Unable to Download VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0.0 Binaries using vcf-download-tool

Products

• VMware SDDC Manager

Issue/Introduction

• Downloading the  VCF binaries fails after downloading couple of binaries. 
• vdt.log reports below errors

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.728+0300 [pool-3-thread-1] ERROR [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransferv2.utils.DownloadUtil]  Failed to download binaries for id 3638057e-6e1d-53ae-a663-de3e46889685 because of unknown
 exception Error [403] downloading bundle [/COMP/VCENTER/VMware-vCenter-Server-Appliance-9.0.0.0.24755230-updaterepo.zip] from dl.broadcom.com:443
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.736+0300 [pool-3-thread-3] DEBUG [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.bundle.download.depot.DepotDownloader]  Got response: 403 Forbidden HTTP/1.1
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.737+0300 [pool-3-thread-3] ERROR [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.bundle.download.depot.DepotDownloader]  Error getting file size, got response: 403 Forbidden HTTP/1.1
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.738+0300 [pool-3-thread-3] ERROR [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.bundle.download.depot.DepotBundleDownloadServiceImpl]  Got Http error[403] while downloading bundle [/COMP/VCENTER/VMware-VCSA-all-9.0
.0.0.24755230.iso]
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.738+0300 [pool-3-thread-3] ERROR [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransferv2.utils.DownloadUtil]  Failed to download binaries for id c90008b8-3e0d-5556-a264-3cfdb4367286 because of unknown
 exception Error [403] downloading bundle [/COMP/VCENTER/VMware-VCSA-all-9.0.0.0.24755230.iso] from dl.broadcom.com:443
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.739+0300 [main] ERROR [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransferv2.utils.DownloadUtil]  Thread for downloading binaries with id c90008b8-3e0d-5556-a264-3cfdb4367286 had exception: com.vmwar
e.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransfer.exception.BundleTransferUtilityException: Failed to download binary for id c90008b8-3e0d-5556-a264-3cfdb4367286.,
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.739+0300 [main] ERROR [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransferv2.utils.DownloadUtil]  Thread for downloading binaries with id 3638057e-6e1d-53ae-a663-de3e46889685 had exception: com.vmwar
e.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransfer.exception.BundleTransferUtilityException: Failed to download binary for id 3638057e-6e1d-53ae-a663-de3e46889685.,
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.739+0300 [main] INFO  [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.common.ConsoleUtil]  Writing to console: Binary Download Summary:
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.742+0300 [main] DEBUG [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransferv2.telemetry.TelemetryFileUtil]  Is CEIP enabled: true
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.744+0300 [main] DEBUG [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransferv2.telemetry.TelemetryDataProcessor]  Collected telemetry data: BundleTransferTelemetryDto(startTime=2025-07-23T08:36:38Z, en
dTime=2025-07-23T08:38:04Z, operationName=binaries, operationStatus=FAILURE, errorCode=FAILED_TO_DOWNLOAD_PRODUCT_BINARIES, errorMessage=Binaries 11 out of 11 failed to download., cliCommand=binaries download --v
cf-version 9.0.0 --automated-install -d /root/offline-bundles --depot-download-token-file=/root/downloadtoken.txt, userInput=operating-system=Linux, toolVersion=9.0.0.0.24703747)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.751+0300 [main] DEBUG [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransfer.telemetry.BundleTransferTelemetryPhoneClientImpl]  CollectorId: vcf.tools_1
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.758+0300 [main] DEBUG [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransfer.telemetry.BundleTransferTelemetryPhoneClientImpl]  Sending telemetry payload data
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.676+0300 [main] DEBUG [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransfer.telemetry.BundleTransferTelemetryPhoneClientImpl]  Succesfully uploaded telemetry data
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.676+0300 [main] ERROR [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransferv2.exceptionhandler.ExecutionExceptionHandler]  Application failed.
com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransfer.exception.BundleTransferUtilityException: Binaries 11 out of 11 failed to download.

• Above errors can be observed in an air-gapped or proxy-restricted environments

Environment

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0

Cause

This issue may occur when the TCP Keepalive session expires due to an idle connection during the download process, often in air-gapped or proxy-restricted environments.

Resolution

To fix this issue we have to extend the TCP keepalive session timer on the proxy/firewall.

Additional Information

For more information refer below docs.

Use the VMware Cloud Foundation Download Tool to Download Install Binaries

VCF Download Tool Binaries Commands and Options