Table of Contents
Overview
This post walks you through setting up and using the Bundle Transfer Utility (BTU) to upload install bundles into VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Lifecycle Manager (LCM). It’s especially useful in air-gapped environments where internet access isn’t available.
If your SDDC Manager appliance isn’t connected to an online or offline depot, the BTU allows you to download bundles on a separate, internet-connected system and manually upload them into SDDC Manager.
Think of this as the missing manual—covering the steps and details the official documentation leaves out or glosses over.
RTFM
Offline Download of VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2.x Upgrade Bundles
VCF authenticated downloads configuration update instructions
Uploading manifest file to LCM fails using OBTU VCF 5.2
Cleanup historical manifests from LCM database to reduce memory consumption
Download the Tool
Log in to support.broadcom.com. Select VMware Cloud Foundation from the software selection category.
Click My Downloads and search for VMware Cloud Foundation in the search box. Finally, select VMware Cloud Foundation.
Select VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2, then select 5.2.1.
Select Drivers & Tools, expand the line with Bundle Transfer Utility on it, then click the download from cloud icon.
Windows Defender SmartScreen may need to be Unblocked. Right-click on the file and select Properties. Select the checkbox to Unblock.
Extract the utility archive. This post was written using Windows 11 24H2, and the built-in “Extract All” option worked without issue. When prompted with a file conflict pop-up, simply check “Do this for all current items” and choose “Skip” to proceed.
The extracted tool.
Update the Repository URLs
As of May 5, 2025, Broadcom has updated the process for downloading bundles.
Download URLs are now unique to each customer, rather than shared. This means you’ll need to reconfigure your setup accordingly.
Before continuing, make sure you’ve either registered for or have your Download Token ready. Refer to the links above for instructions on updating your VCF authenticated downloads configuration.
Next, navigate to the conf directory where the tool was extracted, then open and edit the application-prod.properties file.
C:\Users\%username%\Downloads\lcm-tools-prod\conf\application-prod.propertiesLine 22
lcm.depot.adapter.host=dl.broadcom.comLine 23
lcm.depot.adapter.remote.rootDir=/<downloadToken>/PRODLine 24
lcm.depot.adapter.remote.repoDir=/COMP/SDDC_MANAGER_VCFLine 35
lcm.depot.adapter.remote.lcmManifestDir=/COMP/SDDC_MANAGER_VCF/lcm/manifestLine 38
lcm.depot.adapter.remote.bundletransferconfig.repoDir:/COMP/SDDC_MANAGER_VCF/obtuSave the file and follow the remaining steps to download the bundles and artifacts.
Install Java Runtime Environment (JRE)
Download and install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) from java.com/download/.
Download Bundles and Artifacts
Open a Windows Command Prompt (cmd.exe) and navigate to the directory where you extracted the Bundle Transfer Utility. In this post, I’ve placed it in the Downloads folder.
cd C:\Users\%username%\Downloads\lcm-tools-prod\binManifest File
This is a structured metadata file that contains information about the VMware product versions included in the release Bill of Materials.
lcm-bundle-transfer-util.bat --download --manifestDownload --depotUser UsernameHere’s an example.
C:\Users\aaron\Downloads\lcm-tools-prod\bin>lcm-bundle-transfer-util.bat --download --manifestDownload --depotUser [email protected]
1 file(s) moved.
OpenJDK 32-Bit Client VM warning: Ignoring option --illegal-access=warn; support was removed in 17.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING
* Have you configured TCP keepalive in your SSH client to prevent socket connection timeouts when
using the Bundle Transfer Tool for long-running operations?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please acknowledge that the above requirements are met and press [Y/N] to continue: Y
VMware Cloud Foundation LCM Bundle Transfer Tool, Version: 2024.10-24352717
Enter Myvmware user password:
Validating the depot user credentials...
Downloading LCM Manifest to: C:\Users\aaron/PROD2/evo/vmw
Successfully completed downloading file
Log file: C:\var\log\vmware\vcf\lcm\tools\debugtool\tmp\debuglog\lcmdebug.logCompatibility Matrix
lcm-bundle-transfer-util.bat --download --compatibilityMatrix --depotUser UsernameHere’s an example.
