How to Collect vm-support Logs in ESXi

August 18, 2020

The command-line vm–support utility is present on all versions of VMware ESXi/ESX, though some of the options available with the utility differ among versions.

Collect vm-support logs in ESXi

Follow the steps given below to collect the vm-support log from the ESXi host using the command-line interface (CLI):

  • Login as root/superuser on ESXi host through SSH.
  • Run the vm-support command to generate the logs. 
    [root@esxihost:~] vm-support
  • This will result in a file that ends in .tgz on the server. Copy this file to your local system and sent it to the VMware support team for diagnosing the issue.

If there is not sufficient space available on the ESXi host to store the log file then you may use the vm-support command with -w option to store the log file on a specific data store.

[root@esxihost:~] vm-support -f -w /vmfs/volumes/DATASTORE_NAME

Note: Additional options can be specified to customize the log collection. Use the vm-support -h command for a list of options available on a given version of ESXi/ESX.

[root@esxihost:~] vm-support -h
usage: vm-support [-h] [-g GROUPS] [-a MANIFESTS] [-e EXCLUDEMANIFESTS]
                  [--manifestdir MANIFESTDIR] [-w WORKINGDIR] [-s]
                  [-E ERRORFILE] [-l] [-z] [-o] [--listmanifests] [-G] [-t]
                  [-p] [-d DURATION] [-i INTERVAL] [-v VM] [-V]
                  [--action-threads ACTIONTHREADS] [-L] [-D] [-q]
                  [--loglevel LOGLEVEL] [--version] [--allow-infinite-actions]
                  [--default-timeout DEFAULTTIMEOUT] [--ignore-timeouts]
                  [-r DIRECTORY] [-x BUNDLE DIRECTORY]

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit

Input:
  -g GROUPS, --groups GROUPS
                        Specify manifest groups. See --listgroups.
  -a MANIFESTS, --manifests MANIFESTS
                        Specify manifest files. See --listmanifests.
  -e EXCLUDEMANIFESTS, --excludemanifests EXCLUDEMANIFESTS
                        Exclude the listed manifests. See --listmanifests.
  --manifestdir MANIFESTDIR
                        Location to search for manifest files.

Output:
  -w WORKINGDIR, --workingdir WORKINGDIR
                        Archive destination.
  -s, --stream          Stream data to stdout.
  -E ERRORFILE, --errorfile ERRORFILE
                        Prints (non-fatal) errors to specified file (overrides
                        --quiet and --stream).
  -l, --listfiles       At the end print all gathered files.
  -z, --zip             Archive bundle in zip format. Default is a gzipped tar
                        archive.
  -o, --obfuscate       Obfucate hostname in archive path.

List:
  --listmanifests       List available manifests.
  -G, --listgroups      List available manifest groups.
  -t, --listtags        List available manifest tags.

Perfomance measurement:
  -p, --performance     Gather performance data.
  -d DURATION, --duration DURATION
                        Duration of performance monitoring (in seconds).
  -i INTERVAL, --interval INTERVAL
                        Interval between performance snapshots (in seconds).

VM options:
  -v VM, --vm VM        Gather detailed information about this specific VM (ie
                        --vm )
  -V, --listvms         List registered VMs.

Parallel execution:
  --action-threads ACTIONTHREADS
                        Specify the number of actions that will run in
                        parallel.
  -L, --legacy          Run in legacy mode (no parallel execution).

Misc:
  -D, --dryrun          Prints out the data that would have been gathered.
  -q, --quiet           Output only the location of the bundle.
  --loglevel LOGLEVEL   Set logging to specified level: 0-50 (0=most verbose).
  --version             Display the version.
  --allow-infinite-actions
                        Wait indefinitely for actions to finish. Use with
                        caution.
  --default-timeout DEFAULTTIMEOUT
                        Set default timeout (300s) for actions without a
                        specified TIMEOUT option. It is ignored when --allow-
                        infinite-actions is used.
  --ignore-timeouts     Ignore TIMEOUTs as specified in manifest files and use
                        the default timeout.

Reconstruct vm-support bundle:
  -r DIRECTORY, --reconstruct DIRECTORY
                        Unfragment a support bundle directory.
  -x BUNDLE DIRECTORY, --extract BUNDLE DIRECTORY
                        Extract and reconstruct support bundle.

Last Updated: August 18, 2020

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