Determining the host when browsing a datastore by vCenter Server

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

This article explains how vCenter Server determines which ESX/ESXi host to use when you are browsing a datastore.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 7.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 8.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 6.x

Resolution

vCenter Server chooses from a list of ESX/ESXi hosts that can see shared datastores. vCenter Server picks the first one (when a download is done via the datastore browser in vSphere Client) or the last one (when a download is done via a browser connected to vCenter Server).

 

You can view which host vCenter Server is using by looking at trivia enabled vpxd logging for entries similar to:

 

Sending soap request to [TCP:<host2>:443]:<API-Name-Related to datastore browser>

 

where <host2> is the ESX/ESXi host that vCenter Server is using.

 

Example log output:
 

trivia 'vmomi.soapStub[36]' opID=C0BF1A5F-000003B2-db] Sending soap request to [<cs p:0000000021e0f6d0, TCP:<ESXI_HOST_FQDN>:443>]: searchDatastore {}

Note: If you are trying to download a file such as a VMX from a powered-on VM on an ESXi host not currently selected by VPXD as the file access host, the download will fail because the file access host will not have access to the locked file.


 

Additional Information

To increase vpxd logging from the vCenter Server vSphere Client.

1. Using the vSphere Client, connect to the vCenter Server.
2. Select vCenter Server, for which you need to increase the logging level.
3. Go to Configure > Settings > General.
4. Click Edit for vCenter Server Settings.
5. Select Logging options.
6. Select the preferable logging option from the dropdown under Log Level. 

If vCenter Server does not start, you must enable trivia logging manually.

To manually enable trivia logging:

1. Log into vCenter Server as an administrator.
2. Edit the vpxd.cfg file located in /etc/vmware-vpx/vpxd.cfg.
   
   The file looks similar to:
   
   <log>
    <compressOnRoll>true</compressOnRoll>
    <level>info</level>
    <maxFileNum>30</maxFileNum>
    <maxFileSize>52428800</maxFileSize>
    <outputToConsole>false</outputToConsole>
    <outputToFiles>true</outputToFiles>
  </log>
   
   
   Description of each entry:
    
   • <level>info</level>
     • Logging level. The default level is info. Change it to the preferred logging level. 
   • <maxFileNum>30</maxFileNum>
     • Maximum number of log files
     • Increase the <maxFileNum> parameter to change the maximum number of logs
   • <maxFileSize>5242880</maxFileSize>
     • Maximum size of each log file in bytes. By default, the maximum file size is 5243904 bytes.
     • Increase the <maxFileSize> parameter to change the maximum size of the logs.
3. Restart the VMware vCenter Server service for the change to take effect. For more information, see Stop, Start or Restart Services on vCenter Server 6.x or Higher.