--- name: vpc-delete-vpc-resources title: Deleting a VPC and its associated resources description: Before you can delete an IBM Cloud® Virtual Private Cloud in the IBM Cloud console, you must delete all of the VPC's public gateways, subnets, and attached resources. last-updated: 2026-06-26 --- > ## Documentation Index > The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?format=markdown > The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt > Use these files to discover more information as needed. # Deleting a VPC and its associated resources {: #deleting-vpc-resources} Before you can delete an IBM Cloud® Virtual Private Cloud in the IBM Cloud console, you must delete all of the VPC's public gateways, subnets, and attached resources. {: shortdesc} ## Deleting a VPC by using the IBM Cloud console {: #deleting-using-console} {: ui} To delete a VPC by using the console: 1. Find all subnets in the VPC. Click **VPCs** in the navigation pane and select your VPC. 2. On the VPC details page, go to the **Subnets in this VPC** list and select a subnet to view its details. 3. Delete any resources that are attached to the subnet. In the navigation pane, click **Attached resources**. Select each attached instance, load balancer, and VPN gateway to go its details page. From the **Actions** menu ![Actions icon](../icons/action-menu-icon.svg "Actions"), select **Delete**. Attached instances must be stopped before you can delete them. Although the resource's status immediately changes to **Deleting**, it can take up to 30 minutes for the delete operation to complete. The subnet can't be deleted until all attached resources are no longer displayed in the console. {: tip} 4. After all attached resources are deleted, go back to the subnet's details page, and click the delete icon. 5. After you delete all subnets, go back to the details page for the VPC, and click the delete icon. The VPC and any public gateways are deleted. ## Deleting a VPC by using the IBM Cloud CLI {: #deleting-using-cli} {: cli} The following examples show how to delete resources from your IBM Cloud® Virtual Private Cloud, for every VPC resource, in the suggested order. {: shortdesc} The following key facts are important to remember about deletion: * A VPC cannot be deleted until it is empty. * All containing resources must be deleted successfully before the parent resource can be deleted. * If the resource is pending a deletion, it shows a `deleting` status when viewed in list queries. * Most delete requests are _asynchronous_, which means that the resource might show a **deleting** status in list queries when it was not yet deleted completely. * You must poll to make sure that the child resource is no longer in the list view before you try to delete the parent resource. If the status of the resource changes from `deleting` to `failed`, you can try to delete the resource again. If you cannot delete a resource in `failed` status, [Contact support](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?topic=vpc-getting-help-and-support-for-vpc&format=markdown). {: tip} ### Step 1: Find all subnets within the VPC that you want to delete {: #deleting-find-subnets-cli} Before a VPC can be deleted, each of its subnets must be deleted. Get the ID of the VPC that you want to delete by running the following command and looking at the `ID` value: ```sh ibmcloud is vpcs ``` {: pre} Save the ID of the VPC in a variable so it can be used later, for example: ```sh vpc="0738-3524fef5-da35-4622-bf9a-31614964649d" ``` {: pre} To get the list of all subnets in your account, run the following command: ```sh ibmcloud is subnets ``` {: pre} Look at the `VPC` value to determine the subnets that need to be deleted. Save the ID of the subnet in a variable so it can be used later, for example: ```sh subnet="0738-d31ce469-9b0f-44e1-87ce-0fc77d8b0e53" ``` {: pre} If the VPC you want to delete has multiple subnets, repeat these steps to delete each subnet. {: important} ### Step 2: Delete each subnet in the VPC {: #deleting-subnet-resources-cli} #### Delete all VPN gateways in the subnet, if any {: #deleting-vpn-cli} To list all VPN gateways in your account, run the following command: ```sh ibmcloud is vpn-gateways ``` {: pre} For each VPN gateway in the subnet you want like to delete, run the following command, where `$vpnid` is the ID of the VPN gateway. ```sh ibmcloud is vpn-gateway-delete $vpnid ``` {: pre} The status of the VPN gateway changes to `deleting` immediately, but it still appears in a list query result. The deletion of a VPN gateway can take up to 30 minutes. You can request other subnet resources to be deleted in parallel while you wait for the VPN gateway to be deleted. However, the subnet can't be deleted until the VPN gateway and all other resources in the subnet no longer appear in the list query results. #### Delete all load balancers in the subnet, if any {: #deleting-lbs-cli} To list all Load balancers in your account, run the following command: ```sh ibmcloud is load-balancers ``` {: pre} For each load balancer in the subnet you want to delete, run the following command, where `$lbid` is the ID of the load balancer. ```sh ibmcloud is load-balancer-delete $lbid ``` {: pre} The status of the Load Balancer changes to `deleting` immediately, but it is still shown in a list query result. The deletion of a load balancer can take up to 30 minutes. You can request other subnet resources to be deleted in parallel while you wait for the load balancer to be deleted. However, the subnet can't be deleted until the load balancer and all other