# How to delete one node whose name is "-E"

**URL:** <https://discourse.chef.io/t/how-to-delete-one-node-whose-name-is-e/17223>\
**Category:** Chef Infra (archive)\
**Created:** [June 9, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/how-to-delete-one-node-whose-name-is-e/17223 "2020-06-09T17:34:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![leslie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@leslie](https://discourse.chef.io/u/leslie)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/how-to-delete-one-node-whose-name-is-e/17223/1 "2020-06-09T17:34:26Z")

</div>

Hi,

I wrongly bootstrap one node without giving the name, such as  
`knife bootstrap 10.2.50.101 -N -E es.core -x vm -P vm --sudo -r 'role[base]'`.  
Now, there is one node whose name is "-E" in the system. I can search and list the node.

```auto
$ knife search node "name:*E"
1 items found

Node Name: -E
Environment: _default
FQDN:
IP:
Run List: role[base]
Roles:
Recipes:
Platform:
Tags:

```

But I can not show or delete the node. The deletion command always fail. Does anyone have similar experience, and can give one suggestion? Thanks a lot!

```auto
$ knife node delete -y "-E"
Traceback (most recent call last):
	8: from /usr/local/bin/knife:272:in `<main>'
	7: from /usr/local/bin/knife:272:in `load'
	6: from /opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.5.0/gems/chef-14.2.0/bin/knife:25:in `<top (required)>'
	5: from /opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.5.0/gems/chef-14.2.0/lib/chef/application/knife.rb:160:in `run'
	4: from /opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.5.0/gems/chef-14.2.0/lib/chef/knife.rb:218:in `run'
	3: from /opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.5.0/gems/chef-14.2.0/lib/chef/knife.rb:218:in `new'
	2: from /opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.5.0/gems/chef-14.2.0/lib/chef/knife.rb:301:in `initialize'
	1: from /opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.5.0/gems/chef-14.2.0/lib/chef/knife.rb:321:in `parse_options'
/opt/chef-workstation/embedded/lib/ruby/gems/2.5.0/gems/mixlib-cli-1.7.0/lib/mixlib/cli.rb:230:in `parse_options': missing argument: -E (OptionParser::MissingArgument)

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jasonf](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/jasonf/32/2370_2.png) [@jasonf](https://discourse.chef.io/u/jasonf)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 8:09am UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/how-to-delete-one-node-whose-name-is-e/17223/2 "2020-06-10T08:09:09Z")

</div>

Can you use the manage UI to delete it?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![marcparadise](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/marcparadise/32/1603_2.png) [@marcparadise](https://discourse.chef.io/u/marcparadise)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/how-to-delete-one-node-whose-name-is-e/17223/4 "2020-06-10T15:25:10Z")

</div>

Try: `knife node delete -y -- "-E"`

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![leslie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@leslie](https://discourse.chef.io/u/leslie)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/how-to-delete-one-node-whose-name-is-e/17223/5 "2020-06-10T15:56:44Z")

</div>

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately we don't install UI for management. Seems Marc's solution works!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![leslie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@leslie](https://discourse.chef.io/u/leslie)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/how-to-delete-one-node-whose-name-is-e/17223/6 "2020-06-10T15:58:49Z")

</div>

It works. Thanks a lot!