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 Operations
• SDDC Manager
• VCF Services Runtime
• VCF Fleet Lifecycle Service
• vCenter

VCF Installer

VCF Installer APIs Used

• POST /v1/tokens

Procedure

1. Connect to a system that has access to your infrastructure and is capable of running CURL.

2. Replace the values in the sample code with values for your VCF Installer instance and run the commands in the console.

export vcfInstallerFqdn='sfo-ins01.sfo.rainpole.io'
export vcfInstallerUser='admin@local'
export vcfInstallerPass='VMw@re1!VMw@re1!'

3. Authenticate to VCF Installer and obtain a token by running the following command:

vcfInstallerToken=$(curl -k -X POST "https://${vcfInstallerFqdn}/v1/tokens" \
    --header "Content-Type:application/json" \
    -d "{\"username\":\"$vcfInstallerUser\", \"password\":\"$vcfInstallerPass\"}" \
    | jq -r '.accessToken')

4. Verify you were able to successfully obtain an authentication token by running the following command:

echo $vcfInstallerToken

Example Output:

eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.C-iy2jGY1d-oCVc1_K74xxTWJRnr30wbYtF7V1-apdM

VCF Operations

VCF Operations APIs Used

• POST /suite-api/api/auth/token/acquire

Procedure

1. Connect to a system that has access to your infrastructure and is capable of running CURL.

2. Replace the values in the sample code with values for your VCF Operations instance and run the commands in the console.

export vcfOperationsFqdn='flt-ops01a.rainpole.io'
export vcfOperationsUser='admin'
export vcfOperationsPass='VMw@re1!VMw@re1!'

3. Authenticate to VCF Operations and obtain a token by running the following command:

vcfOperationsToken=$(curl -k -X POST "https://$vcfOperationsFqdn/suite-api/api/auth/token/acquire" \
    --header "Content-Type:application/json" \
    --header "Accept: application/json" \
    -d "{\"username\":\"$vcfOperationsUser\", \"password\":\"$vcfOperationsPass\"}" \
    | jq -r '.token')

4. Verify you were able to successfully obtain an authentication token by running the following command:

echo $vcfOperationsToken

Example Output:

75be8e3e-396d-439c-bd40-5f55b7f6b3c7::202feccb-f630-4702-9c91-1d58ebc80f0a

SDDC Manager

SDDC Manager APIs Used

• POST /v1/tokens

Procedure

1. Connect to a system that has access to your infrastructure and is capable of running CURL.

2. Replace the values in the sample code with values for your SDDC Manager instance and run the commands in the console.

export sddcManagerFqdn='sfo-vcf01.sfo.rainpole.io'
export sddcManagerUser='administrator@vsphere.local'
export sddcManagerPass='VMw@re1!VMw@re1!'

3. Authenticate to SDDC Manager and obtain a token by running the following command:

sddcManagerToken=$(curl -k -X POST "https://$sddcManagerFqdn/v1/tokens" \
    --header "Content-Type:application/json" \
    -d "{\"username\":\"$sddcManagerUser\", \"password\":\"$sddcManagerPass\"}" \
    | jq -r '.accessToken')

4. Verify you were able to successfully obtain an authentication token by running the following command:

echo $sddcManagerToken

Example Output:

eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.fs7aQ-utsHQ_fA8oGbFLIEJFYjxjtdm8QEheHFJrBJA

VCF Services Runtime

VCF Services Runtim APIs Used

• POST /v1/identity/token

Procedure

1. Connect to a system that has access to your infrastructure and is capable of running CURL.

2. Replace the values in the sample code with values for your VCF Services Runtime instance and run the commands in the console.

export vcfServiceRuntimeFqdn='sfo-sr01.sfo.rainpole.io'
export vcfServiceRuntimeUser='admin@vsp.local'
export vcfServiceRuntimePass='VMw@re1!VMw@re1!'

