Collecting diagnostic information for VMware Fusion

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor
• VMware Fusion

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 Mac, for Fusion, and for 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.

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

• 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 the user's Mac operating system password to authorize the collection process.
4. When the process completes, a message will prompt to inform that a file is created on the user's Mac desktop. The file name begins with vm- and includes a date stamp for the month, day, and year.
5. After collecting the support information, upload it as an attachment to the Support Request. For more information, see Uploading files to cases on the Broadcom Support Portal.

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

1. Navigate to the user's 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 the user's Mac operating system password to authorize the collection process.
   
   Note: The password cannot be seen as it is being typed. Simply type it correctly and press Return.
    
7. When the process completes, a file is created on the user's Mac desktop. The file name begins with vm- and includes a date stamp for the month, day, and year.

If Fusion (3.x and 2.x) cannot be opened, or if using Fusion 1.x:

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