VMware ESX Server Logs

Vmkernel 

a. Location: /var/log/

b. Filename: vmkernel 

c. This log records information related to the vmkernel and virtual machines

Vmkernel Warnings

a. Location: /var/log/

b. Filename: vmkwarning

c. This log records information regarding virtual machine warnings

Vmkernel Summary

a. Location: /var/log/

b. Filename: vmksummary

c. This log records information used to determine uptime and availability statistics for ESX Server. This log is not easily readable by humans, import into a spreadsheet or database for use.

d. For a summary of the statistics in an easily viewed file, see vmksummary.txt

ESX Server Boot Log

a. Location: /var/log

b. Filename: boot.log

c. Log file of all actions that occurred during the ESX server boot.

ESX Server Host Aagent Log

a. Location: /var/log/vmware/

b. Filename: hostd.log

c. Contains information on the agent that manages and configures the ESX Server host and its virtual machines (Search the file date/time stamps to find the log file it is currently outputting to).

Service Console 

a. Location: /var/log/

b. Filename: messages

c. Contain all general log messages used to troubleshoot virtual machines on ESX Server.

Web Access

a. Location: /var/log/vmware/webAccess

b. Filename: various files in this location

c. Various logs on Web access to the ESX Server.

Authentication Log

a. Location: /var/log/

b. Filename: secure

c. Contains the records of connections that require authentication, such as VMware daemons and actions initiated by the xinetd daemon.

VirtualCenter HA Agent Log

a. Location: /var/log/vmware/aam/

b. Filename: aam_config_util_*.log

c. These files contain information about the installation, configuration, and connections to other HA agents in the cluster.

VirtualCenter Agent

a. Location: /var/log/vmware/vpx

b. Filename: vpxa.log

c. Contains information on the agent that communicates with the VirtualCenter Server.

Virtual Machine Logs

a. Location: The same directory as the virtual machine’s configuration files are placed in.

b. FileName: vmware.log

c. Contains information when a virtual machine crashes or ends abnormally.