vSphere client showing Error: "Managing depots is temporarily unavailable. For "msg" expected type str, but got int" for Auto-Deploy

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Management of Auto Deploy and Image Builder services fails in the vSphere Client. Users may be unable to retrieve health status or manage software depots and rules.

Environment

vCenter Server 8.x

ESXi 8.x

Cause

Corruption in Auto-Deploy folders

Resolution

To reset the vSphere Auto Deploy software package depot (or database) and clear cached entries in your VMware vCenter Server, you will need to clear the cache directories, delete the existing database, and re-register the service.

Important Note: If you have made recent changes to your active rulesets without clearing the cache, your ESXi hosts may boot from the wrong image.

Follow these steps to completely reset the Auto Deploy database and software package cache:

Step 1: Backup vCenter

Before making changes to back-end system databases, create an offline snapshot of your vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA).

Step 2: Stop the Auto Deploy Watchdog Service

1. Access the vCenter Server Appliance using SSH as therootuser.

2. Launch the Bash shell and stop the Auto Deploy watchdog service by running:

service-control --stop vmware-rbd-watchdog

Step 3: Unregister Auto Deploy from vCenter

Remove the existing Auto Deploy registration from your vCenter:

autodeploy-register -U -a <vCenter-IP-or-FQDN>

Step 4: Reset the Database and Cache

1. Rename or move the existing Auto Deploy database file to prevent conflicts (this creates a new blank database):

mv /var/lib/rbd/db /var/lib/rbd/db.backup

2. Delete the old Auto Deploy cache files that contain the bad package payloads:

rm -rf /storage/autodeploy/cache/*

(Note: If you run into issues, verify that a directory for/var/lib/rbd/cacheexists, as it is occasionally unlinked and requiresln -s /storage/autodeploy/cache /var/lib/rbd/cache).

Step 5: Re-Register and Restart the Service

1. Register the Auto Deploy service back to vCenter using your vSphere Administrator credentials:

autodeploy-register -R -a <vCenter-IP-or-FQDN> [email protected] --password=<your-sso-password>

2. Start the watchdog service to initialize the clean cache and blank database:

service-control --start vmware-rbd-watchdog

Step 6: Reprovision the Hosts

Because the Auto Deploy database has been cleared, your previous rules and uploaded software packages are gone.

1. Remove all outdated software depots from within the vSphere Client.

2. Import the new/clean ESXi software packages and create new Deploy Rules.

3. Ensure you remove the ESXi hosts from the vCenter inventory before you reboot them, so they can cleanly pick up the new deploy rules.

Additional Information

VMware vSphere Auto Deploy displays error - "Managing depots is temporarily unavailable: Invalid Fault"
https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/381269

"Managing Depots is temporarily unavailable. Could not retrieve health status for Auto Deploy and Image Builder services" error in AutoDeploy Software Depots page in the vCenter
https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/387775