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How to Enable ESX Server Logs for Troubleshooting

May 12th, 2010 Leave a comment Go to comments

Examining logs is an important way for debugging and troubleshooting a system. There are about ten log files in the ESX server for the hostd agent, which listens API calls, with the same naming pattern as hostd-?.log under the /var/log/vmware directory. The hostd-index file has the number of currently used log files.

The log entry has a similar format to that of VC server logs. Following is a quick sample:

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[2008-06-21 07:24:40.769 ‘SOAP’ 64834480 trivia] Received soap request from []: checkForUpdates

The log level can be configured in the /etc/vmware/vpxa.cfg file. Just look for a section like the following. The possible levels are the same as those of VC logs: none, error, warning,info, verbose, or trivia, in an order from less to more detailed messages.

<log>
<directory>/var/log/vmware/</directory>
<name>hostd</name>
<outputToConsole>false</outputToConsole>
<level>verbose</level>
</log>

After saving the configuration, you need to restart the hostd with the following command line:

service mgmt-vmware restart 

IMPORTANT NOTE:

It’s critical to synchronize the time of all the components involved, especially when you care about the sequences of actions and messages. You can configure NTP on ESX.

Categories: Virtualization, vSphere API Tags: , ,
  1. LucD
    May 12th, 2010 at 02:54 | #1
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    Great tip.
    Reminded me I have something similar for vCenter logging.
    http://www.lucd.info/2010/05/12/debugging-function-verbose-vpxd-logging/

  2. michael
    May 12th, 2010 at 09:45 | #2
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    Are you talking about hostd logs or about vpxa logs?
    For hostd log settings you should edit /etc/vmware/hostd/config.xml file
    and for vpxa logs the file is /etc/opt/vmware/vpxa/vpxa.cfg (i don’t have … line there).
    I’m running ESX 4.0 U1.

  3. Steve Jin
    May 13th, 2010 at 02:30 | #3
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    Great question! It’s the hostd logs for troubleshooting applications built on of vSphere APIs.
    -Steve

  4. Steve Jin
    May 13th, 2010 at 02:31 | #4
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    Thanks for sharing Luc!

    -Steve

  5. rauspamim
    December 15th, 2010 at 06:16 | #5
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    “Just look for a section like the following. The possible levels are the same as those of VC logs: none, error, warning,info, verbose, or trivia, in an order from less to more detailed messages.”
    You can read more about it?

  6. szafy przesuwne ceny
    April 30th, 2014 at 13:38 | #6
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    I love reading through a post that will make people think.
    Also, thank you for permitting me to comment!

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