ESXi host is unable to generate support logs because local storage is full
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ESXi host is unable to generate support logs because local storage is full

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Article ID: 343133

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Note: You may not experience all of these symptoms.
  • When attempting to collect ESXi host logs, you see an error that states that the network copy failed for a specific file.
  • A support file is created, but its size is zero bytes.
  • You see this message:

    Could not copy /var/log to tar area. Have you run out of disk space?


Environment

VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded

Resolution

Under some circumstances you may not be able to gather the logs from an ESXi host. For assistance in collecting the logs, file a support request with VMware Support and note this KB Article ID (1007329) in the problem description. For more information, see How to Submit a Support Request.

To prevent this issue from occurring again, consider:

  • Why were the logs taking up so much space? Logspew of this kind may be an indicator of a problem, and therefore must not be ignored unless you know the cause.

  • Use remote logging

    To redirect system log files to a remote host:

    Note: This article assumes that you have a syslog server configured. For an example of how to setup a syslogd server, see the Red Hat article How do I direct logs from all the systems in my network to one centralized server in Red Hat Enterprise Linux? (this requires a Red Hat login). If you do not have a Red Hat login, see the content and user forums on syslog.org for instructions and support on configuring syslog.

    1. From vSphere Infrastructure Client, select the host in the inventory.
    2. Click the Configuration tab.
    3. In the Software section, click Advanced Settings.
    4. Click Syslog.
    5. For Syslog.Remote.Hostname, enter a host name to which syslog data can be forwarded.

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