Enabling debug logging for the VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices log file

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• Support Only for Apache Tomcat

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to enable debug logging in the VMware Web Services (vws.log) log file. Enabling the debug logging mode provides additional troubleshooting information.

Notes:

• By default, logging is set to INFO (Informational).
• The default location of the vws.log file is:
  
• Windows 2003 – C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs\vpxd
• Windows 2008 and newer – C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs\vpxd\
• vCenter Server Appliance 5.x - /var/log/vmware/vpx/

Environment

Apache Tomcat 7
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 5.1.x
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 5.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
Apache Tomcat 5.5

Resolution

To turn on the debug level log in the vws.log file:

Note: Ensure to take a backup of the file before editing.

1. Open the log4j.properties using a text editor. The file is located at:
   
   Windows-based vCenter Server - C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\tomcat\webapps\vws\WEB-INF\classes\log4j.properties
   
   vCenter Server Appliance - /usr/lib/vmware-vpx/tomcat/webapps/vws/WEB-INF/classes
   
   
2. Locate these entries:
   
   log4j.logger.com.vmware.vim=INFO
   log4j.appender.LOGFILE.Threshold=INFO
   
   
3. Change INFO to DEBUG in these entries. For example:
   
   log4j.logger.com.vmware.vim=DEBUG
   log4j.appender.LOGFILE.Threshold=DEBUG
   
4. Locate the log4j.appender.LOGFILE.MaxFileSize entry and set the maxfile size to 10MB. For example:
   
   log4j.appender.LOGFILE.MaxFileSize=10MB
   
   
5. Save and close the file.
6. Restart VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices.
   
   For Windows-based vCenter Server, see Stopping, starting, or restarting vCenter services (1003895).
   
   For the vCenter Server Appliance, restart the vCenter Server (vpxd) service as the two services are combined. For more information, see Stopping, starting, or restarting vCenter Server Appliance services (2054085).

Note: VMware recommends that you revert to the INFO logging mode after collecting the required information.

Additional Information

How to stop, start, or restart vCenter Server services
How to stop, start, or restart vCenter Server Appliance 5.x services