vSphere Replication 8.8 fails to connect to vCenter Server when using root@localos account

Products

• VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

Accessing vSphere Replication 8.8 using the user root@localos fails.

1 vSphere Replication UI displays errors similar to:

Unable to log in to vCenter Server at https://<vcenter-fqdn>:443/sdk

Permission denied to perform this operation

Unable to retrieve pairing from the extension server

2 The following errors are observed in the logs:

dr.log

java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to connect to the server at https://<vcenter-fqdn>:443/sdk

vpxd.log

vim.fault.NoPermission:
privilegeId = "System.View"
object = 'vim.Folder:group-d1'

The issue does not occur when logging in with SSO admini user like "[email protected]".

Environment

vSphere Replication 8.8

Cause

The issue occurs because root@localos is a vCenter local operating system user, not a vSphere Single Sign-On (SSO) user.

vSphere Replication requires authentication and authorization through vSphere SSO to access the vCenter inventory and services. 
Local OS users do not have vSphere inventory privileges, resulting in authorization failures.

Resolution

1 Log in to vSphere Replication using a vSphere SSO user with appropriate privileges, such as: [email protected],
or a custom SSO user or group assigned the required vSphere Replication permissions

2 Do not use vCenter local OS users (for example, root@localos) to access vSphere Replication.

 

Additional Information

Although the login token for root@localos may be accepted initially, authorization fails when vSphere Replication attempts to access vCenter inventory objects.

The vim.fault.NoPermission error with missing privilege System.View indicates insufficient vSphere permissions.

Using an SSO administrator account resolves the issue immediately and confirms correct product behavior.