Azure Backup Server can’t connect to VMware Server (error code: 0x80990EF2)

Recently, I have checked an Azure Backup Server that backups VMs to Azure Recovery Vault. It didn’t work and nobody knew why it stopped to connect to the VMware server.

I connected to the backup server and in the console found an error message:

VMware version: 7.0.2
Error: Data Protection Manager Error ID: 33623
Unable to communicate with VMware Server <server_name>.
Detailed error code: Internal error code: 0x80990EF2
Recommended action:
Please ensure that the specified VMware server is up and running and reachable from DPM Server.
Also, ensure that right credentials are specified for interacting with specified VMware Server.

The backup server wasn’t able to connect to the VMware server. First of all, I checked the account credentials, and their rights on the VMware server. Everything looked good, so I continued my investigation.

I tried to connect to the VMware server from the backup server and found an SSL error. That meant the server doesn’t trust to VMware server so it might affect connectivity.

I downloaded the VMware certificates from the VMware server web portal and added them to the computer’s Trusted Root Certification Authorities. After a browser restart, the SSL connection became secure.