VCF 9.1 management component like License Server installation fails at OVA deployment with locator error due to change in inventory

Products

• VMware SDDC Manager / VCF Installer

Issue/Introduction

• VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1 deployment fails during OVA deployment tasks like VCF License Server deployment with a generic error on the Installer/SDDC Manager UI:
  
  An error occurred in task "Deploy <Component_name>". See Tasks Panel to learn more
<Component> Deployment failed. Reference Token: <REFERENCE_TOKEN>

• Reviewing the domainmanager logs on the Installer/SDDC-Manager using the reference token reveals an OVF tool deployment failure containing the phrase "Locator does not refer to an object" . Below is an example of the same encountered during deployment of License Server using its OVA
  
  /var/log/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/domainmanager.log

YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss DEBUG [vcf_dm, <taskID>, <subtaskID>] [c.v.e.s.c.DeployLicenseServerAction, dm-exec-7053] OVF tool deployment of <Component_name> - isSuccessful: false, result: Local command /usr/bin/ovftool --powerOn --diskMode=thin --acceptAllEulas --allowExtraConfig --ipProtocol=IPv4 --ipAllocationPolicy=fixedPolicy --targetSSLThumbprint= <SSL_thumpbprint> --datastore=<destination_datastore> ...root@<vCenter_FQDN> X:logLevel=verbose /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/bundle/####-####-####-####/<Component_OVA_name>.ova vi://[email protected]:********************@<vCenter_FQDN>/<DataCenter>/host/<Cluster> failed with exit code 1
Out Stream: LocalProcess INFO: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss - Opening OVA source: /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/bundle/####-####-####-####/<Component_OVA_name>.ova
LocalProcess INFO: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss - The manifest does not validate
LocalProcess INFO: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss - Error: Locator does not refer to an object: vi://[email protected]@<vCenter_FQDN>/<DataCenter>/host/<Cluster> 
LocalProcess INFO: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss - Warning:
LocalProcess INFO: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss - The manifest is present but user flag causing to skip it
LocalProcess INFO: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss - Completed with errors
Error Stream:
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss ERROR [vcf_dm, <taskID>, <subtaskID>] [c.v.e.s.c.model.error.ErrorFactory, dm-exec-7053] [<REFERENCE_TOKEN>] VCF_LICENSE_SERVER_DEPLOYMENT_FAILED VCF License Server deployment failed
com.vmware.evo.sddc.orchestrator.exceptions.OrchTaskException: VCF License Server deployment failed

Environment

VCF 9.1

Cause

This issue occurs if the vCenter Datacenter and/or Cluster names for the deployment location are manually changed in the vSphere Client after the VCF deployment process has already started. This causes a mismatch between the original deployment specification and the active vCenter inventory, resulting in the OVF tool failing to resolve the target path to deploy the OVA.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, revert the vSphere inventory names back to their original specification:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client.

2. Locate the Datacenter and Cluster where the deployment is occurring.

3. Rename the Datacenter and Cluster back to the exact names specified in the original VCF deployment specification (These names can be identified in the domainmanager log locator error: /<DataCenter>/host/<Cluster>).

4. Return to the VCF Installer UI and click Retry on the deployment task.

Additional Information

In case the issue is encountered due to change in Resource pool, refer to VCF Deployment Fails with Locator Error Due to Resource Pool Changes | Error: Locator does not refer to an object