Knowledge Base

Extract the log file from a vmkernel-zdump file using a command line utility on the ESX or ESXi host. This utility differs for different versions of ESX or ESXi.

• For ESX 3.0 and 3.5, use the vmkdump utility:

# vmkdump -l <vmkernel-zdump-filename>
  

• For ESXi 3.5, ESX and ESXi 4.x, use the esxcfg-dumppart utility:

# esxcfg-dumppart -L <vmkernel-zdump-filename>

To extract the log file from a vmkernel-zdump file:

1. Find the vmkernel-zdump file in the /root/ or /var/core/ directory:
   
   # ls /root/vmkernel* /var/core/vmkernel*
/var/core/vmkernel-zdump-073108.09.16.1
   
   
2. Use the vmkdump or esxcfg-dumppart utility to extract the log. For example:
   
   # vmkdump -l /var/core/vmkernel-zdump-073108.09.16.1
created file vmkernel-log.1

# esxcfg-dumppart -L /var/core/vmkernel-zdump-073108.09.16.1
created file vmkernel-log.1
   
   
3. The vmkernel-log.1 file is plain text, though may start with null characters. Focus on the end of the log, which looks similar to:
   
   VMware ESX Server [Releasebuild-98103]
PCPU 1 locked up. Failed to ack TLB invalidate.
frame=0x3a37d98 ip=0x625e94 cr2=0x0 cr3=0x40c66000 cr4=0x16c
es=0xffffffff ds=0xffffffff fs=0xffffffff gs=0xffffffff
eax=0xffffffff ebx=0xffffffff ecx=0xffffffff edx=0xffffffff
...
   
   
4. For troubleshooting the cause of the purple diagnostic screen, see Interpreting an ESX host purple diagnostic screen (1004250).

Note: The file name created for the log in this example is vmkernel-log.1. If another file with the same name already exists, the new file is created with the number suffix incremented.