In VMware Blockchain version 1.8, daml_ledger_api uses vmbc_participant.conf file for all configuration settings instead of /config/daml-ledger-api/environment-vars (as in previous versions).
This is a known issue affecting VMware Blockchain 1.8. There is currently no resolution.
To workaround the issue, enable JWT-based authorization checks, in the deployment descriptor file, per the following example:
Also, during deployment, the Daml Ledger API configuration file (daml_ledger_api:/doc/daml/vmbc_participant.conf) should be updated. The authentication section should be modified to enable JWT based authorization (specifying type as jwt-rs-256-jwks and providing JWT token/URL)