VMware vRealize Configuration Manager - 5.8 Troubleshooting Guide

VMware vRealize Configuration Manager

Troubleshooting Guide

vRealize Configuration Manager 5.8

This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this document, see

http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

EN-001818-00

VCM Troubleshooting Guide

You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at:

http://www.vmware.com/support/

The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates.

If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to:

docfeedback@vmware.com

http://www.vmware.com/go/patents.

VMware is a registered trademark or trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

VMware, Inc.

3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com

VMware, Inc.

About This Book 7

Troubleshooting Overview 9

Troubleshooting Workflow 9 Verifying That Behavior Is Negative 10 Isolating Behavior 10 Identifying External Factors 10 Checking VCM Logs 11

Info Messages 11 Warning Messages 11 Error Messages 12 Exception Messages 12

Types of Problems 13

User Interface Problems 13 Security and Authentication Problems 14 SQL Server Problems 14 VCM Agent Problems 15 UNIX Agent Problems 15 Report Server Problems 15 Internet Information Services Problems 16 Network Connectivity Problems 16 Hardware and Performance Problems 16

Gathering Diagnostic Information 19

What to Send to VMware Technical Support 19 Capture a Desktop Image 20 Capture a Window Image 20 Set the Debug Log to Store all Message Types 21 Extract the Debug Log 21 Extract SQL Server Logs 22 Collect IIS Logs 22 Collect ARS Files 23 Collect the UNIX Syslog Messages 24 Collect Import/Export Tool Logs 24 Extract Windows Event Logs 24 Extract Windows System Information 25 Collect UNIX ETL Logs 25 Collect VCM Installation Logs 25 Enable VCM Patching Logging 25 Collect VCM Patching Logs 26 Collect Agent Logging 26

Troubleshooting Problems with VCM 29

Patch Content Does Not Download for Red Hat and SUSEMachines 29 Signed Patch Content Cannot Be Validated 30 Mismatched Security Setting for AIX Patch Staging with NFS 30 UNIX Patch Deployment Fails 31 UNIX Patch Assessment Returns No Results 31

VMware, Inc.

VCM Troubleshooting Guide

Patch Deployment Jobs Might Time Out 32 UNIX Bulletins Missing from the Required Location 33 Report and Node Summary Errors 33 Report Parameter Errors 34 Protected Storage Errors 35 SSL Becomes Disabled 36

Troubleshooting the vSphere Client VCM Plug-In 37

vSphere Client VCM Plug-In Is Not Enabled 37 Cannot Register the vSphere Client VCM Plug-In 37 Invalid Certificate on a vSphere Client 38 Collector Not Running 38 HTTPS/SSL Is Not Configured on the Collector 38 Collection Unsuccessful 39 Machines Not Listed in the Collect Available List 39 Machines Not Listed in the Available List for Any Action 39 ESX Servers Are Not Displayed 39

VCM Windows Agent 41

Windows Agent Installation Environment 41

Windows Agent Installation Networking Requirements 41 Windows Agent Installation Collector Credentials 42

Windows Agent Installation Process 42

Detect Previous Install 42 Validate Installation Environment 43 Interrogate Target Environment 43 Resolve Uninstall Dependencies 44 Uninstall Module 44 Uninstall Module Installer 44 Install Simple Installer 44 Install Module Installer 46 Resolve All Versions of Modules Based on Highest Version Number 46 Install Module 47 Fully Release the Synchronization Lock on the Target Machine 47 Submit Request to Agent 47 Check If Request Is Complete 47 Transfer Request Results 47 Acknowledge Successful Data Transfer 47 Prepare Request Results for Insert 48 Insert Data Into Database 48 Transform Inserted Data 48 Cleanup Machine Data 48 Partially Release the Synchronization Lock on the Target Machine 48 Cleanup Request Data 48

Windows Agent Uninstallation Process 48

Detect Previous Install 49 Validate Installation Environment 49 Interrogate Target Environment 50 Resolve Uninstall Dependencies 50 Uninstall Module 50 Uninstall Module Installer 50 Fully Release the Synchronization Lock on the Target Machine 51 Partially Release the Synchronization Lock on the Target Machine 51

Cleanup Request Data 51 Windows Agent Upgrade Process 51 Windows Agent Manual Installation Process 52

No Manual Upgrade 52

VMware, Inc.

