VMware Cloud Foundation APIs: Obtaining Authentication Tokens
Last Updated: 04-Aug-2026
Interacting with the public APIs of a VMware Cloud Foundation platform enables organizations to build custom end-to-end automation for their needs. The first step in the process involves obtaining an authentication token. A VMware Cloud Foundation platform consists of a number of core end points, each requiring slightly different parameters to carry out the interaction.
Whilst public API documentation is available across the VMware Cloud Foundation platform (see developer.broadcom.com ), concrete examples of how to consume the various APIs is either not consistent or lacking, for this reason I decided to pull together this post to help with the specifics, this post covers the following end-points:
VCF Installer
VCF Installer APIs Used
- POST /v1/tokens
Procedure
Connect to a system that has access to your infrastructure and is capable of running CURL.
Replace the values in the sample code with values for your VCF Installer instance and run the commands in the console.
1export vcfInstallerFqdn='sfo-ins01.sfo.rainpole.io'
2export vcfInstallerUser='admin@local'
3export vcfInstallerPass='VMw@re1!VMw@re1!'
- Authenticate to VCF Installer and obtain a token by running the following command:
1vcfInstallerToken=$(curl -k -X POST "https://${vcfInstallerFqdn}/v1/tokens" \
2 --header "Content-Type:application/json" \
3 -d "{\"username\":\"$vcfInstallerUser\", \"password\":\"$vcfInstallerPass\"}" \
4 | jq -r '.accessToken')
- Verify you were able to successfully obtain an authentication token by running the following command:
1echo $vcfInstallerToken
Example Output:
1eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.C-iy2jGY1d-oCVc1_K74xxTWJRnr30wbYtF7V1-apdM
VCF Operations
VCF Operations APIs Used
- POST /suite-api/api/auth/token/acquire
Procedure
Connect to a system that has access to your infrastructure and is capable of running CURL.
Replace the values in the sample code with values for your VCF Operations instance and run the commands in the console.
1export vcfOperationsFqdn='flt-ops01a.rainpole.io'
2export vcfOperationsUser='admin'
3export vcfOperationsPass='VMw@re1!VMw@re1!'
- Authenticate to VCF Operations and obtain a token by running the following command:
1vcfOperationsToken=$(curl -k -X POST "https://$vcfOperationsFqdn/suite-api/api/auth/token/acquire" \
2 --header "Content-Type:application/json" \
3 --header "Accept: application/json" \
4 -d "{\"username\":\"$vcfOperationsUser\", \"password\":\"$vcfOperationsPass\"}" \
5 | jq -r '.token')
- Verify you were able to successfully obtain an authentication token by running the following command:
1echo $vcfOperationsToken
Example Output:
175be8e3e-396d-439c-bd40-5f55b7f6b3c7::202feccb-f630-4702-9c91-1d58ebc80f0a
SDDC Manager
SDDC Manager APIs Used
- POST /v1/tokens
Procedure
Connect to a system that has access to your infrastructure and is capable of running CURL.
Replace the values in the sample code with values for your SDDC Manager instance and run the commands in the console.
1export sddcManagerFqdn='sfo-vcf01.sfo.rainpole.io'
2export sddcManagerUser='[email protected]'
3export sddcManagerPass='VMw@re1!VMw@re1!'
- Authenticate to SDDC Manager and obtain a token by running the following command:
1sddcManagerToken=$(curl -k -X POST "https://$sddcManagerFqdn/v1/tokens" \
2 --header "Content-Type:application/json" \
3 -d "{\"username\":\"$sddcManagerUser\", \"password\":\"$sddcManagerPass\"}" \
4 | jq -r '.accessToken')
- Verify you were able to successfully obtain an authentication token by running the following command:
1echo $sddcManagerToken
Example Output:
1eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.fs7aQ-utsHQ_fA8oGbFLIEJFYjxjtdm8QEheHFJrBJA
VCF Services Runtime
VCF Services Runtim APIs Used
- POST /v1/identity/token
Procedure
Connect to a system that has access to your infrastructure and is capable of running CURL.
Replace the values in the sample code with values for your VCF Services Runtime instance and run the commands in the console.
1export vcfServiceRuntimeFqdn='sfo-sr01.sfo.rainpole.io'
2export vcfServiceRuntimeUser='[email protected]'
3export vcfServiceRuntimePass='VMw@re1!VMw@re1!'