C:\Users\aaron\Downloads\lcm-tools-prod\bin>lcm-bundle-transfer-util.bat --download --compatibilityMatrix --depotUser [email protected]
1 file(s) moved.
OpenJDK 32-Bit Client VM warning: Ignoring option --illegal-access=warn; support was removed in 17.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING
* Have you configured TCP keepalive in your SSH client to prevent socket connection timeouts when
using the Bundle Transfer Tool for long-running operations?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please acknowledge that the above requirements are met and press [Y/N] to continue: Y
VMware Cloud Foundation LCM Bundle Transfer Tool, Version: 2024.10-24352717
Enter Myvmware user password:
Validating the depot user credentials...
User has not set the path using the default path
Directory to download data is existing or created at path C:\Users\aaron\PROD2\evo\vmw\
Download VMware compatibility matrix to directory C:\Users\aaron\PROD2\evo\vmw\Compatibility\VmwareCompatibilityData.json
2025-06-06T13:44:31.287-04:00 INFO --- [ main] c.v.v.c.c.i.v.rest.client.VvsApiClient : vvs uri with query params: https://vvs.esp.vmware.com/v1/products/bundles/type/vcf-lcm-v2-bundle?format=json
vvs uri with query params: https://vvs.esp.vmware.com/v1/products/bundles/type/vcf-lcm-v2-bundle?format=json
Successfully downloaded VMWARE_COMPAT compatibility data to file C:\Users\aaron\PROD2\evo\vmw\Compatibility\VmwareCompatibilityData.json
Compatibility metadata has been downloaded, to upload to SDDC Manager use this path as input: C:\Users\aaron\PROD2\evo\vmw\
Log file: C:\var\log\vmware\vcf\lcm\tools\debugtool\tmp\debuglog\lcmdebug.logvSAN HCL
lcm-bundle-transfer-util.bat --vsanHclDownloadHere’s an example.
C:\Users\aaron\Downloads\lcm-tools-prod\bin>lcm-bundle-transfer-util.bat --vsanHclDownload
1 file(s) moved.
OpenJDK 32-Bit Client VM warning: Ignoring option --illegal-access=warn; support was removed in 17.0
Please acknowledge that the above requirements are met and press [Y/N] to continue: Y
VMware Cloud Foundation LCM Bundle Transfer Tool, Version: 2024.10-24352717
Downloading the vSAN HCL file to path: C:\Users\aaron\PROD2\vsan\hcl\all.json
Successfully completed downloading vSAN HCL file
Log file: C:\var\log\vmware\vcf\lcm\tools\debugtool\tmp\debuglog\lcmdebug.logUpgrade Bundles
Make a directory to download the bundles. This directory will be used in the --outputDirectory parameter.
mkdir C:\Users\%username%\Downloads\offline-bundleslcm-bundle-transfer-util.bat --download --outputDirectory absolute-path-output-dir --depotUser Username --sv current-vcf-version --p target-vcf-versionHere’s an example.
(Note: Yes, there are misspelled words in the output—this is copied verbatim from the tool.)
As mentioned earlier, the --outputDirectory parameter must point to a directory that already exists. It’s also a good idea to wrap the path in double quotes, especially if it includes spaces.
The --sv flag specifies the Source Version. In this example, I chose a specific version to retrieve a smaller subset of updates.
The --p flag stands for Patch Version. While the product version may show as 5.2.1.0, there are actually SDDC Manager patches for 5.2.1.2. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any documentation that clearly defines which values to use for Source or Patch Versions. In practice, I guess the version I need and run the command until I get the desired patches.
Since I had already downloaded the bundles, I used q to quit. Available options are:
allinstallpatch- a comma-separated list of specific bundle names
C:\Users\aaron\Downloads\lcm-tools-prod\bin>lcm-bundle-transfer-util.bat --download --outputDirectory "C:\Users\aaron\Downloads\offline-bundles" --depotUser [email protected] --sv 5.2.0.0 --p 5.2.1.0
1 file(s) moved.
