Bundle Downloads Fail with 403 Forbidden Error from dl.broadcom.com:443

Products

• VMware SDDC Manager / VCF Installer

Issue/Introduction

• • SDDC Manager task Configure Online Depot fails.
  • The UI displays error: Invalid token provided, status code: 403.
  • The domainmanager.log or lcm.log files contain:

    BundleDownloadFailureException: Error [403] downloading bundle from dl.broadcom.com:443

Environment

• VMware Cloud Foundation 4.x, 5.x, 9.x
• SDDC Manager

Cause

An HTTP 403 error indicates an authorization failure between SDDC Manager and the Broadcom repository. This occurs if the download token is not formatted correctly (must be exactly 32 alphanumeric characters). Browser caching on the Broadcom Support Portal can occasionally cause the display of malformed or outdated tokens.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, generate a new token from an entitled Site ID and update the SDDC Manager credentials:

1. 1. Generate a New Token

   • Open an Incognito or Private browser window to bypass local cache.
   • Log in to the Broadcom Support Portal.
   • Identify the Site ID with active entitlements for your VCF software.
   • Generate a new Download Token associated with that Site ID.
   • Verify: Ensure the new token is exactly 32 alphanumeric characters long.
   • Wait: Allow approximately 10 minutes for backend systems to synchronize the new credentials.

   2. Update SDDC Manager Credentials

   • Log in to the SDDC Manager UI as vcfuser.
   • Navigate to Administration > Depot Settings.
   • Click Update Credentials, paste the new 32-character download token, and click Save.

   3. Verify and Retry

   • Manual Verification: Optionally, verify connectivity from the SDDC Manager console using:
   •                     curl -I https://dl.broadcom.com/PROD/index.v3 -u [YOUR_TOKEN]
   • Check Status: Confirm the connection status in the UI is Active.
   • Navigate to Lifecycle Management and retry the failed bundle download or depot synchronization.

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   If you require further assistance, see Contact Broadcom Support.

Additional Information

The "Depot Connection Active" status only verifies that the SDDC Manager can reach dl.broadcom.com:443 over the network (L3/L4 connectivity). The 403 Forbidden error verifies that the authorization phase (L7/Application Layer) failed due to invalid credentials (token).

VCF Authenticated Downloads Token Troubleshooting Guide