VCF Installation &Validation fails with SHA-256 Certificate Thumbprint Mismatch for NSX Manager.

Products

• VMware NSX

Issue/Introduction

During VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) installer wizard, the installation validation may fail with a SHA-256 certificate thumbprint mismatch while attempting to validate the connectivity with NSX Manager.

Validation pre-checks fail while verifying the NSX Manager.

The VCF Installer displays an error similar to:

Environment

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.x

Cause

The VCF input specification (JSON) contains an outdated or incorrect SHA-256 certificate thumbprint that does not match the certificate currently installed on the NSX Manager. This commonly occurs after replacing or renewing the NSX Manager certificate without updating the VCF input specification.

Resolution

To resolve the issue: 

1. On the VCF Installer UI where the validation failed, locate and use the option to download the current input specification JSON file.
2. Open the downloaded JSON file using a standard text editor.
3. Locate the JSON block defining the component referenced in the UI error (e.g., NSX Manager).
4. Retrieve the actual, valid SHA-256 certificate thumbprint directly from the target appliance.
5. Replace the incorrect thumbprint value in the JSON file with the newly retrieved, valid thumbprint.
6. Save the modifications to the JSON file.
7. Return to the VCF Installer UI, upload and import the corrected input specification JSON, and restart the validation wizard.

Additional Information

VCF 9 Installation Validation Fails: Failed to install certificates on VCF Installer