How to collect a HAR log file for troubleshooting Cloud Director issues

Products

• VMware Cloud Director

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• When accessing the Cloud Director UI via a browser, API requests are sent from the browser to the Cloud Director Cell servers.
• HAR(HTTP Archive) files can capture these requests for later review by matching the X-VMWARE-VCLOUD-REQUEST-ID for these requests with the requestId in the Cloud Director Cell logs.
• Uploading a HAR file along with Cloud Director Cell logs to a VMware Support Request can help greatly with troubleshooting.

Environment

VMware Cloud Director 10.x

Resolution

Capture a HAR file from Google Chrome:

1. Navigate to the page in the Cloud Director UI where the issue occurs.
2. Right-click anywhere in the browser window or tab and select the Inspect option.
3. In the Developer tools window or panel that appears select the Network tab.
4. Check the Preserve log option and ensure that the Recording option is active.
5. With the Developer tools window or panel open perform the actions in the Cloud Director UI to reproduce the issue.
6. Once the reproduction of the issue is complete click the Export HAR option in the Developer tools window and save the file.

Capture a HAR file from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Navigate to the page in the Cloud Director UI where the issue occurs.
2. Right-click anywhere in the browser window or tab and select the Inspect option.
3. In the Developer tools window or panel that appears select the Network tab.
4. In the Developer tools window or panel that appears open the Options menu (cog icon) and ensure that Persist Logs is enabled.
5. With the Developer tools window or panel open perform the actions in the Cloud Director UI to reproduce the issue.
6. Once the reproduction of the issue is complete in the Developer tools window or panel open the Options menu (cog icon) and click the Save All As HAR option.

Capture a HAR file from Microsoft Edge:

1. Navigate to the page in the Cloud Director UI where the issue occurs.
2. Right-click anywhere in the browser window or tab and select the Inspect option.
3. In the Developer tools window or panel that appears select the Network tab.
4. Check the Preserve log option and ensure that the Recording option is active.
5. With the Developer tools window or panel open perform the actions in the Cloud Director UI to reproduce the issue.
6. Once the reproduction of the issue is complete click the Export HAR option in the Developer tools window and save the file.

Capture a HAR file from Apple Safari:

1. Navigate to the page in the Cloud Director UI where the issue occurs.
2. Ensure that the developer menu is enabled in Safari, Preferences, Advanced, Show Develop menu in menu bar.
3. Select the Develop menu, Show Web Inspector, and select the Network tab.
4. Check the Preserve Log option.
5. With the Web Inspector open perform the actions in the Cloud Director UI to reproduce the issue.
6. Once the reproduction of the issue is complete click the Export option in the Web Inspector window and save the file.

Additional Information

Collecting diagnostic information for VMware Cloud Director (320409)

Impact/Risks:
WARNING: HAR files can capture and contain sensitive data, for example user access tokens or passwords.
Please remove any sensitive information from the HAR file with a text editor before sharing it with VMware if required.