1. Using the vSphere Client, connect to the vCenter Server.
2. Click the ESXi host, then click Configure.
3. Under System, click Advanced System Settings.
4. In the Advanced Settings view, click Edit in the top right.
5. In the Key column, filter for config.HostAgent.log.level.
6. In the Value column, set the preferred logging level. For information on the different logging levels, see the #AdditionalInformationsection.
7. Click OK to save.

1. Log in to your host as root from either an SSH session or directly from the console.
2. Open the configuration file for hostd using a text editor.
   
   Note: The configuration file for hostd is found at /etc/vmware/hostd/config.xml.
   
   ESXi 6.x: To redirect logs to the local disk instead of syslog for troubleshooting purposes, first change this line in the config.xml file (located at /etc/vmware/hostd/config.xml) to true.
   
   <outputToFiles>false</outputToFiles>
   
   The file looks similar to:
   
   <config>
:
<log>
<directory>/var/log/vmware/</directory>
<level>verbose</level>
<name>hostd</name>
<outputToConsole>false</outputToConsole>
<maxFileSize>52428800</maxFileSize>
<maxFileNum>50</maxFileNum>
</log>
:
</config>
   
   Description of each entry:
   • <directory>/var/log/vmware/</directory>
     • Logging path
     • Note: The <directory> entry can also be updated with a full path to a VMFS datastore. This may be useful on ESXi hosts where space is limited. For example:
       <directory>/vmfs/volumes/<datastore name>/<log directory></directory>
   • <level>info</level>
     • Logging level
   • <name>hostd</name>
     • Prefix
   • <outputToConsole>false</outputToConsole>
     • Console out
   • <maxFileSize>5242880</maxFileSize>
     • Maximum size of each log file in bytes
     • Increase the <maxFileSize> parameter to change the maximum size of the logs.
   • <maxFileNum>50</maxFileNum>
     • Maximum number of log files
     • Increase the <maxFileNum> parameter to change the maximum number of logs.
3. Restart the hostd management agent for the change to take effect. For more information, see Restarting the Management agents on an ESXi or ESX host (1003490).

Note: In 6.x, hostd log output is set by default to output to syslog. In this case, the advanced settings Syslog.loggers.hostd.rotate and Syslog.loggers.hostd.size takes precedence over the settings on the /etc/vmware/hostd/config.xml file.

To change the settings:

1. Connect to the vCenter Server vSphere Client.
2. Click on the ESXi host.
3. Navigate to Configure > System >  Advanced System Settings.
4. Click Edit in the top right.
5. In the Key column, filter for Syslog.loggers.hostd.rotate and Syslog.loggers.hostd.size.
6. In the Value column, adjust the setting.
7. Click OK to save.

ESXi 7.0U2 and higher: 

Starting in ESXi 7.0U2, changes to the logging level for hostd have changed and are accessible by running the tool /bin/configstorecli per How to change configuration settings for Hostd service in vSphere ESXi 7.0 Update 2 (82227)

vpxa

1. Using the vSphere Client, connect to the vCenter Server.
2. Click the ESXi host, then click Configure.
3. Under System, click Advanced System Settings.
4. In the Advanced Settings view, click Edit in the top right.
5. In the Key column, filter for Vpx.Vpxa.config.log.level.
6. In the Value column, set the preferred logging level. For information on the different logging levels, see the #AdditionalInformationsection.
7. Click OK to save.

To increase vpxa logging from the command line.

1. Log in to your host as root from either an SSH session or directly from the console.
2. Open the configuration file for vpxa in a text editor.
   
   Note: For ESXi 6.x, the vpxa.cfg file is located at /etc/vmware/vpxa. 
   
   The file looks similar to:
   
   <config>
:
<log>
:
<maxFileNum>50</maxFileNum>
<maxFileSize>5242880</maxFileSize>
<level>verbose</level>
</log>
:
</config>
   
   Description of each entry:

• <directory>/var/log/vmware/</directory>
  • Logging path
  • Note: The <directory> entry can also be updated with a full path to a VMFS datastore. This may be useful on ESXi hosts where space is limited. For example:
    <directory>/vmfs/volumes/<datastore name>/<log directory></directory>
• <level>info</level>
  • Logging level
• <maxFileSize>5242880</maxFileSize>
  • Maximum size of each log file in bytes. By default, the maximum file size is 5243904 bytes.
  • Increase the <maxFileSize> parameter to change the maximum size of the logs.
• <maxFileNum>50</maxFileNum>  
  • Maximum number of log files
  • Increase the <maxFileNum> parameter to change the maximum number of logs.

ESXi 7.0U3 and higher: 

For ESXi 7.0 U3 and later, changes to the logging level for vpxa have changed and are accessible using the tool /bin/configstorecli, see vSphere ESXi 7.0 U3 VPXA configuration properties (87438)

3. Restart the hostd management agent for the change to take effect. For more information, see Restarting the Management agents on an ESXi or ESX host (1003490).

Note: In 6.x/7.x, vpxa log output is set by default to output to syslog. In that case, the advanced settings Syslog.loggers.vpxa.rotate and Syslog.loggers.vpxa.size takes precedence over the settings on the vpxa.cfg file.

To change the settings:

1. Connect to the vCenter Server vSphere Client.
2. Click on the ESXi host.
3. Navigate to Configure > System >  Advanced System Settings.
4. Click Edit in the top right.
5. In the Key column, filter for Syslog.loggers.vpxa.rotate and Syslog.loggers.vpxa.size.
6. In the Value column, adjust the setting.
7. Click OK to save.

vpxd

1. Using the vSphere Client, connect to the vCenter Server.
2. Select vCenter Server, for which you need to increase the logging level.
3. Go to Configure > Settings > General.
4. Click Edit for vCenter Server Settings.
5. Select Logging options.
6. Select the preferable logging option from the dropdown under Log Level. For information on the different logging levels, see the #AdditionalInformationsection .

1. Log into vCenter Server as an administrator.
2. Edit the vpxd.cfg file located in /etc/vmware-vpx/vpxd.cfg.
   
   The file looks similar to:
   
   <log>
    <compressOnRoll>true</compressOnRoll>
    <level>info</level>
    <maxFileNum>30</maxFileNum>
    <maxFileSize>52428800</maxFileSize>
    <outputToConsole>false</outputToConsole>
    <outputToFiles>true</outputToFiles>
  </log>
   
   
   Description of each entry:
    
   • <level>info</level>
     • Logging level. The default level is info. Change it to the preferred logging level. For information on the different logging levels, see the #AdditionalInformationsection.
   • <maxFileNum>30</maxFileNum>
     • Maximum number of log files
     • Increase the <maxFileNum> parameter to change the maximum number of logs
   • <maxFileSize>5242880</maxFileSize>
     • Maximum size of each log file in bytes. By default, the maximum file size is 5243904 bytes.
     • Increase the <maxFileSize> parameter to change the maximum size of the logs.
3. Restart the VMware vCenter Server service for the change to take effect. For more information, see Stopping, starting, or restarting vCenter services (1003895).