Uploading a ZIP file to vCenter Lifecycle Manager fails with the error "A depot is inaccessible or has invalid contents"

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to upload an offline bundle or patch file to vCenter Lifecycle Manager (vLCM), the operation fails with one of the following errors in the vSphere Client UI:

General system error occurred: A depot is inaccessible or has invalid contents. Make sure an official depot source is used and verify connection to the depot

A general system error occurred: File name/URL of the depot is not valid or cannot be reached now.

From /var/log/vmware/vmware-updatemgr/vum-server/imageservice.log:

ERROR imageService[<UUID>] [imageService 628] Failed to validate depot: ('zip:/storage/updatemgr/patch-store-temp/vum<FILENAME>.zip?index.xml', '', 'Could not download from depot at zip:/storage/updatemgr/patch-store-temp/vum<FILENAME>.zip?index.xml, skipping ((\'zip:/storage/updatemgr/patch-store-temp/vum<FILENAME>.zip?index.xml\', \'\', \'Error extracting index.xml from /storage/updatemgr/patch-store-temp/vum<FILENAME>.zip: "There is no item named \\\'index.xml\\\' in the archive"\'))')

 

From /var/log/vmware/vmware-updatemgr/vum-server/vmware-vum-server.log:

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.MSS info vmware-vum-server [3019693] [Originator@6876 sub=VumVapiEndpoint. HTTPService. HttpConnection] HTTP Connection has timed out while waiting for further requests; <io_obj p:0x00007fb3483d1890, h :- 1, <TCP '<IP ADDRESS> : <port>'>, <TCP '<IP ADDRESS> : <port>'>, N7Vmacore16TimeoutExceptionE (Operation timed out: Stream: <io_obj p:0x00007fb3483d1890, h :- 1, <TCP '<IP ADDRESS> : <port>'>, <TCP '<IP ADDRESS> : <port>'>, duration: (hh:mm: ss. us) ) -- > [context] 

 

Below is an example of a ZIP file which is nested in another ZIP file. The index.html file will be present inside the nested ZIP file below:

 

Cause

This issue occurs because the uploaded ZIP file does not have the required directory structure expected by vCenter Lifecycle Manager. vLCM requires the index.xml file to be present inside the ZIP file which is being uploaded.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, ensure the ZIP structure is correct before uploading:

1. Confirm that index.xml exists in the ZIP file:
   1. List the contents of the ZIP file
   2. The output shows index.xml immediately, without leading directory paths.
   3. If the file is nested, extract the outer ZIP file.
2. Post the extraction, upload the ZIP file again on the Lifecycle Manager.