Troubleshooting vCenter Tasks Using VCF Operations Log Queries

Products

• VCF Operations

Issue/Introduction

VCF Operations Diagnostics provides dashboards that report on the status of individual Snapshots, VM Operations, and vMotions. When a task fails, the log statements issued during its execution can provide insight into the cause of the failure. This KB explains how to use the VCF Operations Log Analysis Screen to retrieve the relevant log statements for a vCenter task.

Environment

Operations for VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0

Resolution

The log statements for a vCenter task can be retrieved using a two step process

• Use log queries to retrieve the log-statement identifiers corresponding to the task
• Use a log query to retrieve the complete set of log statements for the task

Preparation for Step One

The datagrid and expandable rows in the Snapshot, VM Operation, and vMotion Dashboards provide information you need to retrieve the log statements. Make note of the following information

The task ID. The task ID is given in the expandable row in each datagrid. See example screenshot below taken from the VM Operations Dashboard. Highlighting is added to call you attention to the required information.

Example showing task id, such as task–1242. Next, navigate back to the row in the table, and click on the FQDN of vCenter. For example, in the screenshot below, click on VCF-wld-w01.

On the inventory page for that vCenter, click on the “logs” tab, and ensure you have selected at least level 3 in the inventory hierarchy as shown below. Level 3 enables you to search the logs of both vCenter and the hosts it manages. 

Step One - Obtain Log-Statement IDs

Most of the log statements issued by vCenter and ESX for a task include a unique log-statement identifier called the opID. In addition, some of the log statements issued by vMotion include a separate identifier call the migrationID. In step one, you retrieve the opID, and if the task in question is a vMotion, the migID.

For the opID, search logs for the specific vCenter and the following pattern

Text contains BEGIN

Text contains task-25233

In the matching log line, locate the opID keyword and value in the statement and copy it. In the example above, you would copy opID=m3n6w1yb-128722-auto-2rbn-h5:70046590-33

For subsequent searches, use the portion of the string that precedes the colon. So, in the example, shorten the string to opID=m3n6w1yb-128722-auto-2rbn-h5 

If the task is not a vMotion, proceed to step 2.  For vMotion, the second ID is the migration ID. Some vMotion log statements include the migration ID instead of the opID. To retrieve the migration ID, search logs for the specific vCenter and the following pattern

Text contains <opID string>

Text contains migId

In the matching log statement, locate the phrase “with migID” and copy the number following it. So, in the example, copy 8480867858003851210

Step Two - Retrieve Log Statements for Task

Now that you have the log-statement IDs, you can search for the log statements for the task you are investigating. Form the query as follows

Text contains <opID string> <space> <migId string>

All the log statements will be returned.