Error "Creating a subscribed catalog, updating subscription of catalog, or probing for subscription are not permitted" when managing catalog subscriptions in VMware Cloud Director

Products

• VMware Cloud Director

Issue/Introduction

• In VMware Cloud Director (version 10.x and above), users may encounter the following error when attempting to create a subscribed catalog, update an existing subscription, or probe for catalog subscriptions within the Tenant Portal: "allowLibrarySubscriptions" flag of org:  <Org Name> is [false]; creating a subscribed catalog, updating subscription of catalog <catalog name> or probing for subscription are not permitted". This occurs despite following the documented steps for subscribing to an external catalog.

• The issue typically arises when an Organization Administrator navigates to Libraries > Content Libraries > Catalogs in the Tenant Portal.

Environment

VMware Cloud Director 10.x

Cause

The issue occurs because the allowLibrarySubscriptions flag for the organization is set to false. This flag controls whether the organization is allowed to subscribe to external catalogs.

By default, this capability is disabled and must be explicitly enabled by a Service Provider Administrator. When this setting is disabled, catalog subscription actions are restricted, regardless of the user's role.

Resolution

To resolve this issue and enable external catalog subscriptions for an organization, a Service Provider Administrator must enable the "Allow subscribing to external catalogs" setting for the affected organization.

The detailed steps for a Service Provider Administrator to enable this setting are as follows "

1. Log in to the VMware Cloud Director Provider Portal.

2. Navigate to Resources > Cloud Resources > Organizations.

3. Select the specific organization for which you want to enable external catalog subscriptions.

4. Click on the "Edit" button or a similar option to modify the organization's settings.

5. Locate the "Catalog" section.

6. Enable the checkbox for "Allow subscribing to external catalogs."

7. Save the changes to the organization's configuration.

Once this setting is enabled by the Service Provider Administrator, the "Organization Administrator" will be able to create, update, and probe for subscribed catalogs within the Tenant Portal without encountering the permission-related error.

Additional Information

Subscribe to an External Catalog in VMware Cloud Director Tenant Portal

Configure Catalogs for a VMware Cloud Director Organization