Overview of Configuration Files and Log Files

ESXi and vCenter Server configuration files control the behavior of the system. Most configuration file settings are set during installation, but can be modified after installation. Log files capture messages generated by the kernel and different subsystems and services. ESX/ESXi and vCenter Server services maintain separate log files. Server and System Logs lists log files or reports, their locations and associated configuration files.

Server and System Logs 

Description	Log Location	Filename or Names	Configuration File
ESX/ESXi service log	/var/log/vmware/	hostd.log [hostd-0.log, ...hostd-9.log]	config.xml
vCenter Server agent log	/var/log/vmware/vpx/	vpxa.log
Virtual machine kernel core file	/root/	vmkernel-core.<date> vmkernel-log.<date>	syslog.conf, logrotate.conf, various other
syslogd log	/var/log/	messages [messages.1,... messages.4]	syslog.conf, logrotate.conf
Service console availability report	/var/log/	vmkernel [vmkernel.1, ... vmkernel.8]	syslog.conf, logrotate.conf
VMkernel messages, alerts, and availability reports	/var/log/vmkernel		syslog.conf, logrotate.conf
VMkernel warning	/var/log/	vmkwarning [vmkwarning.1 ... 4 for history]	syslog.conf, logrotate.conf
Virtual machine log file	vmfs/volume/<vm_name>	vmware.log	<vm_name>/<vm_name>.vmx

For developers, the following files are most relevant:

■	hostd.log – Host daemon log, see ESX/ESXi Log File. Can be used as a SOAP monitor when set to trivia log level as inGenerating Logs.

■	vpxa.log – Agent log file found on each managed ESX/ESXi system.

■	vmware.log – Virtual machine log. See Virtual Machine Log Files.

In addition to viewing log files in real time you can also generate reports and complete diagnostic bundles. See Generating Diagnostic Bundles.

ESX/ESXi Log File

The ESX/ESXi log (hostd.log) captures information of varying specificity and detail, depending on the log level. Each request to the server is logged. You can view the file using the vSphere Client. The raw text form of an ESX/ESXi (hostd) log file is shown in Example: Sample ESX/ESXi Log (hostd.log) Data.

Example: Sample ESX/ESXi Log (hostd.log) Data

...

[2008-05-07 09:50:04.857 'SOAP' 2260 trivia] Received soap response from [TCP:myservername.vmware.com:443]: GetInterfaceVersion

[2008-05-07 09:50:04.857 'ClientConnection' 2260 info] UFAD interface version is vmware-converter-4.0.0

[2008-05-07 09:50:04.857 'SOAP' 2260 trivia] Sending soap request to [TCP:myservername.eng.vmware.com:443]: logout

[2008-05-07 09:50:04.857 'ProxySvc Req00588' 3136 trivia] Client HTTP stream read error

[2008-05-07 09:50:04.872 'ProxySvc Req00612' 3136 trivia] Request header:

POST /vmc/sdk HTTP/1.1

User-Agent: VMware-client

Content-Length: 435

Content-Type: text/xml; charset=utf-8

Cookie: vmware_soap_session="F127B435-56C7-4580-BAC4-3034DA1E67B6"; $Path=/

Host: myservername.vmware.com

 

 

[2008-05-07 09:50:04.872 'ProxySvc Req00588' 3816 trivia] Closed

[2008-05-07 09:50:08.450 'App' 3560 verbose] [VpxdHeartbeat] Invalid heartbeat from 10.17.218.46

[2008-05-07 09:50:10.013 'App' 3560 verbose] [VpxdHeartbeat] Queuing 10.17.218.45:829 (host-55)

[2008-05-07 09:50:10.013 'App' 1928 verbose] [HeartbeatHandler] 50208862-2752-d94c-2a73-fa2ec9e38ecc:829 (host-55)

 

Virtual Machine Log Files

Each running virtual machine has its own log file, vmware.log, stored on the VMFS volume. By default, the log file is rotated whenever the virtual machine is powered on, but file rotation is configurable.

■	ESX/ESXi maintains six log files that rotate at each power-cycle (the default) or at a configured file size.

■	ESX/ESXi can be configured to maintain a specific number of log files. When the limit is reached, the oldest file is deleted.

■	VMware recommends a log file size of 500 KB.

■	Messages that are generated by VMware Tools are logged separately.

Example: VMkernel Availability Report

Availability Report for <servername>

Feb 27, 2008 - May 7, 2008

 

Availability: 99.949%

Total time: 69 days, 15 hours

Uptime: 69 days, 14 hours

Downtime: 51 minutes

 

Note: Downtime is any time the system isn't capable of running

Virtual Machines. This includes reboots, crashes, configuration and running linux

 

Downtime Analysis:

0.1% (51 minutes) downtime caused by:

13.1% (6 minutes) scheduled downtime

86.9% (44 minutes) unscheduled downtime

 

Reasons for scheduled downtime:

84.9% server rebooting (1 instance)

9.4% VMkernel unloaded (1 instance)

5.7% server booting (3 instances)

 

Reasons for unscheduled downtime:

100.0% unknown (powerfail / reset?) (1 instance)

 

Stats:

Current uptime: 8 days, 11 hours

Longest uptime: 61 days, 2 hours

Shortest uptime: 38 minutes

Average uptime: 23 days, 4 hours

Longest downtime: 44 minutes

Shortest downtime: 7 seconds

Average downtime: 8 minutes

Maximum VMs Sampled: 1

Average VMs Sampled: 0.94

 

Server Information: Number of CPUs: 4 logical 4 cores

2 packages, Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU 5150 @ 2.66GHz

Installed Memory: 2096416 kB

Current Build: 78591

Report generated Wed May 7 04:02:04 PDT 2008

 

vCenter Server Log Files

vCenter Server log files are located by default in the Documents and Settings subdirectory of the Windows account used to install the software. For example:

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Application Data\VMware\

Important VMware recommends creating a user account especially for vCenter Server installation.

By default, the log files are hidden files. See the procedure for your Windows operating system to make the files visible.