OpenJDK 32-Bit Client VM warning: Ignoring option --illegal-access=warn; support was removed in 17.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING
* Have you configured TCP keepalive in your SSH client to prevent socket connection timeouts when
using the Bundle Transfer Tool for long-running operations?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please acknowledge that the above requirements are met and press [Y/N] to continue: Y
VMware Cloud Foundation LCM Bundle Transfer Tool, Version: 2024.10-24352717
Enter Myvmware user password:
Validating the depot user credentials...
Do you want to include VMware Aria Products bundles (Y/N)?: Y
Creating delta file
Downloading LCM Manifest to: C:\Users\aaron\Downloads\offline-bundles
Successfully completed downloading file
Default manifest file found, attempting to read into manifest object.
Copping C:\Users\aaron\Downloads\offline-bundles\tmp\index.v3 to C:\Users\aaron\Downloads\offline-bundles\index.v3
List of applicable bundles:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bundle | Product Version | Bundle Size | Bundle Component | Bundle Type
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
bundle-133762 | 5.2.1.0 | 606.4 MB | ESX_HOST-8.0.3-24280767 | PATCH
bundle-133763 | 5.2.1.0 | 8895.2 MB | NSX_T_MANAGER-4.2.1.0.0-24304122 | PATCH
bundle-202281 | 5.2.1.0 | 2364.8 MB | SDDC_MANAGER_VCF-5.2.1.1-24397777 | PATCH
bundle-214558 | 5.2.1.0 | 2375.9 MB | SDDC_MANAGER_VCF-5.2.1.2-24690695 | PATCH
bundle-133765 | 5.2.1.0 | 18817.0 MB | VCENTER-8.0.3.00300-24305161 | PATCH
bundle-130870 | 5.2.1.0 | 4238.5 MB | NSX_ALB-22.1.7-24190832 | INSTALL
bundle-133764 | 5.2.1.0 | 11636.7 MB | NSX_T_MANAGER-4.2.1.0.0-24304122 | INSTALL
bundle-133766 | 5.2.1.0 | 11832.3 MB | VCENTER-8.0.3.00300-24305161 | INSTALL
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Created delta file
Total applicable bundles: 8
To download all the required bundles, specify value as: all.
To download all install bundles, specify value as: install.
To download all patch bundles, specify value as: patch.
To download specific bundles, provide bundle names as comma separated values, Example: bundle-38371, bundle-38378
To quit, specify value as: quit/q
q
Discontinuing downloading bundles
Log file: C:\var\log\vmware\vcf\lcm\tools\debugtool\tmp\debuglog\lcmdebug.logCopy the Bundles and Artifacts to the SDDC Manager Appliance
You may notice the documentation refers to using one path or another when uploading specific files to the SDDC Manager. If you’re following the Broadcom docs, the files do eventually end up on the SDDC Manager—but even with the provided steps, I still found myself searching Google and KB articles to fill in the gaps.
I’ve included helpful links in the RTFM section below to save you that trouble.
Below is a screenshot from the documentation.
For this post, I’ll be using WinSCP to transfer the files, but you can use any tool that supports SCP or SFTP.
Connect to the SDDC Manager appliance using the vcf user account. Then, copy the following items to the /home/vcf/ directory on the SDDC Manager:
- The
PROD2directory lcm-tools-prod.tar.gz
Copy the offline-bundles to the /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/ directory.
On the SDDC Manager Appliance
Prepare the lcm-tools Directory
SSH in to the SDDC Manager appliance using the vcf user account.
Switch to the root user for this.
su -Create a new directory for the Bundle Transfer Utility.
If a directory from a previous version already exists, it’s best to delete its contents and start fresh with a clean copy before proceeding.
mkdir /opt/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm-toolsChange into the new directory.
cd /opt/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm-toolsNow copy the lcm-tools-prod.tar.gz to the new directory.
cp /home/vcf/lcm-tools-prod.tar.gz /opt/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm-toolsExtract the contents of lcm-tools-prod.tar.gz.
tar -xvf lcm-tools-prod.tar.gzSet the permissions for the lcm-tools directory.
chown vcf_lcm:vcf -R ../lcm-tools/chmod 750 -R ../lcm-tools/Prepare the Manifest File Directory
The lcmManifest.json file must be in the /home/vcf/manifest/lcm/manifest/v1 directory (according to 381165).
