Changing the default log location for VMware vCenter Server 4.x, 5.x and 6.x for Windows

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to change the default log location for vCenter Server.

Environment

• VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
• VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x
• VMware vCenter Server 6.5.x
• VMware vCenter Server 6.7.x
• VMware vCenter Server 6.0.x
• VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
• VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
• VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x

Resolution

To change the default log location from C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Log to a different directory (for example, D:\VCenterLogs):

1. Stop the VirtualCenter Server service and VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices services.
   
   For more information, see Stopping, starting, or restarting vCenter services (1003895).
    
2. Back up the vpxd.cfg file. By default, the file is located at:
    
   • Windows Server 2003 – C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\
   • Windows Server 2008/Windows Server 2008 R2 – C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\
   • Windows Server 2012/2016 - C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\cfg\vmware-vpx
3. Open the vpxd.cfg file using a text editor.
4. Add this entry within the <log> and </log> tags:
   
   <directory>[Preferred directory]</directory>
   
   Where [Preferred directory] is the directory within which you want to save the logs.
   
   For example:
   
   <directory>D:\VCenterLogs</directory>
    
5. Save the vpxd.cfg file.
6. Restart the VMware VirtualCenter Server service and VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices service.
   For more information, see Stopping, starting, or restarting vCenter services (1003895).