Why am I unable to load the Connect Web Services for SOAP WSDL after the upgrade to the August 2017 version or newer?

Environment:

Oracle B2C Service, versions August 2017 and newer

Issue:

Retrieving the Connect Web Services for SOAP WSDL results in the following error:

The service was accessed in a non-supported manner. Please use standardized URL to access the service: https://<sitename>/services/soap/connect/<service>.

Resolution:

August 2017 version of Oracle B2C Service introduced a new version of the CWS for SOAP API, v1.4. Prior to v1.4, the WSDL was retrieved from the following URL:

https://<VHOSTNAME>.com/cgi-bin/<INTERFACE>.cfg/services/soap?wsdl

Using the new v1.4 version, the WSDL should be retrieved through the following URL:

https://<VHOSTNAME>.com/services/soap/connect/soap?wsdl

In versions August 2017 and newer, attempting to retrieve the WSDL through the old URL without specifying the API version would result in an error, because the API is attempting to use version 1.4 by default, which is not compatible with the old URL. In order to retrieve the WSDL through the old URL you would have to specify the API version, as follows:

https://<VHOSTNAME>.com/cgi-bin/<INTERFACE>.cfg/services/soap?wsdl=typed_v1.3

For additional information about general API usage and WSDL retrieval, please refer to the API documentation:
Answer ID 5169: Technical Documentation and Sample Code