ESX 3.x and 4.x Host Log Files Location

•/var/log/vmkernel – Core VMkernel logs, including device discovery, storage and networking device and driver

events, and virtual machine startup.


•/var/log/vmkwarning – Summary of Warning and Alert log messages excerpted from the VMkernel logs.


•/var/log/vmksummary – Summary of ESX host startup and shutdown, and an hourly heartbeat with uptime, number of

virtual machines running, and service console resource consumption.


•/var/log/messages – Messages from the Service Console Linux kernel, including service startup and shutdown.


•/var/log/vmware/hostd.log – Host management service logs, including virtual machine and host Tasks and Events,

communication with the vSphere Client and vCenter Server vpxa agent, and SDK connections.


•/var/log/boot-logs/sysboot.log – Early VMkernel startup, module loading, and host initialization.


•/var/log/vmkiscsid.log – Software iSCSI Client logs.