Location of HCX log files

Products

• VMware HCX

Issue/Introduction

This article provides the default location of the HCX logs.

Environment

HCX

Resolution

HCX Manager

• /common/logs/admin/app.log
  • The app log is main "back-end" log for all HCX activities.  The general rule of thumb is to start with the app log for nearly all HCX log reviews to establish a time stamp as well as which side of the deployment is causal for a given error (if that's previously unknown).
    • Look here for:
      • All migration failures or migration related questions
      • Service Mesh deployment 
      • Site pairing
      • Licensing connectivity
      • Network Stretch events
        
        
• /common/logs/admin/web.log 
  • The web log is effectively the UI / Permissions based log.  If you encounter UI issues or are unable to login to the vSphere Plugin / Standalone HCX client, the web log is a great place to investigate why.
    
    • Look here for:
      • Login failures
      • UI errors
      • Web page crashes
        
        
• /common/logs/appliance-management/appliance-management.log
  • Look here for:
    • Service Activities/Errors: 
    • Licensing errors
    • Appliance Management related configuration changes

HCX Interconnect

• General log: /var/log/messages and /var/log/vmware/messages
• /var/log/vmware/hbrsrv.log
  • This log is the vSphere Replication based log on the HCX Interconnect.  That explicitly means that it's exceptionally useful for reviewing each form of migration that uses vSphere Replication - Bulk Migration and Replication Assisted vMotion.  This can also be used for tracking HCX Disaster Recovery as well as the Interconnect's requirement.
    • Look here for:
      • Interconnect to ESXi authentication issues
      • Bulk Migration failures/Monitoring
      • Replication Assisted vMotion failures/Monitoring
      • Disaster Recovery failures/Monitoring

• /var/log/vmware/mobility-agent.log
  • This log on the HCX Interconnect tracks primarily non replication based migrations.  In other words, both cold and vMotion migration.  This log is specifically useful to identifying VM cutover issues for those two types of migration.
    
    • Look here for:
      • Cold Migration failures/Monitoring
      • vMotion Migration failures/Monitoring
      • RAV failures/Monitoring specifically during cutover
      • Mobility Agent vSphere Host related failures/Monitoring

HCX Network Extension

Note: It’s important to note that networking logs are usually sparse because the information they capture, is dynamic and subject to frequent changes. Therefore, while HCX NE logs may not be as extensive as Manager/IX logs, they are still sufficient to guide you in the right direction.

• General log: /var/log/messages and /var/log/vmware/messages
• /var/log/system_events
  • Look here for:
    • Summary of events for tunnel down
    • Summary events for NE HA failover