> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.towbar.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Remove a server

> Understand the control-plane and host effects before removing a managed server.

Admins can use **Danger zone → Remove server** after active checks, preparations, deployments, resource operations, and vulnerability scans finish. The server can still be named in an app or resource manifest, so inspect assigned workloads first.

Removing a server stops Towbar management and scheduled checks, archives assigned inventory, deletes stored SSH and Cloudflare credentials, revokes trusted host keys, and closes remaining preview records. It does **not** terminate the cloud instance, stop the host's running services, or erase Docker data.

If a later repository sync finds the same IP in a manifest, Towbar restores the archived server in **Server Setup Pending**. Reconfigure its SSH credential, verify host-key trust, and [prepare it again](/docs/servers/setup). Preparation may remove old Towbar-managed app containers on a best-effort basis; resource volumes and other data remain. Historical ownership records stay available for [cleanup](/docs/servers/operations#clean-up-leftover-workloads).