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.
6 Comments
Great tip.
Reminded me I have something similar for vCenter logging.
http://www.lucd.info/2010/05/12/debugging-function-verbose-vpxd-logging/
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.
Great question! It’s the hostd logs for troubleshooting applications built on of vSphere APIs.
-Steve
Thanks for sharing Luc!
-Steve
“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?
I love reading through a post that will make people think.
Also, thank you for permitting me to comment!