Make the new directory to copy the lcmManifest.json file to.
mkdir -p /home/vcf/manifest/lcm/manifest/v1Copy the lcmManifest.json file to the new directory.
cp /home/vcf/PROD2/evo/vmw/lcm/manifest/v1/lcmManifest.json /home/vcf/manifest/lcm/manifest/v1Change the ownership of the lcmManifest.json file.
chown vcf_lcm:vcf /home/vcf/manifest/lcm/manifest/v1/lcmManifest.jsonUpload the Manifest File
From the /opt/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm-tools/bin directory, upload the manifest file.
./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --update --sourceManifestDirectory Manifest-Directory --sddcMgrFqdn FQDN --sddcMgrUser Usernameroot@sddc-163-100 [ /opt/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm-tools/bin ]# ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --update --sourceManifestDirectory /home/vcf/manifest/ --sddcMgrFqdn sddc-163-100.aaronrombaut.com --sddcMgrUser [email protected]
*********Welcome to OBTU tool***********
Make sure to download the most recent metadata files and upload them to the SDDC Manager appliance before
downloading bundles. If you do not have the most recent metadata files, the metadata for most recent upgrades will be
missing and will impact the upgrades. The following metadata files are required: LCM manifest and VMware compatibility
data (For 5.0 or upgrade to 5.0), vSAN HCL data (For 5.1 or upgrade to 5.1). VxRail requires these additional metadata files:
VxRail compatibility data (For 5.0 or upgrade to 5.0) and partner bundle manifest (PBM).
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Foundation/5.0/context?id=vcf_451\n
please confrim this is the right finger print sha256 Fingerprint=D3:CD:BB:A9:9D:8C:A9:F6:69:E2:52:6B:EB:24:0F:37:7E:C7:C6:80:F6:EE:FE:AF:D4:3F:F9:5C:63:1D:60:91 Y/N Y
keytool error: java.lang.Exception: Alias <sddc-163-100.aaronrombaut.com> does not exist
Certificate was added to keystore
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM warning: Ignoring option --illegal-access=warn; support was removed in 17.0
Please acknowledge that the above requirements are met and press [Y/N] to continue: Y
VMware Cloud Foundation LCM Bundle Transfer Tool, Version: 2024.10-24352717
Uploading manifest file
Enter SDDC Manager User password:
Manifest File Path: /home/vcf/manifest/lcm/manifest
Setting base path - sddc-163-100.aaronrombaut.com
Setting base path - sddc-163-100.aaronrombaut.com
Successfully uploaded manifest file
Successfully uploaded the lcm 2.0 manifest
Log file: /var/log/vmware/vcf/lcm/tools/debugtool/tmp/debuglog/lcmdebug.log
Delete a Manifest File
If you receive a warning that the Manifest file has already been uploaded, you’ll need to remove the existing entry from the LCM database before you can upload the new one.
/usr/pgsql/13/bin/psql -h localhost -U postgres -d lcmGet the id and sequence_number from the table.
SELECT id, creation_time, sequence_number FROM manifest;Delete the entry from the database so that a new Manifest file can bu uploaded.
DELETE FROM manifest WHERE id = <id>;Upload the CompatibilityMatrix File
The VmwareCompatibilityData.json file is located in the /home/vcf/PROD2/evo/vmw/Compatibility directory. Note that the uppercase Compatibility is intentional, not a typo. Also, the Bundle Transfer Utility expects the directory path to end one level higher—at vmw/ in this case.
./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --update --compatibilityMatrix --inputDirectory compatibility-file-directory --sddcMgrFqdn FQDN --sddcMgrUser Usernameroot@sddc-163-100 [ /opt/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm-tools/bin ]# ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --update --compatibilityMatrix --inputDirectory /home/vcf/PROD2/evo/vmw/ --sddcMgrFqdn sddc-163-100.aaronrombaut.com --sddcMgrUser [email protected]
*********Welcome to OBTU tool***********
Make sure to download the most recent metadata files and upload them to the SDDC Manager appliance before
downloading bundles. If you do not have the most recent metadata files, the metadata for most recent upgrades will be
missing and will impact the upgrades. The following metadata files are required: LCM manifest and VMware compatibility
data (For 5.0 or upgrade to 5.0), vSAN HCL data (For 5.1 or upgrade to 5.1). VxRail requires these additional metadata files:
VxRail compatibility data (For 5.0 or upgrade to 5.0) and partner bundle manifest (PBM).