- Authenticate to VCF Services Runtime and obtain a token by running the following command:
1vcfServiceRuntimeToken=$(curl -k -X POST "https://"$vcfServiceRuntimeFqdn"/api/v1/identity/token" \
2 -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
3 --data "grant_type=password" \
4 --data "username=$vcfServiceRuntimeUser" \
5 --data "password=$vcfServiceRuntimePass" \
6 | jq -r '.access_token')
- Verify you were able to successfully obtain an authentication token by running the following command:
1echo $vcfServiceRuntimeToken
Example Output:
1eyJhbGciOiJFZERTQSIsImtpZCI6ImNsM3VfVHdaQ3JkTDVoOWctVkpzYklpREItMW1faUE5YjZTZTBfbTllejQiLCJ0eXAiOiJKV1QifQ.eyJpc3MiOiJodHRwczovL3Nmby1zcjAxLnNmby5yYWlucG9sZS5pbyIsInN1YiI6ImFkbWluQHZzcC5sb2NhbCIsImF1ZCI6WyJ2c3AiXSwiZXhwIjoxNzg1NzU5ODEwLCJpYXQiOjE3ODU3NDU0MTAsImp0aSI6IjIzZGViMTg4LTA0MDQtNGJiYi05ODg4LWM2ZjczZjUwOTAwYSIsImF6cCI6InBhc3N3b3JkX2dyYW50X2NsaWVudCIsImFjY3QiOiJhZG1pbkB2c3AubG9jYWwiLCJhdXRob3JpemF0aW9uX2RldGFpbHMiOm51bGx9.28UaxGRMwocvqCvV7bW46vpMdKLLCQZ6qCMCwkWL1lzi1UXZlAZBuAdwd58hEm2npc5YV9gMFcjKxK2O1OQjBQ
VCF Fleet Lifecycle Service
VCF Fleet Lifecycle Service APIs Used
- POST /api/v1/identity/token
Procedure
Connect to a system that has access to the infrastructure and is capable of running CURL.
Replace the values in the sample code with values for your VCF Fleet Lifecycle Service and paste the commands in the console. If your not sure which endpoint this FQDN should be log into VCF Operations, go to Build > Lifecycle > VCF Management and select the Components tab and locate the component named Fleet lifecycle the FQDN is shown in the FQDN column.
1export vcfFleetLifecycleFqdn='flt-fc01.rainpole.io'
2export vcfFleetLifecycleUser='[email protected]'
3export vcfFleetLifecyclePass='VMw@re1!VMw@re1!'
- Authenticate to the VCF Fleet Lifecycle Service and obtain a token by running the following command:
1vcfFleetLifecycleToken=$(curl -k -X POST "https://$vcfFleetLifecycleFqdn/api/v1/identity/token" \
2 --header "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
3 --data "grant_type=password" \
4 --data "username=$vcfFleetLifecycleUser" \
5 --data "password=$vcfFleetLifecyclePass" \
6 | jq -r '.access_token')
- Verify you successfully obtained an authentication token by running the following command:
1echo $vcfFleetLifecycleToken
Example Output:
1eyJhbGciOiJFZERTQSIsImtpZCI6ImNsM3VfVHdaQ3JkTDVoOWctVkpzYklpREItMW1faUE5YjZTZTBfbTllejQiLCJ0eXAiOiJKV1QifQ.eyJpc3MiOiJodHRwczovL2ZsdC1mYzAxLnJhaW5wb2xlLmlvIiwic3ViIjoiYWRtaW5AdnNwLmxvY2FsIiwiYXVkIjpbInZzcCJdLCJleHAiOjE3ODU3NjAwNjAsImlhdCI6MTc4NTc0NTY2MCwianRpIjoiZDEwODNhYjctNmZjZC00YWZmLWE3YjItMTI3NGNiOTY5MmEzIiwiYXpwIjoicGFzc3dvcmRfZ3JhbnRfY2xpZW50IiwiYWNjdCI6ImFkbWluQHZzcC5sb2NhbCIsImF1dGhvcml6YXRpb25fZGV0YWlscyI6bnVsbH0.TE6WkRRGf8lmoKHAXgBPoECkScdwrS0GxWR6ur6rz-FLYUBAcrzwqQX3g0BjMw0t4FUOQnM6sngUlA6je6jQCQ
vCenter
vCenter APIs Used
- POST /api/v1/identity/token
Procedure
Connect to a system that has access to the infrastructure and is capable of running CURL.
Replace the values in the sample code with values for your vCenter instance and paste the commands in the console.
1export vcenterFqdn='sfo-m01-vc01.sfo.rainpole.io'
2export vcenterUser='[email protected]'
3export vcenterPass='VMw@re1!VMw@re1!'
- Authenticate to the vCenter intance and obtain a token by running the following command:
1vcenterToken=$(curl -k -X POST "https://${vcenterFqdn}/api/session" \
2 -u "$vcenterUser:$vcenterPass" \
3 | tr -d '"')
- Verify you successfully obtained an authentication token by running the following command:
1echo $vcenterToken
Example Output:
132118bd49ebe6cdebbd5e8d06b7fcfa0