Contents

Manual Window Agent Installation 52 Windows Agent Communication Protocols 53 Communication Protocol Change Process 54

Detect Previous Install 54

Uninstall Agent 54

Uninstall Package Installer 54

Uninstall Basic Installer 55

Validate Installation Environment 55

Install Simple Installer 55

Store Installation Data in the Database 56

Install Module Installer 56

Fully Release the Synchronization Lock On the Target Machine 56

Submit Request to Agent 56

Check If Request Is Complete 56

Transfer Request Results 56

Acknowledge Successful Data Transfer 57

Prepare Request Results For Insert 57

Insert Data Into Database 57

Transform Inserted Data 57

Cleanup Machine Data 57

Partially Release the Synchronization Lock on the Target Machine 57

Cleanup Request Data 57 Debug Window Agent Installations 58

VCM UNIX Agent 59

UNIX Agent Directory Structure After Installation 59

/opt/CMAgent 59

/opt/CMAgent/Agent 60

/opt/CMAgent/CFC 61

/opt/CMAgent/data 63

/opt/CMAgent/data/db 63

/opt/CMAgent/data/db/DtmDB/RDM 63

/opt/CMAgent/data/db/PDS 63

/opt/CMAgent/data/db/SM/RDM 64

/opt/CMAgent/ECMu 64

/opt/CMAgent/ECMu/x.x/bin 65

/opt/CMAgent/ECMu/x.x/scripts 65

/opt/CMAgent/install 66

/opt/CMAgent/Installer 68

/opt/CMAgent/ThirdParty 68

/opt/CMAgent/ThirdParty/x.x/PatchAssessment 68

/opt/CMAgent/uninstall 69 Directories Created During an Inspection 69 Directory of Executed Scripts and Results 70 Collector Certificates 70 Patch Assessment 71 Exploratory UNIX Agent Troubleshooting 71

Installation Errors 71

Collector Cannot Contact the Agent 72

Agent is Unresponsive 72

Collections Return No Data 73

Monitoring Network Traffic 78

Index 81

VMware, Inc.

VCM Troubleshooting Guide

VMware, Inc.

About This Book

The VMware vRealize Configuration Manager Troubleshooting Guide explains problems that might occur with VMware vRealize Configuration Manager.

In addition, parts of this document describe how to find diagnostic information to help you or VMware Technical Support analyze problems.

Intended Audience

This information is for experienced Windows, Linux, UNIX, or Mac OS X system administrators who are familiar with managing network users and resources, and with performing system maintenance.

To use this information effectively, you must have a basic understanding of how to configure network resources, install software, and administer operating systems. You also need to fully understand your network topology and resource naming conventions.

Document Feedback

VMware welcomes your suggestions for improving our documentation. If you have comments, send your feedback to docfeedback@vmware.com.

Technical Support and Education Resources

The following technical support resources are available to you. To access the current version of this book and other books, go to http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

Online and Telephone Support

Support Offerings To find out how VMware support offerings can help meet your business

VMware Professional Services

VMware, Inc.

To use online support to submit technical support requests, view your product and contract information, and register your products, go to

http://www.vmware.com/support.

Customers with appropriate support contracts should use telephone support for priority 1 issues. Go to http://www.vmware.com/support/phone_

support.html.

needs, go to http://www.vmware.com/support/services.

VMware Education Services courses offer extensive hands-on labs, case study examples, and course materials designed to be used as on-the-job reference tools. Courses are available onsite, in the classroom, and live online. For onsite pilot programs and implementation best practices, VMware Consulting

VCM Troubleshooting Guide

Services provides offerings to help you assess, plan, build, and manage your virtual environment. To access information about education classes, certification programs, and consulting services, go to

http://www.vmware.com/services.

VMware, Inc.

Troubleshooting Overview

Before making changes to your environment to solve a troubleshooting situation, learn as much as possible about the problem.

This chapter includes the following topics:

Troubleshooting Workflow 9

Verifying That Behavior Is Negative 10

Isolating Behavior 10

Identifying External Factors 10

Checking VCM Logs 11

Troubleshooting Workflow

Many troubleshooting situations follow a workflow that might allow you to discover the cause of simple problems and correct them on your own.

