NVP-vProxy: Backups fail with HTTP status 401 "HTTP Get request failed to download config file"

Summary: NetWorker VMware Protection (NVP) Virtual Machine (VM) backups failing with "HTTP Get request failed to download config file" HTTP Status code: 401."

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Symptoms

The NetWorker VMware Protection (NVP) integration is being configured with the vProxy appliance. 
The virtual machine (VM) backups fail to initialize due to a configuration file download. 
The vProxy backup session log shows:

...
YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS ERROR:  [@(#) Build number: 127] HTTP Get request failed to download config file '[Datastore_Name] VM_Folder_Name/VM_Name.vmx" using URL "https://vCenter_Server_Name/folder/VM_Folder_Name/VM_Name.vmx?dcPath=DC_Path&dsName=Datastore_Name".'. HTTP Status code: 401.
YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS ERROR:  [@(#) Build number: 127] HTTP Get request failed to download config file '[Datastore_Name] VM_Folder_Name/VM_Name.vmx" using URL "https://vCenter_Server_Name/folder/VM_Folder_Name/VM_Name.vmx?dcPath=DC_Path&dsName=Datastore_Name".'. HTTP Status code: 401.
YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS ERROR:  [@(#) Build number: 127] HTTP Get request failed to download config file '[Datastore_Name] VM_Folder_Name/VM_Name.vmx" using URL "https://vCenter_Server_Name/folder/VM_Folder_Name/VM_Name.vmx?dcPath=DC_Path&dsName=Datastore_Name".'. HTTP Status code: 401.
YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS ERROR:  [@(#) Build number: 127] Failed to download VM config file "[[Datastore_Name] adc64e5e-30e0-12b6-f413-e4434b931070/VM_NAME.vmx" into saveset file "vm-xxx-config-file-0.cfg".
YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS ERROR:  [@(#) Build number: 127] Failed to initialize Backup Descriptor.
...

VM backup logs are found under:

  • NetWorker server:
    • Linux: /nsr/logs/policy/POLICY_NAME/WORKFLOW_NAME
    • Windows (Default): C:\Program Files\EMC NetWorker\nsr\logs\policy\POLICY_NAME\WORKFLOW_NAME
      NOTE: The NetWorker server's policy logs follow the jobsdb retention (default 72 hours). After the retention period passes, the logs are removed. Backup logs on the vProxy appliance are not affected by the jobsdb retention.
  • vProxy Appliance: /opt/emc/vproxy/runtime/logs/recycle/vbackupd/DATE

Cause

The VMware account used to register the vCenter resource is not assigned to a role which contains the required permissions to perform the backup operations.

Resolution

The required permissions are documented in the "Minimum required vCenter user account privileges" section of the NetWorker VMware Integration Guide. NetWorker documentation is available through: Support for NetWorker | Manuals & Documents (You must sign in with your Dell support account).


Use the ProxyHC utility to identify missing permissions for the vCenter user account used by NetWorker: NVP-vProxy: How to use health check tool ProxyHC on vProxy appliance

The syntax to confirm permissions is: ./ProxyHC perm
 

Additional Information

Attempting to access the URL from the log in a web browser produces the same HTTP 401 error.

Affected Products

NetWorker

Products

NetWorker Family
Article Properties
Article Number: 000172309
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 29 أبريل 2026
Version:  4
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