SDDC Manager 5.2.2.0 – “Retrieving available bundles failed”

I recently upgraded a customer’s VCF test environment from 5.1.2.1 to 5.2.2.0. The SDDC Manager upgrade itself completed without problem, but when I moved on to Bundle Management to download the remaining update bundles, the list was empty and the UI only showed:

“Retrieving available bundles failed”

If you search online, you’ll likely end up at Broadcom KB 409707, which acknowledges the issue and tells you to contact support.

If you hit this problem in your own environment and you have active support, I recommend doing exactly that before changing anything. The same UI error can be caused by different underlying problems.

That said, here’s what fixed it for me with guidance from VMware by Broadcom support.

What was wrong

Support had me check the domain table in the lcm database on SDDC Manager. As root, run:

/usr/pgsql/13/bin/psql -h localhost -U postgres lcm -c "select * from domain";

In my case, the output still referenced an older target version (5.2.1.0) even though SDDC Manager was now 5.2.2.0. Because it’s a wide table, I used expanded output to make it readable:

root@00a-t-vcf [ ~ ]# /usr/pgsql/13/bin/psql -h localhost -U postgres lcm
psql (13.20, server 15.12)
WARNING: psql major version 13, server major version 15.
         Some psql features might not work.
Type "help" for help.

lcm=# \x
Expanded display is on.

lcm=# select * from domain;
-[ RECORD 1 ]---------------+-------------------------------------
target_version              | 5.2.1.0
id                          | 272c40a9-67d2-44db-9708-6c4f800ac64f
target_vxrail_version       |
creation_time               | 2025-08-08 10:14:34.377
modification_time           | 2025-08-08 10:14:34.377
target_sddc_manager_version |
target_esx_version          |
target_nsx_version          | 4.2.3.0.0-24866349
target_vc_version           |

The fix (from support)

VMware support confirmed this problem happens when there’s a stale planned patching task hanging around, which leaves the LCM inventory out of sync with the current state. To restore bundle visibility, you need to clear those stale patching tasks.

Primary action (recommended)

In SDDC Manager, go to the area where patching activities are shown and cancel or delete the pending “Planned Patching” task for both:

  • Management domain
  • Workload domain(s)

Once those planned patching tasks are cleared, bundle visibility should return.

Alternative action (only if primary action didn’t work)

If you can’t clear the stale tasks in the UI, you can remove the stale entries directly from the SDDC Manager database.

Before doing anything, take a snapshot of SDDC Manager.

Then run:

/usr/pgsql/13/bin/psql -h localhost -U postgres lcm -c "delete from domain";

Restart SDDC Manager. After a few minutes, I was able to log back in and the bundles were visible again.

Result

Once Bundle Management recovered, I could download the remaining components for the environment, including:

  • vCenter 8U3h
  • ESXi 8U3h
  • NSX 4.2.3.2

If you run into the same “Retrieving available bundles failed” message after moving to SDDC Manager 5.2.2.0, this is one thing to check, but again, involve support first if you can.

For the record, support only gave me the alternative option as a way to fix my problem when I was in contact with them. First, after we closed the case and I received a summary of the case, I got the information above about a better/primary action to try first.

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