In other cases, the workflow involves gathering information in the form of files or other evidence, and contacting VMware Technical Support for further assistance.

Figure 1–1. Troubleshooting Workflow

VMware, Inc.

VCM Troubleshooting Guide

Verifying That Behavior Is Negative

Sometimes, an apparent error might not be a real error.

n A message might seem like an error when it is only a warning.

n A designed behavior might seem like an error if the result is not what you expect.

For example, in compliance, VCM highlights noncompliant systems because they fail to meet rules, but this convention might be the opposite of your own thinking. In other words, you might define rules that look for incorrect settings to eliminate, instead of correct settings to keep. When that happens, VCM marks machines noncompliant that you thought were configured properly. VCM is performing as designed though: the machines failed to have the incorrect settings.

The best first step to troubleshooting is to verify that you have a real problem. Click the context-sensitive Help buttons on the Console or wizards, and determine whether a message is only a warning, or whether the suspect behavior is an operation that is running the way that it should.

Isolating Behavior

After determining that you have a real problem, try to reduce the number of factors that might be causing the problem.

Eliminate, one by one, conditions that might be contributing to the behavior until a minimum of factors are still present when the error occurs.

For example, if you see a problem on a single machine during a collection on 50 machines, with 10 data types per machine, the first step is to eliminate the 49 machines that did not exhibit the problem and rerun the collection only against the problem machine. You can usually determine which machine failed by viewing the details of the job from the Job History screen under Administration. Assuming that the problem still exists, you then eliminate data types, one or two at a time, until you find the data type that is causing the behavior. Again, the job details might indicate which data types fail.

With process of elimination, you can understand and document when the undesired behavior occurs and you can reproduce it consistently.

Identifying External Factors

Sometimes a behavior cannot be predicted or isolated in VCM alone. When that happens, note the environment at the time that the behavior occurs.

Performance

System load can indicate performance problems.. VCM processes a large amount of data, and the servers that run the database and main application are subject to periods of high resource consumption. For Windows machines, the Performance tab in Windows Task Manager provides this kind of information.

On the Collector server and the Agent machines, note the system load, memory usage, network traffic, time of day, other running applications, or other details that might decrease performance. With this approach, you might be able to find a specific time or a set of other conditions that must be present for the undesired behavior to occur.

For example, every time a collection stalls at a specific step in the process, you notice that a single CPU is running at 100% capacity. The problem might be caused by a number of factors, but knowing that the CPU always correlates with the behavior is a significant piece of external evidence.

VMware, Inc.

Operating System Logs

The operating system event log can identify external factors that might cause problems..You can detect simple problems by reviewing the security and application logs. Common errors include authentication problems:

Report Server (MSSQLSERVER) cannot connect to the report server database.

However, any message that occurs during the time frame surrounding the undesired behavior is suspect, especially if the same error or warning always accompanies the behavior.

Hardware

Errors and behaviors caused by hardware problems are among the most erratic. You might see a series of seemingly unrelated errors in sequence, or you might see the same error at random times. You might also see VCM operation degrade over time. This sort of irregular evidence might indicate a need for system hardware diagnostics.

Checking VCM Logs

During normal operation, VCM writes files with the .dbe extension to various locations, which store debug information about VCM.

The Collector writes additional debug information to the VCM database whenever jobs are running in the VCM Console.

Troubleshooting Overview

The Collector log is vital because it records all primary functions of VCM, and when VMware Technical Support engineers mention the debug log in the singular, they mean this Collector log.

Debug logs are a common troubleshooting tool for VMware Technical Support, so if you have called for assistance before, you might already be familiar with the process of gathering them. You might even recognize certain messages that appear in the logs. Even if that is the case, be aware that the debug logs were not designed for the average user. The messages were written to help engineers understand why VCM is operating the way that it is. You are free to review the logs yourself, but usually you forward the logs in their entirety to VMware Technical Support for analysis.

While it is not necessary to know every message that a debug log might contain, it is helpful to know about the types of messages.

Info Messages

Although VCM is not configured to save them by default, info messages are the most common message category. VCM usually discards info messagesto reduce debug file size, but you temporarily enable the saving of info messages to help you are look for clues related to a problem.

