Confirming power state changes after an external monitoring solution suggests a vCenter Server is disconnected

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

When using an external monitoring solution for maintaining vCenter connection, the logic for monitoring vCenter must be understood. If the monitoring solution notes vCenter was disconnected, logs and commands on the host should be followed up on to verify.

Environment

vCenter 8.x

Cause

When a monitoring solution determines a machine is disconnected, it can mean that the machine lost power or simply that the machine lost connectivity.

 

Resolution

To determine if a vCenter Server lost power after a monitoring solution said it was disconnected:

1) SSH into the host running the vCenter Server VM.

2) Determine the datastore that is hosting the vCenter Server VM and note the datstore name.

3) In SSH, go to the VM's datastore directory

     - cd /vmfs/volumes/<datastoreUUIDorNAME>/<VMname>

4) Review the vmware.log file. Refer to "Determining why a VM was Powered off / Restarted / Rebooted" to verify VM power loss.