Architecting a vRealize Log Insight Solution : Understanding vSphere Logs : 2.4 vCenter Server Log Files
   
2.4 vCenter Server Log Files
In addition to ESXi host logs, vCenter Server maintains its own logs which, like host logs, can be used for auditing and troubleshooting, and operational and security analysis. The vCenter Server log file location varies by version and the underlying OS version. If you are employing a SUSE-based vCenter Server appliance, the logs are stored in the /var/log/vmware/ folder.
If vCenter Server for Windows has been installed on a Windows 2008 SP2 or 2012 Server based operating system, the logs are located in %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\VMWare\vappServer\logs. If the vCenter Server service is running under a specific user name, the logs might be located in that user profile directory instead of %ALLUSERSPROFILE%.
 
Table 2. vCenter Server Log Files
vCenter Server
vCenter Server Appliance
Description
vmware-vpx\vpxd.log
vpxd/vpxd.log
The main vCenter Server logs. Includes all vSphere Client and web services, connections, and events.
vmware-vpx\vpxd-profiler.log
vpxd/vpxd-profiler.log
Profiled metrics for operations performed in vCenter Server. Used by the VPX Operational Dashboard (VOD) accessible at https://VCHostnameOrIPAddress/vod/index.html.
vmware-vpx\vpxd-alert.log
vpxd/vpxd-alert.log
Non-fatal information logged about the vpxd process.
perfcharts\stats.log
perfcharts/stats.log
Information about the historical performance data collection from the ESXi hosts.
eam\eam.log
eam/eam.log
Health reports for the ESX agent monitor extension and connectivity logs to vCenter Server.
invsvc
invsvc
VMware inventory service.
netdump
netdumper
VMware vSphere ESXi Dump Collector.
vapi
vapi
VMware vAPI endpoint. The vAPI endpoint provides a single point of access to vAPI services.
vmdird
vmdird
VMware directory service daemon.
vmsyslogcollector
syslog
vSphere syslog collector.
vmware-sps\sps.log
vmware-sps/sps.log
VMware vSphere profile-driven storage service.
vpostgres
vpostgres
VMware vFabric® Postgres database service.
vsphere-client
vsphere-client
VMware vSphere Web Client.
cim-diag.log and vws.log
vws
Common information model monitoring information, including communication between vCenter Server and a managed host’s CIM interface.
workflow
workflow
VMware vCenter Server workflow manager
SSO
SSO
VMware vCenter Single Sign-On™.
ls.log
-
Health reports for the licensing services extension and connectivity logs to vCenter Server.
sms.log
-
Health reports for the storage monitoring service extension, connectivity logs to vCenter Server, the vCenter Server database, and the xDB database for vCenter Server inventory service.
eam.log
eam.log
Health reports for the ESX agent monitor extension and connectivity logs to vCenter Server.
catalina.<date>.log and localhost.<date>.log
-
Connectivity information and status of the VMware web management services.
jointool.log
-
Health status of the VMware VCMSDS service and individual ADAM database objects, internal tasks and events, and replication logs between linked-mode vCenter Server instances.
vimtool.log
-
Dump of string used during the installation of vCenter Server with hashed information for DNS, username, and output for JDBC creation.
drmdump\
-
Actions proposed and taken by VMware vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler™ (DRS), grouped by the DRS-enabled cluster managed by vCenter Server. These logs are compressed.
 
The specific logs generated by vCenter Server will vary to some extent depending on the version deployed. For more information, refer to Location of log files for VMware products (1021806) at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1021806.
For additional information about modifying logging levels in vCenter Server, see Increasing VMware vCenter Server and VMware ESX/ESXi logging levels (1004795) at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1004795 and Enabling trivia logging in VMware vCenter (1001584) at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1001584.
Note When a log file reaches its maximum size, it is rotated and numbered similar to component-nnn.log files. The file might also be compressed.