vpxd core dump is not generated after updating vCenter to 7.0U3 or later

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vCenter Server 7.0
• VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Issue/Introduction

• vpxd core dump is not generated after updating vCenter to 7.0U3 or above
• When checking the suid_dumpable value from vCenter, an output value of '0' is received.

cat /proc/sys/fs/suid_dumpable

Example Output

0

• Alternatively, you can verify this by using the command:

sysctl -a | grep dumpable

Example Output

fs.suid.dumpable = 0

• In a normal system, this value should be set to '2' instead of '0'

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 7.x
VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

In Photon OS, the default value for fs.suid.dumpable is set to '0'. vCenter overrides this setting, changing it to '2' to enable core dump generation. However, this configuration is sometimes lost after updating to certain builds.

Resolution

This issue is resolved in VMware vCenter Server 8.0 Update 3e Release. Log in to the Broadcom Support Portal to download this patch.

Workaround

In vCenter, update the suid_dumpable value from 0 to 2.

1. SSH to the vCenter via root
   
   
2. Set the value 2 to suid_dumpable:
   
   echo "2" > /proc/sys/fs/suid_dumpable
   
   
3. Restart the vpxd service:
   
   vmon-cli -r vpxd

Note: This value will not persist after rebooting vCenter. To make this value persist across reboots, following the below steps.

1. SSH to the vCenter via root
   
   
2. Backup the sysctl config file:
   
   cp /etc/sysctl.conf /etc/sysctl.conf.bak
   
   
3. Edit the file:

   vi /etc/sysctl.conf

4. In the last line of the config file, insert the following value:

   fs.suid_dumpable = 2

5. Save the file.
   
   
6. To validate, reboot the vCenter and review the configuration values in the above files.

Confirmation

To test if core dump generation is now functioning, follow the below steps.

1. SSH to the vCenter via root
   
   
2. Run the following command to generate a core dump:
   
   kill -SIGABRT <pid of vpxd>
   
   
3. Confirm if a vpxd core dump has been generated:
   
   ls -lrt /var/core
   
   Example Output
   
   root@vcenter [ /var/core ]# ls -lrt /var/core
   total 201592
   
   drwx------ 2 netdumper netdumper      4096 Jul 21  2021 netdumps
   drwx------ 2 root      root          16384 Feb 29 05:14 lost+found
   drwx------ 3 root      root           4096 Feb 29 05:15 software-update
   drwxr-xr-x 2 root      root           4096 Feb 29 05:34 vmware-wcp
   -r-x------ 1 root      root      206401536 Mar  6 01:49 core.vpxd.7222
   
   Note: 7222 is the 'pid of vpxd' in the kill command.