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Foundation/5.0/context?id=vcf_451\n
please confrim this is the right finger print sha256 Fingerprint=D3:CD:BB:A9:9D:8C:A9:F6:69:E2:52:6B:EB:24:0F:37:7E:C7:C6:80:F6:EE:FE:AF:D4:3F:F9:5C:63:1D:60:91 Y/N Y
keytool error: java.lang.Exception: Alias <sddc-163-100.aaronrombaut.com> does not exist
Certificate was added to keystore
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM warning: Ignoring option --illegal-access=warn; support was removed in 17.0
Please acknowledge that the above requirements are met and press [Y/N] to continue: Y
VMware Cloud Foundation LCM Bundle Transfer Tool, Version: 2024.10-24352717
Enter SDDC Manager User password:
User has set the path to: /home/vcf/PROD2/evo/vmw/
Setting base path - sddc-163-100.aaronrombaut.com
Setting base path - sddc-163-100.aaronrombaut.com
Successfully upload VMWARE_COMPAT compatibility data in Sddc Manager
Log file: /var/log/vmware/vcf/lcm/tools/debugtool/tmp/debuglog/lcmdebug.logUpload the vSAN HCL File
This command uses the path to the actual file in the –inputDirectory parameter.
./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --vsanHclUpload --inputDirectory hcl-file-path --sddcMgrFqdn sddc-manager-fqdn --sddcMgrUser userroot@sddc-163-100 [ /opt/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm-tools/bin ]# ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --vsanHclUpload --inputDirectory /home/vcf/PROD2/vsan/hcl/all.json --sddcMgrFqdn sddc-163-100.aaronrombaut.com --sddcMgrUser [email protected]
*********Welcome to OBTU tool***********
Make sure to download the most recent metadata files and upload them to the SDDC Manager appliance before
downloading bundles. If you do not have the most recent metadata files, the metadata for most recent upgrades will be
missing and will impact the upgrades. The following metadata files are required: LCM manifest and VMware compatibility
data (For 5.0 or upgrade to 5.0), vSAN HCL data (For 5.1 or upgrade to 5.1). VxRail requires these additional metadata files:
VxRail compatibility data (For 5.0 or upgrade to 5.0) and partner bundle manifest (PBM).
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Foundation/5.0/context?id=vcf_451\n
please confrim this is the right finger print sha256 Fingerprint=D3:CD:BB:A9:9D:8C:A9:F6:69:E2:52:6B:EB:24:0F:37:7E:C7:C6:80:F6:EE:FE:AF:D4:3F:F9:5C:63:1D:60:91 Y/N Y
keytool error: java.lang.Exception: Alias <sddc-163-100.aaronrombaut.com> does not exist
Certificate was added to keystore
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM warning: Ignoring option --illegal-access=warn; support was removed in 17.0
Please acknowledge that the above requirements are met and press [Y/N] to continue: Y
VMware Cloud Foundation LCM Bundle Transfer Tool, Version: 2024.10-24352717
Uploading vSAN HCL file
Enter SDDC Manager User password:
vSAN HCL upload File Path: /home/vcf/PROD2/vsan/hcl/all.json
Setting base path - sddc-163-100.aaronrombaut.com
Setting base path - sddc-163-100.aaronrombaut.com
Successfully uploaded the vSAN HCL file
Log file: /var/log/vmware/vcf/lcm/tools/debugtool/tmp/debuglog/lcmdebug.logPrepare the offline-bundles Directory
The directory storing the offline bundles must have the correct user and group ownership set. Because the bundles were downloaded on Windows, file permissions don’t automatically translate to Linux, so you’ll need to set them manually.
