vSphere High Availability (HA) setup fails with error "Software Solution VMware-HBR-Agent cannot be found in depot"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

^{When attempting to configure vSphere High Availability (HA), the setup fails with the following error:}

^{vSphere HA agent for this host has an error: vSphere HA agent cannot be installed or configured.}

^{Software Solution VMware-HBR-Agent cannot be found in depot}

^{The following log snippets confirm the issue:}

^{/var/log/vmware/vmware-updatemgr/vum-server/vmware-vum-server.log}

^{error vmware-vum-server[597113] [Originator@6876 sub=com.vmware.vcIntegrity.lifecycle.SetSolutionTask] [SetSolutionTask 365]  Set solution failed. entityId: domain-c#### Problems found while validating the new software spec: {}

^{-->     "errors": [}

^{-->         {}

^{-->             "id": "com.vmware.vcIntegrity.lifecycle.EsxImage.SolutionNotFound",}

^{-->             "message": {}

^{-->                 "args": [}

^{-->                     "VMware-HBR-Agent",}

^{-->                     "8.0.3-0.0.#####"}

^{-->                 ],}

^{-->                 "default_message": "Software Solution VMware-HBR-Agent with version 8.0.3-0.0.##### cannot be found in depot.",}

^{-->                 "id": "com.vmware.vcIntegrity.lifecycle.EsxImage.SolutionNotFound",}

^{-->                 "localized": null,}

^{-->                 "params": null}

^{-->             },}

^{-->             "originator": null,}

^{-->             "resolution": null,}

^{-->             "retriable": null,}

^{-->             "time": "2025-11-12T10:58:40.695Z",}

^{-->             "type": null}

^{-->         }}

^{-->     ],}

^{-->     "info": [],}

^{-->     "warnings": []}

 

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

^{[SoftwareSpecMgr 1368] Image validation result: {'info': [], 'warnings': [], 'errors': [{'id': 'com.vmware.vcIntegrity.lifecycle.EsxImage.SolutionNotFound', 'message': {'id': 'com.vmware.vcIntegrity.lifecycle.EsxImage.SolutionNotFound', 'default_message': 'Software Solution VMware-HBR-Agent with version 8.0.3-0.0.##### cannot be found in depot.', 'args': ['VMware-HBR-Agent', '8.0.3-0.0.######']}, 'resolution': None, 'time': '2025-11-12T10:58:40.695Z'}]}}

Environment

^{VMware vSphere Esxi 7.x}

^{VMware vSphere Esxi 8.x}

^{VMware vCenter Server 7.x} 

^{VMware vCenter Server 8.x}

Cause

^{The failure was traced to a missing ESXi image component in the depot. Specifically, the VMware-HBR-Agent software solution with the required version could not be found.}

^{This issue occurs when the missing image is set as a desired image. During HA enablement, image validation fails, preventing the HA agent from being installed or configured.}

Resolution

^{To resolve this issue:}

         ^{1. Follow the resolution steps outlined in the Broadcom Knowledge Base article: 🔗 KB 380129 – https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?articleNumber=380129}

         ^{2. For additional background and related scenarios, refer to: 🔗 KB 368749 – https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?articleNumber=368749}

^{By applying the resolution steps, the missing image validation issue can be addressed, allowing vSphere HA to be successfully configured.}