Troubleshooting Tip: Cannot delete managed FortiSwitch 'the entry is used by other X entries'

After selecting 'Deauthorize' on a switch under WiFi & Switch Controller -> Managed FortiSwitches and trying to delete the managed switch, an error is generated: 'The entry is used by other 1 entries'.

Attempting to delete the FortiSwitch from the CLI results in a similar error: 

This error is generally encountered when attempting to delete any object which is still referenced in the configuration , exposing the 'Ref.' column in the list. In the scenario screenshotted below, the FortiSwitch still has a single reference preventing its deletion.

To view the remaining reference, select the reference number '1' to expose the where the reference still exists. In this example, the FortiSwitch is part of a FortiSwitch Group named 'testgroup'.

It is also possible to use the following CLI command to display active references on the managed switch object:

diagnose sys cmdb refcnt show switch-controller.managed-switch <Serial Number or name of FortiSwitch>

Change the view to 'groups' from the default 'List' to see all groups.

Edit the group and remove the FortiSwitch from the group.

After removing the FortiSwitch from the group, the reference count becomes 0. The FortiSwitch can be deleted from the GUI and the CLI without any errors.

To delete the FortiSwitch from the CLI:

config switch-controller managed-switch

    delete "FSWXXXXX" <----- Replace 'FSWXXXX' with the FortiSwitch serial number or name.

end

The following screenshot example shows the process of deleting the group2 FortiSwitch from the CLI.

To delete the FortiSwitch from the GUI, navigate to WiFi & Switch Controller -> Managed Forti Switches -> Select the desired FortiSwitch and select 'Delete'.