Sync Updates via UMDS fails with error: "A depot is inaccessible or has invalid contents" if proxy is enabled on the vCenter Server

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• Performing Sync Updates with UMDS configured as download source for vCenter fails
• The issue is not seen if the proxy is disabled
• vCenter - /var/log/vmware/vmware-updatemgr/vum-server/vmware-vum-server.log

2022-05-11T09:23:25.006Z error vmware-vum-server[11126] [Originator@6876 sub=com.vmware.vcIntegrity.lifecycle.SyncDepotsTask] [SyncDepotsTask 221] Failed to sync depots. Merged depot content is invalid: Error:
--> com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.error
--> Messages:
--> com.vmware.vcIntegrity.lifecycle.depotContent.ValidationError<A depot is inaccessible or has invalid contents. Make sure an official depot source is used and verify connection to the depot.>

Cause

When vCenter is configured with a proxy server, the Sync Updates module tries to download updates from UMDS via the proxy. In environments where vCenter does not need to go through proxy to connect to the UMDS server and proxy is being used only for outbound connections, this task would fail as there is no route from the proxy to UMDS server.

Resolution

To resolve "Sync Updates" error when using UMDS on vCenter where a proxy is enabled, we can workaround this issue by configuring the "no_proxy" variable to include the hostname / IP address of the UMDS server.

1. Edit the proxy configuration file on vCenter to include the hostname/IP address of the UMDS server (in this example, umdsserver.example.com is the name of UMDS server).
   
   
2. Navigate to the location of the proxy file
   
   cd /etc/sysconfig/
   
   
3. View the proxy file
   
   Example of a default proxy file
   
   # Enable a generation of the proxy settings to the profile.
# This setting allows to turn the proxy on and off while
# preserving the particular proxy setup.
#
PROXY_ENABLED="yes"

# Some programs (e.g. wget) support proxies, if set in
# the environment.
# Example: HTTP_PROXY="http://proxy.example.com:3128/"
HTTP_PROXY=""

# Example: HTTPS_PROXY="https://proxy.example.com:3128/"
HTTPS_PROXY=""

# Example: FTP_PROXY="http://proxy.example.com:3128/"
FTP_PROXY=""

# Example: GOPHER_PROXY="http://proxy.example.com:3128/"
GOPHER_PROXY=""

# Example: SOCKS_PROXY="socks://proxy.example.com:8080"
SOCKS_PROXY=""

# Example: SOCKS5_SERVER="office-proxy.example.com:8881"
SOCKS5_SERVER=""

# Example: NO_PROXY="www.me.de, do.main, localhost"
NO_PROXY="localhost, 127.0.0.1"


4. Use VI editor to add the umdsserver.example.com IP/FQDN under "NO_PROXY"
   
   # Enable a generation of the proxy settings to the profile.
# This setting allows to turn the proxy on and off while
# preserving the particular proxy setup.
#
PROXY_ENABLED="yes"

# Some programs (e.g. wget) support proxies, if set in
# the environment.
# Example: HTTP_PROXY="http://proxy.example.com:3128/"
HTTP_PROXY="http://proxy.example.com:3128"

# Example: HTTPS_PROXY="https://proxy.example.com:3128/"
HTTPS_PROXY=""

# Example: FTP_PROXY="http://proxy.example.com:3128/"
FTP_PROXY=""

# Example: GOPHER_PROXY="http://proxy.example.com:3128/"
GOPHER_PROXY=""

# Example: SOCKS_PROXY="socks://proxy.example.com:8080"
SOCKS_PROXY=""

# Example: SOCKS5_SERVER="office-proxy.example.com:8881"
SOCKS5_SERVER=""

# Example: NO_PROXY="www.me.de, do.main, localhost"
NO_PROXY="localhost, 127.0.0.1, umdsserver.example.com"
   
   
5. Save the file and exit
   
   :wq!
   
   
6. Reboot vCenter Server for the changes to take effect.