"Access denied" error when attempting to login to vCenter server using okta authentication

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• vCenter server is configured with okta as identity provider
• When attempting to sign in with sso to vCenter server, below error is reported after page redirection:
  
  Access Denied. Unable to authenticate the user.
  
  
• The redirected url looks like:
  
  https://<vCenter Server FQDN>/federation/t/CUSTOMER/auth/response/oauth2?state=<state id>&error=invalid_request&error_description=PKCE+code+challenge+is+required

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Cause

Proof Key for Code Exchange(PKCE) is currently not supported when vCenter server is configured with okta authentication.

Resolution

Disable PKCE for okta authentication to work with vCenter Server.

Additional Information

More information that PKCE needs to be unchecked when enabling okta for vCenter Server, see How to Enable Okta for vCenter Server