Root Partition full due to dnsmasq.log files in vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Service Controller
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Root Partition full due to dnsmasq.log files in vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Service Controller

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Article ID: 341157

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
  • The root partition on the vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Service Controller is full, or nearing full.
  • You see that dnsmasq.log files are available on the root partition.


Environment

VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.0.x
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5.x

Cause

This issue occurs because dnsmasq.log is being directed to /var/log/ instead of /var/log/vmware/.

Resolution

This issue is resolved in:


Workaround:
To work around this issue, update the below files:
  1. Open an SSH connection to the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) or Platform Service Controller.
  2. Modify the below file with a text editor:

    vi /etc/logrotate.d/dnsmasq

    Update the file to contain these lines and save the file:
    /var/log/vmware/dnsmasq.log {
    nodateext
    daily
    missingok
    notifempty
    compress
    size 5M
    rotate 5
    sharedscripts
    postrotate
    [ ! -f /var/run/dnsmasq.pid ] || kill -USR2 `cat /var/run/dnsmasq.pid`
    endscript
    create 0640 dnsmasq dnsmasq
    }

     
  3. Modify the below file with a text editor:

    /etc/dnsmasq.conf

    Update the file to contain these lines and save the file:

    listen-address=127.0.0.1
    bind-interfaces
    user=dnsmasq
    group=dnsmasq

    no-negcache
    no-hosts
    log-queries
    log-facility=/var/log/vmware/dnsmasq.log
    domain-needed
    dns-forward-max=150
    cache-size=8192
    neg-ttl=3600
  4. Restart the dnsmasq service by running this command:
    service dnsmasq restart


Additional Information

What is dnsmasq?

The following Debian Wiki page describes the dnsmasq package as follows:

Disclaimer: VMware is not responsible for the reliability of any data, opinions, advice, or statements made on third-party websites. Inclusion of such links does not imply that VMware endorses, recommends, or accepts any responsibility for the content of such sites.

dnsmasq is a lightweight, easy to configure, DNS forwarder and DHCP server. It is designed to provide DNS and optionally, DHCP, to a small network. It can serve the names of local machines which are not in the global DNS. The DHCP server integrates with the DNS server and allows machines with DHCP allocated addresses to appear in the DNS with names configured either in each host or in a central configuration file. dnsmasq supports static and dynamic DHCP leases and BOOTP/TFTP for network booting of diskless machines.

The dnsmasq subsystem works as follows:
  1. The dnsmasq package accepts DNS queries.
  2. The dnsmasq package then either answers the DNS queries from its small, local cache or forwards them to a real, recursive, DNS server.
  3. The dnsmasq package also loads the contents of /etc/hosts so that local hostnames which do not appear in the global DNS can be resolved and also answers DNS queries for DHCP configured hosts. The dnsmasq package can thus act as the authoritative DNS server for one or more domains, allowing local names to appear in the global DNS.