgr Site Removal Order

Since you have chosen to remove the SCCM primary site, there are a few things I would like to add here. What if you have a hierarchy with multiple sites? Can you decommission the primary site server directly? The answer is “No.” There is an order that you need to follow for site removal.

When you plan to remove sites in Configuration Manager, the sequence of removal is important. Remember that if your hierarchy has multiple sites, you must start by uninstalling the sites at the bottom of the hierarchy and then move upward.

1. First, remove secondary sites attached to primary sites.
2. Next, remove the primary sites. We will see how to do that in this post.
3. After all the primary sites are removed, you can uninstall the central administration site.

As mentioned earlier, I have got just one primary site in my lab setup. Regardless of the roles that are installed on the site server, we will simply uninstall the configuration manager primary site by following a few easy steps.

Prerequisites to uninstall a primary site in SCCM

The administrative user who runs Configuration Manager setup needs the following security rights:

• Sysadmin rights on the site database
• Local Administrator rights on the primary site server
• If the primary site database server is remote from the primary site server, local Administrator rights on the remote site database server for the primary site.
• Infrastructure Administrator or Full Administrator security role on the Primary site

Note: When a secondary site is attached to the primary site, you must remove the secondary site before you can uninstall the primary site. Refer the following guide to uninstall SCCM Secondary Site.

How to Uninstall SCCM Primary Site

You run Configuration Manager setup to uninstall a primary site that doesn’t have an associated secondary site. Use the following procedure to uninstall a primary site.

Login to the site server and go to Programs and Features. Right-click System Center Configuration Manager Primary Site Setup and click Uninstall/Change.

You will now see system center configuration manager setup wizard. Click Next.

On the Getting Started page, select Uninstall a Configuration Manager site.

Before you uninstall SCCM primary site, there are two options that you see here.

• Do not remove the primary site database.
• Do not remove the Configuration Manager console.

Both these options are self-explanatory. I would not check any of these options, as I want to uninstall the ConfigMgr primary site completely.

You will now see a message box “Are you sure you want to uninstall the SCCM Site?“, on the confirmation box, click Yes.

The primary site uninstallation begins now. There are many steps involved in uninstalling the SCCM primary site, so leave the server idle during the primary site uninstallation. You can click View Log and that will open the ConfigMgrSetup.log file. In my lab set up, the primary site got uninstalled in 14 minutes.

The ConfigMgrSetup.log file records the primary site uninstall process. At the end of the log file, you should see Completed Configuration Manager Server Setup – Uninstallation. This confirms the primary site has been uninstalled successfully.

Peeking into the System Management container, there are no entries related to the primary site server. This means your primary site has been uninstalled cleanly.