Configure Syslog on ESXi Hosts
All ESX/ESXi hosts run a syslog service (syslogd), which logs messages from the VMkernel and other system
components to a file.
On an ESXi host, you can use the vSphere Client or the vSphere CLI command vicfg-syslog to configure the
following options:
Log file path
Specifies a datastore path to a file in which syslogd logs all messages.
Remote host
Specifies a remote host to which syslog messages are forwarded. In order to
receive the forwarded syslog messages, your remote host must have a syslog
service installed and correctly configured. Consult the documentation for the
syslog service installed on your remote host for information on configuration.
Remote port
Specifies the port on which the remote host receives syslog messages.
You cannot use the vSphere Client or vicfg-syslog to configure syslog behavior for an ESX host. To configure
syslog for an ESX host, you must edit the /etc/syslog.conf file.
For more information on vicfg-syslog, see the vSphere Command-Line Interface Installation and Reference Guide.
Procedure
1 In the vSphere Client inventory, select the host.
2 Click the Configuration tab.
3 Click Advanced Settings.
4 Select Syslog in the tree control.
5 In the Syslog.Local.DatastorePath text box, enter the datastore path for the file to which syslog will log
messages.
The datastore path should be of the form [<datastorename>] </path/to/file>, where the path is relative to the
root of the volume backing the datastore. For example, the datastore path [storage1] var/log/messages
would map to the path /vmfs/volumes/storage1/var/log/messages.
If no path is specified, the default path is /var/log/messages.
6 In the Syslog.Remote.Hostname text box, enter the name of the remote host to which syslog data will be
forwarded.
If no value is specified, no data is forwarded.
7 In the Syslog.Remote.Port text box, enter the port on the remote host to which syslog data will be
forwarded.
By default, this option is set to 514, which is the default UDP port used by syslog. Changes to this option
take effect only if Syslog.Remote.Hostname is configured.
8 Click OK.
Changes to the syslog options take effect immediately.
Export Diagnostic Data
You can export all or part of your log file data.
When you export log file data, the vm-support script creates a file of the selected data and stores it in a location
you specify. The default file type is .txt if no other extension is specified. The file contains Type, Time, and
Description.
vSphere Basic System Administration
68 VMware, Inc.
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