resources in the subnet no longer appear in the list query results. #### Delete all network interfaces in the subnet, if any {: #deleting-nics-cli} An instance can have multiple network interfaces, and those network interfaces can belong to multiple subnets of the VPC. Before a subnet can be deleted, any network interface in the subnet must first be deleted. The only way to delete a network interface in a subnet is to delete the instance. {: note} To list all network interfaces of an instance, run the following command: ```sh ibmcloud is instance-network-interfaces $vsi ``` {: pre} To list all instances in your account, run the following command: ```sh ibmcloud is instances ``` {: pre} If you are deleting all instances in the VPC, you can run the following command for each instance in the VPC, where `$vsi` is the ID of the instance you want to delete. When the instance is deleted, all network interfaces in other subnets, if any, are deleted automatically. Instances must be stopped before you can delete them. To stop an instance, run the `ibmcloud is instance-stop` command. {: tip} ```sh ibmcloud is instance-delete $vsi ``` {: pre} The status of the instance changes to `deleting` immediately, but it still appears in a list query result. The deletion of an instance can take up to 30 minutes. {: note} You can request other subnet resources to be deleted in parallel while you wait for the instance to be deleted. However, the subnet cannot be deleted until the instance and all other resources in the subnet no longer appear in the list query results. If a secondary network interface exists in the subnet you are trying to delete, you must delete the instance. A network interface cannot be deleted from the instance without deleting the instance. #### Delete the subnet {: #deleting-subnet-cli} After all the resources inside the subnet were deleted, which means that they are not returned in a list query result, run the following command to delete the subnet: ```sh ibmcloud is subnet-delete $subnet ``` {: pre} The status of the subnet changes to `deleting` immediately, but it might take a few minutes until the subnet is deleted and no longer appears in the list query results. ### Step 3: Delete all public gateways in the VPC, if any {: #deleting-pgs-cli} To list all public gateways in your account, run the following command: ```sh ibmcloud is public-gateways ``` {: pre} For each public gateway in the VPC you want to delete, run the following command to delete the public gateway, where `$gateway` is the public gateway ID. ```sh ibmcloud is public-gateway-delete $gateway ``` {: pre} ### Step 4: Delete the VPC {: #deleting-single-vpc-cli} After all subnets and public gateways in the VPC are deleted, run the following command to delete the VPC, where `$vpc` is the ID of the VPC you are deleting. ```sh ibmcloud is vpc-delete $vpc ``` {: pre} The status of the VPC changes to `deleting` immediately, but it might take a few minutes until the VPC is deleted and no longer appears in the list query results. ## Deleting a VPC by using the REST APIs {: #deleting-using-api} {: api} The following steps are the main parts in the process: 1. Find all subnets in the VPC that you want to delete. 2. Delete each subnet in the VPC, which means: - Delete all VPN gateways in the subnet. - Delete all Load Balancers in the subnet. - Delete all network interfaces of the instances in the subnet. - Delete the subnet. 3. Delete all public gateways in the VPC. 4. Delete the VPC. The following sections provide some example API calls that you can run to delete a VPC. ### Step 1: Find all subnets in the VPC that you want to delete {: #deleting-find-subnets-api} Before a VPC can be deleted, each of its subnets must be deleted. Get the ID of the VPC that you want to delete by running the following command and looking at the `id` value: ```bash curl -X GET "$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/vpcs?version=$version&generation=2" \ -H "Authorization:$iam_token" ``` {: pre} Add ` | json_pp ` or ` | jq ` after the curl command to get a readable JSON string. `jq` is a third-party tool that is licensed under the [MIT license](https://stedolan.github.io/jq/download/). `jq` might not come preinstalled on all VPC images available when you create an instance. The `json_pp` command is a JSON preprocessor that is typically installed by default on most Linux distributions. {: tip} Save the ID of the VPC in a variable so you can use it later, for example: ```sh vpc="0738-3524fef5-da35-4622-bf9a-31614964649d" ``` {: pre} To get the list of all subnets in your account, run the following command: ```bash curl -X GET "$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/subnets?version=$version&generation=2" \ -H "Authorization:$iam_token" ``` {: pre} Look at the `vpc` value to determine the subnets that need to be deleted. Save the ID of the subnet in a variable for later use, for example: ```sh subnet="0738-d31ce469-9b0f-44e1-87ce-0fc77d8b0e53" ``` {: pre} If the VPC you want to delete has multiple subnets, repeat the steps to delete each subnet. {: important} ### Step 2: Delete each subnet in the VPC {: #deleting-subnet-resources-api} #### Delete all VPN gateways in the subnet, if any {: #deleting-vpn-api} To list all VPN gateways in your account, run the following command: ```bash curl -X GET "$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/vpn_gateways?version=$version&generation=2" \ -H "Authorization:$iam_token" ``` {: pre} Run the following command for each VPN gateway in the subnet that you want to delete, where `$vpnid` is the ID of the VPN gateway. ```bash curl -X DELETE "$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/vpn_gateways/$vpnid?version=$version&generation=2" \ -H "Authorization:$iam_token" ``` {: pre} The status of the VPN gateway changes to `deleting` immediately, but it is still returned when you do a list query. The deletion of a VPN gateway can take up to 30 minutes. You can request other subnet resources to be deleted in parallel while you wait for the VPN gateway to be deleted. However, the subnet can't be deleted until the VPN gateway and all other resources in the subnet no longer appear in the list queries. #### Delete all load balancers in the subnet, if any {: #deleting-lbs-api} To list all load balancers in your account, run the following command: ```bash curl -X GET "$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/load_balancers?version=$version&generation=2" \ -H "Authorization:$iam_token" ``` {: pre} Run the following command for each load balancer in the subnet that you want to delete, where `$lbid` is the ID of the load balancer. ```bash curl -X DELETE "$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/load_balancers/$lbid?version=$version&generation=2" \ -H "Authorization:$iam_token" ``` {: pre} The status of the load balancer changes to `deleting` immediately, but it is still returned when you do a list query. The deletion of a load balancer can take up to 30 minutes. You can request other subnet resources to be deleted in parallel while you wait for the load balancer to be deleted. However, the subnet can't be deleted until the load balancer and all other resources in the subnet no longer appear in the list queries. #### Delete all network interfaces in the subnet, if any {: #deleting-nics-api} An instance can have multiple network interfaces, and those network interfaces can belong to multiple subnets of the VPC. Before a subnet can be deleted, any network interface in the subnet must be deleted first. The only way to delete a network interface in a subnet is to delete the instance. To list all network interfaces of an instance, run the following command: ```bash curl -X GET "$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/instances/$vsi/network_interfaces?version=$version&generation=2" \ -H "Authorization:$iam_token" ``` {: pre} If a secondary network interface exists in the subnet you are trying to delete, you need to delete the instance. A network interface cannot be deleted from the instance without deleting the instance. To list all instances in your account, run the following command: ```bash curl -X GET "$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/instances?version=$version&generation=2" \ -H "Authorization:$iam_token" ``` {: pre} If you are deleting all instances in the VPC, you can run the following command for each instance in the VPC, where `$vsi` is the ID of the instance you want to delete. When the instance is deleted, all network interfaces in other subnets, if any, are deleted automatically. Instances must be stopped before you can delete them. For more information, see [Create an instance action](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/apis/vpc/latest#create-instance-action) to use the `type` request and `stop` action. {: tip} ```bash curl -X DELETE "$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/instances/$vsi?version=$version&generation=2" \ -H "Authorization:$iam_token" ``` {: pre} The status of the instance changes to `deleting` immediately, but it might still be displayed in the results of a list query. The deletion of an instance can take up to 30 minutes. You can request other subnet resources to be deleted in parallel while you wait for the instance to be deleted. However, the subnet can't be deleted until the instance and all other resources in the subnet no longer appear in the list queries. #### Delete the subnet {: #deleting-subnet-api} After all the resources inside the subnet are deleted and are not returned when you run a list query, run the following command to delete the subnet: ```bash curl -X DELETE "$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/subnets/$subnet?version=$version&generation=2" \ -H "Authorization:$iam_token" ``` {: pre} The status of the subnet changes to `deleting` immediately, but it might take a few minutes for the subnet to be deleted and it no longer returns in the list queries. ### Step 3: Delete all public gateways in the VPC, if any {: #deleting-pgs-api} To list all public gateways in your account, run the following command: ```bash curl -X GET "$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/public_gateways?version=$version&generation=2" \ -H "Authorization:$iam_token" ``` {: pre} For each public gateway in the VPC you want to delete, run the following command to delete the public gateway, where `$gateway` is the public gateway ID. ```bash curl -X DELETE "$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/public_gateways/$gateway?version=$version&generation=2" \ -H "Authorization:$iam_token" ``` {: pre} ### Step 4: Delete the VPC {: #deleting-single-vpc-api} After all subnets and public gateways in the VPC are deleted, run the following command to delete the VPC, where `$vpc` is the ID of the VPC you are deleting. ```bash curl -X DELETE "$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/vpcs/$vpc?version=$version&generation=2" \ -H "Authorization:$iam_token" ``` {: pre} The status of the VPC changes to `deleting` immediately, but it might take a few minutes for the VPC to be deleted and it no longer appears in the list queries.