Utilizing a Secondary SR for Cloud Environment Log Data Ingestion

Products

• VMware HCX

Issue/Introduction

A primary Service Request (Primary SR) is active for investigating a fault originating in the on-premises or primary infrastructure environment.

The troubleshooting scope may involve a hybrid or multi-environment setup, such as VMware HCX, requiring cross-domain root cause analysis across both on-premises and cloud-hosted components.

In such cases, comprehensive diagnostic data may be required from the cloud-side environment, for example Microsoft Azure components supporting the HCX deployment.

To facilitate secure handling of cloud-side logs and diagnostic bundles, the cloud provider (for example, Microsoft) may create a separate secondary Service Request (Data Transfer SR) solely for transferring this data.

Environment

VMware HCX

Cause

In multi-domain environments managed across separate administrative entities workloads and infrastructure often span both on premises and cloud hosted environments. When troubleshooting is scoped to a primary environment collecting telemetry from a secondary or remote environment requires coordination with the respective cloud or hosting provider.

To comply with data sovereignty requirements access controls and cross environment entitlement boundaries the cloud provider may generate a separate Data Transfer SR for uploading diagnostic data from their side. This ensures secure transfer of logs and diagnostic artifacts without fragmentation and avoids providing direct access to restricted environments within the primary SR.

Resolution

To perform cross domain log transfer through a Data Transfer SR initiated by the cloud vendor, follow the steps below:

1. Identify Required Logs:
Refer to the Primary SR to confirm which cloud-side logs are required (e.g., HCX, NSX, ESXi, vCenter support bundles or all).

2. Request Log Collection:
Coordinate with the cloud vendor to generate and upload the required diagnostic bundles from the relevant cloud components. If needed, provide assistance to the vendor to help them complete the log collection and upload process correctly.

3. Validate Uploaded Data:
Confirm that the correct and complete logs have been uploaded to the Data Transfer SR. In multi-cloud environments (for example, AVS1 and AVS2), it is important to verify that the logs being uploaded correspond to the correct target environment. This helps avoid situations where logs from a different environment are mistakenly attached, which can lead to delays or incorrect analysis.

4. Notify in Primary SR:
Once logs are uploaded, update the Primary SR to inform the customer that the required cloud logs are available in the linked Data Transfer SR.

5. Close Data Transfer SR:
After verifying and retrieving the logs, the Data Transfer SR could be closed. All further analysis and RCA activities should continue in the Primary SR.