chown -R vcf_lcm:vcf /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/offline-bundlesThe permissions also need to be set to 777.
chmod -R 777 /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/offline-bundlesUpload the Bundles
./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --upload --bundleDirectory absolute-path-bundle-dir./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --upload --bundleDirectory /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/offline-bundlesroot@sddc-163-100 [ /opt/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm-tools/bin ]# ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --upload --bundleDirectory /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/offline-bundles
*********Welcome to OBTU tool***********
Make sure to download the most recent metadata files and upload them to the SDDC Manager appliance before
downloading bundles. If you do not have the most recent metadata files, the metadata for most recent upgrades will be
missing and will impact the upgrades. The following metadata files are required: LCM manifest and VMware compatibility
data (For 5.0 or upgrade to 5.0), vSAN HCL data (For 5.1 or upgrade to 5.1). VxRail requires these additional metadata files:
VxRail compatibility data (For 5.0 or upgrade to 5.0) and partner bundle manifest (PBM).
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Foundation/5.0/context?id=vcf_451\n
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM warning: Ignoring option --illegal-access=warn; support was removed in 17.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING
* Have you configured TCP keepalive in your SSH client to prevent socket connection timeouts when
using the Bundle Transfer Tool for long-running operations?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please acknowledge that the above requirements are met and press [Y/N] to continue: Y
VMware Cloud Foundation LCM Bundle Transfer Tool, Version: 2024.10-24352717
*****************************************************************************************************
Please ensure you are running latest bundle transfer utility tool from https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/downloads/
*****************************************************************************************************
Please ensure to update VCF LCM with the 2.0 Manifest file along with the bundles
Checking for sufficient disk space before uploading all VSRN bundles
Available disk space on SDDC Manager directory: /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount is 367671.0 MB
Required disk space to upload the bundles is 33388.2 MB
Uploading the bundles...
Bundle 1c145a20-1f19-4393-bec3-b424d12245b5 checksum validation successful
Uploading bundle: 1c145a20-1f19-4393-bec3-b424d12245b5
Current upload status is: VALIDATING for bundleId: 1c145a20-1f19-4393-bec3-b424d12245b5
...truncated for brevity...
Current upload status is: VALIDATING for bundleId: 1c145a20-1f19-4393-bec3-b424d12245b5
Current upload status is: SUCCESS for bundleId: 1c145a20-1f19-4393-bec3-b424d12245b5
Bundle already exists in LCM and skipping re uploading bundle id: 649c709a-b890-4cab-8b59-2c67326fd7c5
Bundle dacab600-58b0-47b6-a995-f42055cf3885 checksum validation successful
Uploading bundle: dacab600-58b0-47b6-a995-f42055cf3885
Current upload status is: VALIDATING for bundleId: dacab600-58b0-47b6-a995-f42055cf3885
...truncated for brevity...
Current upload status is: VALIDATING for bundleId: dacab600-58b0-47b6-a995-f42055cf3885
Current upload status is: SUCCESS for bundleId: dacab600-58b0-47b6-a995-f42055cf3885
Completed uploading bundles
Log file: /var/log/vmware/vcf/lcm/tools/debugtool/tmp/debuglog/lcmdebug.logConclusion
By now, I hope you’ve either successfully uploaded your bundles or have already completed the process within your SDDC Manager appliance. While this is a helpful tool, it’s clear that the Broadcom documentation leaves much to be desired, and unfortunately, it hasn’t seen much improvement over time.
One thing that continues to puzzle me is the need for specific directory structures and levels in the utility. It raises the question: why are these hard-coded? If certain directories or levels are mandatory, it seems unnecessary to have parameters like --inputDirectory or --sourceManifestDirectory in the first place. Additionally, the vSAN HCL file uses the entire path, so why not standardize the approach across the board?
As administrators, we’re already dealing with a complex process, and it would be incredibly helpful if the system allowed for a simpler workflow. If we could upload the files directly to the SDDC Manager, set proper ownership (vcf_lcm:vcf), apply reasonable permissions (without resorting to 777), and just point to the necessary files without needing to rely on countless workarounds, it would save a lot of time and frustration.
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