Configuring an ESXi/ESX host to capture a VMkernel coredump from a purple diagnostic screen

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides an overview of configuring VMware ESXi/ESX with a location for storing diagnostic information during a purple diagnostic screen and host failure.

For more information on collecting diagnostic information from the disk or network location after a purple screen error, see Collecting diagnostic information from an ESX or ESXi host that experiences a purple diagnostic screen (1004128).

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware ESX Server 3.5.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware ESX Server 3.0.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0.0

Resolution

During a host failure with a purple diagnostic screen, VMware ESXi/ESX attempts to save diagnostic information to one or more pre-configured locations. The available target locations and the methods to configure the host differ between versions of ESXi/ESX.

If the host is configured with a location for saving a coredump, but does not successfully record a coredump during a purple diagnostic screen, there are issues with either the storage medium or the connection to the storage medium. Configure an alternate target for saving the coredump to successfully capture diagnostic information from a subsequent outage.

Host Configuration

Network Dump Collection

ESXi 5.x/6.0 hosts dump diagnostic information to a Network Dump Collector service through the network. For more information, see:
- ESXi Network Dump Collector in VMware vSphere 5.x/6.0 (1032051)
- Configuring an ESXi 5.x host to capture a VMkernel coredump from a purple diagnostic screen via the Network Dump Collector (2002955)
Disk Dump Collection

ESXi/ESX 3.0-6.0 hosts dump diagnostic information to a partition on disk, including local or remote block devices. For more information, see:
- Configuring a diagnostic coredump partition on an ESXi 5.x/6.0 host (2004299).
- Configuring an ESX/ESXi 3.0-4.1 host to capture a VMkernel coredump from a purple diagnostic screen to a diagnostic partition (2004297).
- Coredump to file. ESXi 5.5 and later hosts can be configured to generate a coredump to a file located on a VMFS datastore. For more information, see Configuring ESXi coredump to file instead of partition (2077516).
Notes:
- ESX 3.0-4.1 also generates a coredump from the service console Linux kernel. The VMKcore diagnostic coredump partition is used to store the VMkernel coredump, but the service console coredump is placed on a VMFS datastore. Depending on the type of failure, a coredump is generated from one or both components. For more information, see Configuring an ESX host to capture a Service Console coredump (1032962).
- ESXi 5.5 introduces dump to file. For more information, see Configuring ESXi coredump to file instead of partition (2077516). This feature is introduced to remove the 100MB limitation which most of the time causes the dump to be truncated. Using the automatic sizing is the recommended way to configure dump to file and never results in a truncated dump.
- ESXi 7.0 introduces a VMFS-L based ESX-OSData system volume which provides storage for coredumps to file, logs, and system configuration. During install and upgrades, a coredump to file is configured automatically to save dumps on this volume.

Additional Information

For translated versions of this article, see: