The VideoLAN Forums

for example: rtsp://192.168.0.204:554/play2.sdp

it is a webcam exporting a stream.

worked fine on version 2.0.8 but since 3.0.7.1 it fails to start

also on previous versions authentication via simple shortcut/link was possible like:

rtsp://user:password@192.168.0.204:554/play2.sdp

but not anymore since 3.0 which prevents from updating.

but then again for security reasons would like to keep vlc updated.

but than again, it works under debian vlc 3.0.8 but not under CentOS7?

hostnamectl
Static hostname: centos.localdomain
Operating System: CentOS Linux 7 (Core)
CPE OS Name: cpe:/o:centos:centos:7
Kernel: Linux 4.15.9
Architecture: x86-64

Yeah in other words, it's a problem with CentOS packaging, not with VLC upstream. Which means you're very unlikely to find useful help here.