Knowledge Base

If you have critical production-related issues, call the VMware support hotline.

All nonproduction support requests are handled through email. Allow up to 48 hours for a response. Submit one support request per issue.

For additional information, see the VMware SDK Support Policy: http://www.vmware.com/support/policies/sdk.html.

These instructions apply to VMware Infrastructure SDK version 1.x, 2.0, and 2.01 or later, and VMware Infrastructure Perl Toolkit version 1.0 or later.

Creating an SDK Support Request

The following is a summary of the steps to file an SDK support request.

1. Ensure that the error was captured in the log files.
2. Note the approximate time of the error.
3. Collect the required diagnostic files and information.

Three sets of data are needed to properly diagnose your VMware Infrastructure SDK issue:

SDK related information

Complete the SDK support form. See the VMware-SDK-Support-Form.doc in the Attachments section below of this KB document.

ESX Server related information

Collect ESX Server files.

VirtualCenter related information

Collect the VirtualCenter files.

4. Create the support request using your VMware Store account. Log on at http://www.vmware.com/support/sr/sr_login.jsp?followingPage=/support/sr/sr_home.jsp.
5. Submit the support request with its associated information.
6. FTP the diagnostic files to VMware. Instructions are available online at Uploading diagnostic information to VMware (1008525)

Collecting SDK Related Data

All the SDK related information needed to evaluate your support request and help diagnose your problem is listed in the VMware SDK Support Form.

1. Download and save the VMware SDK Support Form.

See the VMware-SDK-Support-Form.doc in the Attachments section at the bottom of this KB document.

2. Complete the form, providing as much detail about your computing environment as possible.

Attach a complete code example that demonstrates the problem, with exact errors and screenshots if possible.

3. Upload the completed form with your support request.

Collecting ESX Server Related Data

Instructions for obtaining diagnostic information for ESX Server can be found online at Collecting diagnostic information for VMware products (1008524).

Collecting VirtualCenter Related Data

Instructions for obtaining diagnostic information for VirtualCenter can be found online at Collecting diagnostic information for VMware products (1008524).

2. Set the logging option to Trivial to ensure that all information is collected and includes time stamps.
3. Send the script-collected files with your support request.

Enhancing the Logs that are Captured

Some issues require that you submit log files by using an enhanced capture level.

1. Set logs to Trivia when collecting files in ESX Server.

a. On each host, open the file hostd configuration file for editing:

/etc/vmware/hostd/config.xml

b. Set the <level> tag to trivia mode. For example:

<log>

<level>trivia</level>

c. Restart the management services using the following command:

2. Set logs to Trivia when collecting files in VirtualCenter.

For Virtual Center, you can use the VI Client to configure the amount of detail that VirtualCenter collects in log files.

a. Connect the VI Client to the VirtualCenter Server.

Choose Administration > Server Settings and select Logging Options.

b. Configure the level of detail for log files:

From the VirtualCenter Logging list, choose Trivia (Extended verbose) and click OK .

3. Set all the clocks in the systems (VI Client, VirtualCenter, ESX Server, and so on), to the same time.

If you cannot synchronize all of the system clocks, note any difference between the clocks of the different systems.

4. Reproduce the error.
5. Record the time the error occurs.
6. Capture the logs.

Debugging Tips

The following are best practices for debugging code when using VMware Infrastructure APIs.

• Generate complete logs with as much detail as possible including time stamps. Provide case samples of successful completions and failures with time stamps.
• Submit code samples that are as self-contained as possible and reproduce the problems.
• Use the VMware Infrastructure Perl Toolkit to reproduce problems found when you use VM Perl.