3. Authenticate to VCF Services Runtime and obtain a token by running the following command:

vcfServiceRuntimeToken=$(curl -k -X POST "https://"$vcfServiceRuntimeFqdn"/api/v1/identity/token" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
    --data "grant_type=password" \
    --data "username=$vcfServiceRuntimeUser" \
    --data "password=$vcfServiceRuntimePass" \
    | jq -r '.access_token')

4. Verify you were able to successfully obtain an authentication token by running the following command:

echo $vcfServiceRuntimeToken

Example Output:

eyJhbGciOiJFZERTQSIsImtpZCI6ImNsM3VfVHdaQ3JkTDVoOWctVkpzYklpREItMW1faUE5YjZTZTBfbTllejQiLCJ0eXAiOiJKV1QifQ.eyJpc3MiOiJodHRwczovL3Nmby1zcjAxLnNmby5yYWlucG9sZS5pbyIsInN1YiI6ImFkbWluQHZzcC5sb2NhbCIsImF1ZCI6WyJ2c3AiXSwiZXhwIjoxNzg1NzU5ODEwLCJpYXQiOjE3ODU3NDU0MTAsImp0aSI6IjIzZGViMTg4LTA0MDQtNGJiYi05ODg4LWM2ZjczZjUwOTAwYSIsImF6cCI6InBhc3N3b3JkX2dyYW50X2NsaWVudCIsImFjY3QiOiJhZG1pbkB2c3AubG9jYWwiLCJhdXRob3JpemF0aW9uX2RldGFpbHMiOm51bGx9.28UaxGRMwocvqCvV7bW46vpMdKLLCQZ6qCMCwkWL1lzi1UXZlAZBuAdwd58hEm2npc5YV9gMFcjKxK2O1OQjBQ

VCF Fleet Lifecycle Service

VCF Fleet Lifecycle Service APIs Used

• POST /api/v1/identity/token

Procedure

1. Connect to a system that has access to the infrastructure and is capable of running CURL.

2. 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.

export vcfFleetLifecycleFqdn='flt-fc01.rainpole.io'
export vcfFleetLifecycleUser='admin@vsp.local'
export vcfFleetLifecyclePass='VMw@re1!VMw@re1!'

3. Authenticate to the VCF Fleet Lifecycle Service and obtain a token by running the following command:

vcfFleetLifecycleToken=$(curl -k -X POST "https://$vcfFleetLifecycleFqdn/api/v1/identity/token" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
    --data "grant_type=password" \
    --data "username=$vcfFleetLifecycleUser" \
    --data "password=$vcfFleetLifecyclePass" \
    | jq -r '.access_token')

4. Verify you successfully obtained an authentication token by running the following command:

echo $vcfFleetLifecycleToken

Example Output:

eyJhbGciOiJFZERTQSIsImtpZCI6ImNsM3VfVHdaQ3JkTDVoOWctVkpzYklpREItMW1faUE5YjZTZTBfbTllejQiLCJ0eXAiOiJKV1QifQ.eyJpc3MiOiJodHRwczovL2ZsdC1mYzAxLnJhaW5wb2xlLmlvIiwic3ViIjoiYWRtaW5AdnNwLmxvY2FsIiwiYXVkIjpbInZzcCJdLCJleHAiOjE3ODU3NjAwNjAsImlhdCI6MTc4NTc0NTY2MCwianRpIjoiZDEwODNhYjctNmZjZC00YWZmLWE3YjItMTI3NGNiOTY5MmEzIiwiYXpwIjoicGFzc3dvcmRfZ3JhbnRfY2xpZW50IiwiYWNjdCI6ImFkbWluQHZzcC5sb2NhbCIsImF1dGhvcml6YXRpb25fZGV0YWlscyI6bnVsbH0.TE6WkRRGf8lmoKHAXgBPoECkScdwrS0GxWR6ur6rz-FLYUBAcrzwqQX3g0BjMw0t4FUOQnM6sngUlA6je6jQCQ

vCenter

vCenter APIs Used

• POST /api/v1/identity/token

Procedure

1. Connect to a system that has access to the infrastructure and is capable of running CURL.

2. Replace the values in the sample code with values for your vCenter instance and paste the commands in the console.

export vcenterFqdn='sfo-m01-vc01.sfo.rainpole.io'
export vcenterUser='administrator@vsphere.local'
export vcenterPass='VMw@re1!VMw@re1!'

3. Authenticate to the vCenter intance and obtain a token by running the following command:

vcenterToken=$(curl -k -X POST "https://${vcenterFqdn}/api/session" \
    -u "$vcenterUser:$vcenterPass" \
    | tr -d '"')

4. Verify you successfully obtained an authentication token by running the following command:

echo $vcenterToken

Example Output:

32118bd49ebe6cdebbd5e8d06b7fcfa0