Location of vCenter Server log files
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Location of vCenter Server log files

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Article ID: 312194

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vCenter Server VMware vCenter Server 6.0

Issue/Introduction

This article provides the default location of the vCenter Server logs.

Environment

  • VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.7.x
  • VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5.x
  • VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.0.x
  • VMware vCenter Server 6.x

Resolution

The vCenter Server logs are placed in a different directory on disk depending on vCenter Server version and the deployed platform: C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\logs

  • vCenter Server 6.x and higher versions on Windows server: C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\Logs\<Service Name>
  • vCenter Server Appliance 6.x: /var/log/vmware/<Service Name>
  • vCenter Server Appliance 6.x flash: /var/log/vmware/vsphere-client 
  • vCenter Server Appliance 6.x HTML5:/var/log/vmware/vsphere-ui
  • vCenter Server Appliance 7.0.x: /var/log/vmware/<Service Name>


vCenter Server logs are grouped by component and purpose:

  • vpxd.log: The main vCenter Server log, consisting of all vSphere Client and WebServices connections, internal tasks and events, and communication with the vCenter Server Agent (vpxa) on managed ESXi  hosts.
     
  • vpxd-profiler.log, profiler.log, and scoreboard.log: Profiled metrics for operations performed in vCenter Server. Used by the VPX Operational Dashboard (VOD) accessible at https://VCHostnameOrIPAddress/vod/index.html.
     
  • vpxd-alert.log: Non-fatal information logged about the vpxd process. (No longer present in 6.7/7.0.)
     
  • cim-diag.log and vws.log: Common Information Model monitoring information, including communication between vCenter Server and managed hosts' CIM interface.
     
  • drmdump\: Actions proposed and taken by VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), grouped by the DRS-enabled cluster managed by vCenter Server. These logs are compressed.
     
  • ls.log: Health reports for the Licensing Services extension, connectivity logs to vCenter Server.
     
  • vimtool.log: Dump of string used during the installation of vCenter Server with hashed information for DNS, username and output for JDBC creation.
     
  • stats.log: Provides information about the historical performance data collection from the ESXi hosts
     
  • sms.log: Health reports for the Storage Monitoring Service extension, connectivity logs to vCenter Server
     
  • eam.log: Health reports for the ESXi Agent Monitor extension, connectivity logs to vCenter Server.
     
  • catalina.date.log and localhost.date.log: Connectivity information and status of the VMware Webmanagement Services.
     
  • jointool.log: Health status of the VMwareVCMSDS service and individual ADAM database objects, internal tasks and events, and replication logs between linked-mode vCenter Servers.
     
  • Additional log files:
    • manager.date.log
    • host-manager.date.log

    Note: As each log grows, it is rotated over a series of numbered component-nnn.log files. On some platforms, the rotated logs are compressed.


vCenter Server logs can be viewed from:

  • The vSphere Client connected to vCenter Server 6.0 and 6.5:

    Click Home > Administration > System Logs.

Additional Information

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