VCF Download Tool fails with 'Download Token is not entitled to download the contents'

Products

• VMware Cloud Foundation
• VMware SDDC Manager / VCF Installer

Issue/Introduction

• When using the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Download Tool (VDT) to download binaries or metadata, the process fails. 
   
• The vdt.log file (typically located in the tool's log directory, e.g., /root/vdt910/log/vdt.log) contains the following entries:

  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.736-0400 [main] DEBUG [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.bundle.download.depot.DepotDownloader]  Got response: 403 Forbidden HTTP/1.1
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.736-0400 [main] ERROR [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.bundle.download.depot.DepotDownloader]  Error getting file size, got response: 403 Forbidden HTTP/1.1
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.743-0400 [main] ERROR [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.bundle.download.depot.DepotDownloader]  Got Http error[403] while downloading file [/metadata/productVersionCatalog/v1/productVersionCatalog.json] from dl.broadcom.com:443 with user dummy_download_token_user
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.764-0400 [main] DEBUG [com.vmware.evo.sddc.common.core.i18n.LocalizationTools]  VCF_USE_RESOURCE_BUNDLE_LOCALIZATION='null' -> using VIP-based localization
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.783-0400 [main] DEBUG [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransferv2.telemetry.TelemetryFileUtil]  Is CEIP enabled: false
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.783-0400 [main] ERROR [com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransferv2.exceptionhandler.ExecutionExceptionHandler]  Application failed.
  com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransfer.exception.BundleTransferUtilityException: Cant access Broadcom depot with provided Customer download token.
          at com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransferv2.shared.utils.DownloadUtil.validateDepotUser(DownloadUtil.java:531)
          at com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransferv2.tasks.base.ValidateDepotCredentialsTaskBase.execute(ValidateDepotCredentialsTaskBase.java:36)
          at com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.tools.bundletransferv2.tasks.base.ValidateDepotCredentialsTaskBase.execute(ValidateDepotCredentialsTaskBase.java:24)
          at org.springframework.boot.loader.JarLauncher.main(JarLauncher.java:65)
  Caused by: com.vmware.evo.sddc.lcm.model.depot.exception.DepotInvalidCredentialException: Download Token is not entitled to download the contents

Environment

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1

Cause

• This issue is caused by a syntax error in the command line argument. Specifically, using the --depot-download-token-file parameter when providing an activation code file causes the Broadcom depot to reject the request with a 403 Forbidden error, as the tool misinterprets the credential type.
  Incorrect Syntax: vcf-download-tool binaries list --depot-download-token-file=activation-code.txt --vcf-version=9.1.0 --sku=VCF --automated-install --type=UPGRADE
  
  

Resolution

• To resolve this issue, use the correct parameter for the activation code file.
  1.Correct Syntax: vcf-download-tool binaries list --depot-download-activation-code-file=activation-code.txt --vcf-version=9.1.0 --sku=VCF --automated-install --type=UPGRADE
  2.Ensure you are using --depot-download-activation-code-file when passing the text file containing your Broadcom activation code.