error ""Connect to an Offline Depot with a Local Server"" when attempting to add a path as depo repository in VCF9 Fleet management

Products

• VCF Operations

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to configure an offline repository (Depot) for a Fleet appliance, The following behaviors are observed:

• The user attempts to add a local file path as the Offline Depot source in the configuration UI.

• The UI consistently returns an error preventing the connection.

• The system fails to validate the local path provided.

Environment

VCF9 Fleet Management

Cause

The issue is caused by an incomplete or incorrect directory structure within the local repository path. Specifically, the Repository path provided in the configuration does not contain the required VCF manifest (metadata).

Without the manifest file at the root of the specified path, the Fleet appliance cannot validate the repository or identify the available binaries.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, you must ensure the repository includes the correct metadata and follows the required directory structure. Choose one of the following methods.

Method 1: Use the VCF Offline Bundle Transfer Utility (Recommended)

The most reliable method to ensure all dependencies and manifests are present is to use the official utility.

1. Download the VCF OBTU (Offline Bundle Transfer Utility) on a machine with internet access.

2. Use the utility to download all required binaries and metadata.

3. Copy the entire repository directory (exactly as downloaded by the tool) to the Fleet appliance or the local server acting as the depot.

4. Configure the Depot path in the UI to point to this location.

For Detailed instructions on how to use OBTU, please refer KB 312168

Method 2: Manual Metadata Configuration

If you are manually constructing the repository, you must place the metadata and binaries in a specific directory hierarchy.

1. Download Metadata:

   • Obtain the vcf-9.0.1.0-offline-depot-metadata.zip file along with all other binaries from support.broadcom.com.
     Note: this file contains manifest for both 9.0 and 9.0.1 builds!

2. Extract:

   • Extract the contents of this zip file into the target directory on the Fleet appliance.

3. Organize Binaries:

   • Move the product binaries into the following directory structure relative to the metadata:

   PROD/COMP/{{PRODUCT}}/{{file.extension}}

   (Note: Replace {{PRODUCT}} with the specific product name and {{file.extension}} with the actual binary filename as is without renaming them).

   
   Refer to the below table for the actual folder names to be used for {{PRODUCT}}

   Product Name	{{PRODUCT}}
   Fleet Manager	VRSLCM
   VCF Automation	VRA
   VMware Identity Broker	VIDB
   VCF Operations	VROPS
   VCF Operations for Logs	VRLI
   VCF Operations for Network	VRNI
   VCF Operations Orchestrator	VRO
   vCenter	VCENTER
   SDDC Manager	SDDC_MANAGER_VCF
   NSX Manager	NSX_T_MANAGER

4. Configure:

   • Use this root path (where the metadata was extracted that contains the directory "PROD") as the local path in the Depot configuration.