"Check Updates" in VAMI fails when the proxy account credentials contain special characters

Products

• VMware vCenter Server 7.0
• VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Issue/Introduction

Accessing "Update" tab in VAMI and attempting to check for updates results in failure, displaying the error message: "Check the URL and try again."

The /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/applmgmt.log shows entries similar to:

[YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss] DEBUG:vmware.appliance.update.update_functions:Running /usr/bin/wget --server-response --tries 3 --waitretry 1 --connect-timeout 10 -P /storage/core/software-update/tmp/latest https://vapp-updates.vmware.com/vai-catalog/valm/vmw/8d167796-34d5-4899-be0a-6daade4005a3/7.0.3.00800.latest/manifest/manifest-latest.xml -e use_proxy=yes -e https_proxy=https://<PROXY_USERNAME>:P@ssw0rd@<PROXY_SERVER_ADDRESS>:<PROXY_SERVER_PORT>
[YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss] DEBUG:vmware.appliance.update.update_functions:runCommandAndCheckResult failed: '--YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss--  https://vapp-updates.vmware.com/vai-catalog/valm/vmw/8d167796-34d5-4899-be0a-6daade4005a3/7.0.3.00800.latest/manifest/manifest-latest.xml\nResolving ssw0rd@<PROXY_SERVER_ADDRESS>... failed: Name or service not known.\nwget: unable to resolve host address ‘ssw0rd@<PROXY_SERVER_ADDRESS>’\n'

Environment

vCenter Server 7.x
vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

This issue occurs when the proxy account credentials contain certain special character such as "@".
vCenter Server parses the proxy configuration incorrectly due to these special characters.

Resolution

This issue is resolved in vCenter Server 7.0 U3o and 8.0 U2.

Workaround:

• Log in to vCenter Server with SSH.
• Backup /usr/lib/applmgmt/update/py/vmware/appliance/update/update_functions.py file
  
  • cp /usr/lib/applmgmt/update/py/vmware/appliance/update/update_functions.py /usr/lib/applmgmt/update/py/vmware/appliance/update/update_functions.py.bak
• Edit /usr/lib/applmgmt/update/py/vmware/appliance/update/update_functions.py
  
  • add quote() to 3 places in extend_proxy_info_wget function:
    [Before]
            user_details = info.username
        if proxy_details is None:
           logger.error("Proxy details unavailable, trying with only username")
        else:
           user_details = info.username + ':' + proxy_details['password']
    [After]
            user_details = quote(info.username)
        if proxy_details is None:
           logger.error("Proxy details unavailable, trying with only username")
        else:
           user_details = quote(info.username) + ':' + quote(proxy_details['password'])
  • add "from urllib.parse import quote"

[Before]

from vmware.vherd.base.proxy_utils import ProxyUtils

[After]

from vmware.vherd.base.proxy_utils import ProxyUtils
from urllib.parse import quote

• Restart applmgmt service.
  
  • service-control --restart applmgmt