tseemann/abricate

problem getting vfdb - Error 403

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#224 opened on Feb 9, 2026

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help wanted

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Description

Got an error below when running on AWS, however, downloading the file manually is OK. Looks like the IP address is blocked somehow.

Setting up 'vfdb' in '/opt/conda/envs/nullarbor_env/db/vfdb'
Downloading: http://www.mgc.ac.cn/VFs/Down/VFDB_setA_nt.fas.gz
HTTP Result: 403
Destination: vfdb.fa.gz
Filesize:  bytes
gzip: vfdb.fa.gz: No such file or directory
load_fasta: vfdb.fa
load_fasta: read 0 unknown sequences
dedupe_seq: read 0 / kept 0

Contributor guide

Research direction
Check if the URL requires a specific User Agent or if the AWS IP is blocked by the server. Look at the download function in the Perl code to see how HTTP requests are made.
Tech stack
perl
Domain
backend
Issue type
Bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
GitPerl
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
40