Collecting diagnostic information for VMware Fusion

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

VMware Technical Support routinely requests diagnostic information or a support bundle when a support request is handled. This diagnostic information contains logs and configuration files for your Mac, for Fusion, and for your virtual machine(s).

This article provides the procedures for obtaining this diagnostic information.

The diagnostic information collected can then be uploaded to VMware Technical Support. To uniquely identify your information, use the Support Request (SR) number you received when you opened your Support Request.

Environment

VMware Fusion 7.x
VMware Fusion 6.x
VMware Fusion Pro 10.x
VMware Fusion Pro 8.x
VMware Fusion 10.x
VMware Fusion 2.x
VMware Fusion 1.x
VMware Fusion 4.x
VMware Fusion 8.x
VMware Fusion 3.x
VMware Fusion 5.x

Resolution

To enable debugging logs, for Fusion 4.x and above click Virtual machine > Settings > Advanced and under Troubleshooting, select one of these options:

1. • None - To run virtual machine as fast as possible, without gathering any troubleshooting information
   • Hang/Crash - To help troubleshoot correctness issues, such as hang or crashes of the virtual machine
   • Performance - To troubleshoot performance issues, such as when something is happening too slowly inside the virtual machine
   • Default - To run the virtual machine in troubleshooting mode by default

To enable debugging logs, for Fusion 3.x and below:

1. Go to the VMware Fusion menu and select Preferences.
2. Check the box to Enable debugging checks.

Use this procedure to collect diagnostic information for VMware Fusion:

1. Open VMware Fusion.
2. Go to Help > Collect Support Information.
3. When prompted, enter your Mac operating system password to authorize the collection process.
4. When the process completes, you will be prompted with a message informing you that a file is created on your Mac's desktop. The file name begins with vm- and includes a date stamp for the month, day, and year.
5. After collecting your support information, upload it as an attachment to your Support Request. For more information, see Uploading as an attachment to your support request in Uploading diagnostic information to VMware (1008525).

To manually collect the support bundle in Fusion 4.x and later:

1. Navigate to your Applications folder.
2. Right-click the Fusion application.
3. Click Show package contents.
4. Navigate to /Contents/Library/.
5. Double-click the file VMware Fusion Problem Reporter.tool.
6. When prompted, enter your Mac operating system password to authorize the collection process.
   
   Note: You cannot see your password as it is being typed. Simply type it correctly and press Return.
    
7. When the process completes, a file is created on your Mac desktop. The file name begins with vm- and includes a date stamp for the month, day, and year.

If you cannot open Fusion (3.x and 2.x), or if you are using Fusion 1.x:

1. Go to this folder:
   
   [Macintosh HD]/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/
    
2. Double-click the file vm-support.tool. A Terminal window opens and prompts you for the Mac operating system password.
3. Enter your Mac operating system password.
   
   Note: You cannot see your password as it is being typed. Simply type it correctly and press Return.
    
4. When the process completes, a file is created on your Mac's desktop. The file name begins with vm- and includes a date stamp for the month, day, and year.