Collecting limited and specific information from vm-support using manifests
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Collecting limited and specific information from vm-support using manifests

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Article ID: 324295

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article will describe how to collect product-specific or area-specific vm-support bundles using the UI, the CLI and a web browser.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5

Resolution

By default, the vm-support process will collect information about all ESXi systems - network, storage, vSAN, OS, etc. This collection can be restricted to specific areas of interest through the use of vm-support "manifests." This can be useful if the vm-support process fails in certain areas or in the event of host instability, as less data is collected and restricting vm-support collection via manifests may improve vm-support collection success. This can be done via the UI, the CLI or a web browser. Each method will be discussed below.

vSphere Client
  1. The first part of this process is identical to Collecting diagnostic information for ESX/ESXi hosts and vCenter Server using the vSphere Web Client (2032892)
  2. In the final step, deselect any undesired manifests and choose to collect only what is desired. For example, vSAN-specific information can be collected, excluding all others:

Host CLI

  1. Log into the host via local console or SSH
  2. Obtain a list of available manifests (or see the "Additional Information" section)
    # vm-support --listmanifests
  3. Identify the manifests you wish to collect (e.g., 'Storage:vSAN')
  4. Run vm-support to collect only those manifests.
    For example, to collect vSAN and network information:
    # vm-support -a "Storage:VSAN Network:base Network:dvs"
    NOTE: All other vm-support conventions apply!

Web Browser
The vm-support facility is also available via the ESXi CGI web server. vm-support can be called via an explicit URL. Specific manifests can also be specified to override the default collection.

  1. Open a web browser
  2. To collect a normal vm-support via this method, navigate to:
    https:///cgi-bin/vm-support.cgi
    NOTE: You will be prompted to authenticate. Please provide the ESXi root credentials.
  3. To collect specific manifests, we must specify those explicitly. To collect the vSAN and network manifests, for example:
    https:///cgi-bin/vm-support.cgi?manifests=Storage:vSAN%20Network:base%20Network:dvs
    Note: This may take some time to load.


Additional Information

All vm-support manifests and their default states, per ESXi 6.0/U2:

Manifest Name

Enabled by default?

ActiveDirectory:base

TRUE

CIM:base

TRUE

Configuration:System

TRUE

Core:RDMA

TRUE

CrashDumps:userworld

TRUE

FaultTolerance:Base

TRUE

FileSystem:VMFSDiskDump

TRUE

FileSystem:base

TRUE

FileSystem:vmfsheader

FALSE

Hardware:base

TRUE

Hardware:usb

TRUE

HungVM:Coredump_VM

FALSE

HungVM:Send_NMI_To_Guest

FALSE

HungVM:Suspend_VM

FALSE

Installer:base

TRUE

IntegrityChecks:md5sums

TRUE

Logs:System

TRUE

Network:base

TRUE

Network:dvs

TRUE

Network:lacp

TRUE

Network:nscd

TRUE

Network:tcpip

TRUE

PerformanceSnapshot:performance-end

FALSE

PerformanceSnapshot:performance-start

FALSE

Storage:FCoE

TRUE

Storage:Multipathing

TRUE

Storage:NAS

TRUE

Storage:vSAN

TRUE

Storage:vSANHealth

TRUE

Storage:vSANMinimal

FALSE

Storage:vSANPerfStats

FALSE

Storage:vSANPerfSvc

TRUE

Storage:vSANTraces

FALSE

Storage:VVOL

TRUE

Storage:base

TRUE

Storage:iodm

TRUE

Storage:iscsi

TRUE

System:Base

TRUE

System:BaseMinmal

FALSE

System:EsxImage

TRUE

System:IOFilter

TRUE

System:Modules

TRUE

System:ResourceGroups

TRUE

System:VFlash

TRUE

System:VMKernel

TRUE

System:VMKernel_Cores

TRUE

System:VMKernel_Old_Cores

FALSE

System:VMKernel_Stdout_Cores

FALSE

System:VmiofPlugins

TRUE

System:ntp

TRUE

Testing:test-esx-logs

FALSE

Userworld:FDM

TRUE

Userworld:HostAgent

TRUE

Userworld:ProcessInformation

TRUE

VirtualMachines:GuestState

FALSE

VirtualMachines:SnapshotsAndMemoryImages

FALSE

VirtualMachines:VirtualMachineStats

TRUE

VirtualMachines:base

TRUE

VirtualMachines:corefiles

TRUE

VirtualMachines:diskinfo

TRUE

VirtualMachines:logs

TRUE

VirtualMachines:sidecarfiles

FALSE

hostProfiles:SystemImageCacheHostProfile

TRUE

hostProfiles:hostProfiles

TRUE



Collecting diagnostic information for ESX/ESXi hosts and vCenter Server using the vSphere Web Client