"Error getting external data: 404 OK" when requesting a VCF Automation blueprint with a custom form mapped to an Orchestrator action

Products

• VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)

Issue/Introduction

When you request/test a blueprint entry within the product UI, the request fails, and the following error message is displayed on the custom form:

Error getting external data: 404 OK

This issue occurs specifically when using a custom form that is mapped to an Orchestrator action to dynamically populate data fields.

Environment

VCF Automation 9.x.

Cause

This issue is caused by internal services being unable to locate the designated Orchestrator action. The custom form editor fails to populate the full, absolute path to the action within the blueprint layout data.

Resolution

This issue is tentatively scheduled for resolution in VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) versions 9.1.1 and higher. If you are on an affected version, you must apply the following workaround.

Workaround:

To resolve this error, you must manually update the blueprint layout YAML file to include the correct data path prefix:

1. Open the affected blueprint in VCF Automation -> Build & Deploy -> Blueprint Design.

2. In the "Code" tab, locate the "$data" binding line referencing your Orchestrator action.

Example YAML code:

$data: com.vmware.library.test/ReturnAnArrayAction?input=abc

3. Modify the line to explicitly prepend the /data/vro-actions/ path:

$data: /data/vro-actions/com.vmware.library.test/ReturnAnArrayAction?input=abc

4. Save and publish the blueprint.

The custom form will now successfully locate the external data without triggering the 404 error.