NSX Manager upgrade pre-check from SDDC manager fails with the error message: Cannot connect to <nsx_manager_fqdn>

Products

• VMware SDDC Manager / VCF Installer

Issue/Introduction

During the NSX Manager upgrade pre-check, the task fails with the error message: Cannot connect to <nsx_manager_fqdn>

The SDDC Manager operations logs show a 403 Unauthorized error, indicating a failure to authenticate with the NSX Manager.

/var/log/vmware/vcf/operationsmanager/operationsmanager.log

 

ERROR [vcf_om, #########################, ####] [c.v.e.s.o.model.error.ErrorFactory, pool-2-thread-5] [#####] ASSESSMENT CANNOT ADD CONNECTION Cannot connect to <nsx_manager_fqdn>

com.vmware.evo.sddc.orchestrator.exceptions.OrchTaskException: Cannot connect to <nsx_manager_fqdn>

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Caused by: com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.Unauthorized: Unauthorized (com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.unauthorized) (statusCode : 403) => {

messages = [],

data = => {error message=The credentials were incorrect or the account specified has been locked., error code=403, module_name=common-services},

errorType = UNAUTHORIZED

Environment

• VCF 9.0.2

Cause

The dedicated integration service account used by SDDC Manager to authenticate and communicate with NSX is missing from the environment.

Lifecycle management operations require this secure API access to validate configurations; if missing, the system aborts the upgrade workflow to prevent management failures.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, recreate the service account used by SDDC Manager to connect to the NSX Manager:

1. Log in to the SDDC Manager dashboard.
2. Navigate to Workload Domain > Updates.
3. Locate the Available Configuration Update section.
4. Select Create Service Account in NSX updates and Apply All
   • Note: This process generates a new service account in the NSX Manager, restoring communication.
5. Once the task completes, rerun the NSX Manager upgrade pre-check to verify the resolution.