"A general system error occurred: Failed to download VIB(s): Error: HTTP Error Code: 403", vLCM fails to download the ESXi patches and images from online repositories

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

vCenter Lifecycle Management (vLCM) fails to download ESXi patches/images from VMware by Broadcom public repositories with following error message:

A general system error occurred:
Failed to download VIB(s): URL:
https://hostupdate.broadcom.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/esx/vmw/vib20/<vib_name>.vib
Error: HTTP Error Code: 403

Cause

Public facing repository URLs and authentication mechanisms are changing. Download URLs are no longer common but unique for each customer therefore will require to be re-configured.

Resolution

1. Download Token from Broadcom Support Portal by following the steps in VCF Authenticated downloads Configuration Update Instructions. If you already have it, apply the same by following below instructions.
   
   
2. Disable the default repositories and configure the repositories with the Token
   
   Note: Scripted method to update the URLs are available in Authenticated Download Configuration Update Script.
   
   
   1. Log into vSphere client
   2. On the vSphere Client Home page, Navigate to Lifecycle Manager.
   3. Click 'settings' tab. Under 'settings' tab,
   4. Go to Administration → Patch Setup.
   5. Disable default vLCM URLs by clicking "Disable" button:
      
      Note: If the vCenter Server is running on 7.0 U3c (build 19234570) or 8.0 GA versions (8.0GA, 8.0a, 8.0b & 8.0c), configuring the Custom URLs mentioned below will fail. Please perform Update Manager DB reset before proceeding with below steps if the vCenter Server is on these impacted versions. 
      
      
      
      
   6. Add the below URLs one by one by clicking 'NEW':
      
      
      
      New URLs:
      
      https://dl.broadcom.com/<Download Token>/PROD/COMP/ESX_HOST/main/vmw-depot-index.xml
https://dl.broadcom.com/<Download Token>/PROD/COMP/ESX_HOST/addon-main/vmw-depot-index.xml
https://dl.broadcom.com/<Download Token>/PROD/COMP/ESX_HOST/iovp-main/vmw-depot-index.xml
https://dl.broadcom.com/<Download Token>/PROD/COMP/ESX_HOST/vmtools-main/vmw-depot-index.xml
      
      Note: Replace <Download Token> with the actual downloaded token id.
      
      
   7. Restart update manager service from an SSH session to vCenter Server
      
      service-control --restart vmware-updatemgr
      
      
   8. Download the content by going to vSphere Client Home page → Lifecycle Manager and selecting "ACTIONS" → Updates → Sync updates.