VCF Operations Inventory sync Failed to sync domain: vCenter SSH guardrail error in VCF 9.x

Products

VMware SDDC Manager VMware vCenter Server VMware Cloud Foundation

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to perform an inventory sync operation in VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), the task fails.
Reviewing the domain manager logs (/var/log/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/brownfield/<ID>/vcf_brownfield.log) by connecting to SDDC Manager using SSH Client and using "vcf" user credentials and switching user to "root" reveals the sequence of the task starting, checking guardrails, locating the guardrail report, and ultimately failing due to a validation error.

Log snippets showing the task start and guardrail locations:
[INFO] [c.v.v.v.s.b.r.BrownfieldImportServiceImpl,dm-exec-21] Starting Brownfield task with id 99dfa3e3-ef60-43c8-####-5522f####e5 and operationType sync
[DEBUG] [c.v.v.v.s.b.r.BrownfieldRunnerService,dm-exec-21] Starting brownfield import script with id 99dfa3e3-ef60-43c8-####-5522f####e5 - command is 'python3 /opt/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/scripts/vcf-import-tool/vcf_brownfield.py sync ...'
[INFO] check_domain_reporter: Total checks: 86, Successful checks: 85, Failed checks: 1, Internal errors: 0
[INFO] check_domain: For more details, please, check:
Failed guardrails YML: /var/log/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/brownfield/99dfa3e3-ef60-43c8-####-5522f####e5/output/guardrails_report_<vcenter-fqdn>.yml
Failed guardrails CSV: /var/log/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/brownfield/99dfa3e3-ef60-43c8-####-5522f####e5/output/guardrails_report_<vcenter-fqdn>.csv
All guardrails CSV: /var/log/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/brownfield/99dfa3e3-ef60-43c8-####-5522f####e5/output/guardrails_report_<vcenter-fqdn>_all.csv

Log snippets showing the task failure:
[CRITICAL] vcf_brownfield: Failed to sync domain <DomainName>
common.common_exceptions.DomainSyncException: Could not proceed with sync operation since domain with Id: <ID> has failed guard rails. This would leave SDDC Manager in a unconforming state Retry the sync operation after fixing guard rails warnings.
[ERROR] [c.v.v.v.s.b.r.BrownfieldRunnerService,dm-exec-21] Brownfield process failed with exit value 1 for operation sync with id 99dfa3e3-ef60-43c8-####-5522f####e5
[ERROR] [c.v.e.s.o.model.error.ErrorFactory,dm-exec-21] [AG###O] IMPORT_OPERATION_FAILED Import operation for sync with id 99dfa3e3-ef60-43c8-####-5522f####e5 failed internally.
Checking the referenced Guardrails CSV report shows a validation failure specifically regarding vCenter SSH access:

Status: VALIDATION_FAILED

Check Name: vCenter SSH Login enabled

Description: Check if SSH Login is enabled on vCenter

Details: SSH Login is disabled on vCenter

Remediation: Please enable SSH Login on vCenter

Environment

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.x

VCF Operations 9.X

Cause

This issue occurs because SDDC Manager runs a predefined set of validation guardrails during the inventory sync operation. The sync fails if these guardrails detect that the SSH service is disabled or unresponsive on the target vCenter Server.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, ensure the vCenter Server SSH service is running, and then manually re-trigger the inventory sync from the VCF Operations interface.

Step 1: Verify and Enable vCenter SSH

Log in to the VMware vSphere Appliance Management Interface (VAMI) for the affected vCenter Server (typically https://<vcenter-fqdn>:5480).
Navigate to Access and verify that SSH Login is enabled.
If SSH is already enabled but the guardrail continues to fail, the SSH service may be hung. Reboot the vCenter Server appliance to restore SSH responsiveness.

Step 2: Trigger Inventory Sync

Log in to the VCF Operations interface at https://<vcf_operations_fqdn> with a user assigned the Administrator role.
Navigate to Fleet Management > Lifecycle > VCF Management > Components.
On the Components page, select the first component you need to synchronize.
On the component tab, click Trigger inventory sync.
Monitor the inventory sync request in the Tasks page to ensure it completes successfully.