Error "OVF descriptor is not available" when deploying Aria Operations Cloud Proxy

Products

• VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)

Issue/Introduction

• Deployment of Cloud Proxy at the cluster level is failing in vCenter
• Error in vCenter Tasks is similar to : "Failed to deploy OVF package. ThrowableProxy.cause A general system error occurred: Transfer failed: The OVF
  descriptor is not available." 
• The MDSUM on the downloaded OVA matches MDSUM on the downloads portal, to ensure that OVA has not been corrupted or download is incomplete

Environment

vCenter 7.x and later
Aria Operations 8.x

Cause

This has in most cases been seen as a problem with the Content Library in vCenter.

Resolution

Workaround

Please follow the steps below to deploy the Cloud Proxy directly from the ESXi host UI instead of the vCenter UI:

1. Open a browser and navigate to:

   https://<ESXi IP or FQDN>

2. Log in using the root credentials of the ESXi host.

3. Deploy the Cloud Proxy OVA from the ESXi Host UI.
   
   Note: This workaround has limitations. Deploying directly to an ESXi host client is a basic operation and does not support vCenter-level features. Be aware that:

   • You cannot connect the VM to a vSphere Distributed Switch (vDS). The ESXi host client can only see local Standard vSwitches. If your environment requires a vDS, you must resolve the underlying vCenter issue instead of using this workaround.

   • You cannot preconfigure IP settings or other vApp properties. As noted in the steps below, these network settings must be configured manually in vCenter after the VM has been deployed.

4. After deployment, the Cloud Proxy may experience network connectivity issues due to missing vApp settings.

5. To resolve network connectivity issue, follow the below steps:

   • Log in to the vCenter UI.

   • Locate the deployed Cloud Proxy VM.

   • Enable the vApp options manually.

   • Power on the virtual machine after configuring the vApp settings.

6. Refer to the link below for detailed steps on editing the vApp settings and powering on the VM:
   Edit OVF Details for a Virtual Machine

Additional Information

The OVA can be deployed on some vCenter's, but other vCenter's are throwing this error when OVA is deployed through vCenter UI.

Restarting Content Library service may resolve this issue. Note that vCenter troubleshooting and action plans is out of scope for this article.