After enabling info messages, nearly every action that VCM performs is recorded in debug logs. Even though the messages are only informational, they provide a context for error behavior and can be important in solving a troubleshooting problem.

Warning Messages

Warnings indicate an unexpected situation but do not necessarily indicate a permanent problem. Many common situations such as network timeouts or authentication failures produce warnings.

VMware, Inc.

Warning messages usually do not prevent VCM from normal operation. They are intended to alert engineers about a possible problem.

VCM Troubleshooting Guide

Error Messages

Error messages indicate serious problems. VCM processes do not stop running because of an error, but VCM might not continue normally.

For example, if the collection of a specific data type produces a value that is not of the type that the database expects, VCM might have to discard the collected information for that entire data type. Discarding collected information produces an error message that indicates that something did not work properly. VCM can recover and continue, but the data you wanted for that collection is not correct.

Exception Messages

Exception messages indicate a problem that unexpectedly stops VCM because of a complete failure of the current process.

For example, the following exception might occur when there is a communication problem between the Collector and Agent.

A connection with the server could not be established HRESULT 0x80072efd;

VMware, Inc.

Types of Problems

VCM problems usually fall into common categories.

This chapter includes the following topics:

User Interface Problems 13

Security and Authentication Problems 14

SQL Server Problems 14

VCM Agent Problems 15

UNIX Agent Problems 15

Report Server Problems 15

Internet Information Services Problems 16

Network Connectivity Problems 16

Hardware and Performance Problems 16

User Interface Problems

Unwanted VCM behaviors often reveal themselves in the user interface, but the user interface is rarely the root cause.

VMware, Inc.

Common problems directly associated with the user interface are often display anomalies. Duplicate columns in the data grid, inappropriately enabled or disabled fields, and poor formatting are all examples of user interface problems. In this example, the root nodes of a report are incorrectly compressed into a space that is too narrow.

VCM Troubleshooting Guide

Figure 2–1. User Interface Formatting Problem

Security and Authentication Problems

VCM acts as a multiple-system administration tool and must have administrator authority on all the machines that it manages.

The necessary authority might be accidentally removed or restricted. Common authentication problems include changed passwords, dropped administrator access, or security measures such as a proxy server, that are added without updating VCM. In addition to managed machine access, VCM also requires access to its SQL Server database with the authority to insert, modify, and delete data.

Both kinds of access problems might reveal themselves in the user interface, in the VCM debug logs, or in the operating system event log:

The VCM Collector service failed to start due to the following error:

The service did not start due to a logon failure.

SQL Server Problems

Nearly all data associated with VCM is stored in its SQL Server databases.

Datab ase Description

VCM Contains the collected managed machine data gathered from VCM

VCM_Coll Stores information about the user interface, such as Collector settings

VCM_Raw Performance-enhancing database that temporarily holds collection data

Agents

and options.

before bulk insertion into the VCM database

VCM_UNIX Contains collected managed machine data from any UNIX Agents in

the environment

VMware, Inc.

SQL Server errors might include resource, disk space, or authentication problems, among others. Poor tuning of your SQL Server might also cause performance problems such as data bottlenecks. Evidence of SQL Server trouble might appear in the user interface or the debug logs, but messages directly related to SQL Server typically appear directly in the SQL Server logs:

INSERT statement conflicted with COLUMN FOREIGN KEY constraint 'fk_vcm_

sysdat_role_rules_role_id'. The conflict occurred in database 'VCM', table

'vcm_sysdat_rules', column 'rule_id'.

VCM Agent Problems

The VCM Agent is the locally installed mechanism by which VCM collects information from a managed machine. If the Agent is not functioning properly, collections from that machine might fail.

In the VCM Console, the Running Jobs display is the first place to check when looking for problems with an Agent. A typical error message for an Agent that cannot start collecting might be:

There was a problem parsing the agent instructions document.

The message indicates that a conflict occurred in the instruction set sent to the Agent, the Agent could not process its instructions, and collection failed as a result.

UNIX Agent Problems

Types of Problems

UNIX operates differently from Windows. To accommodate the differences, VCM uses a separate Agent for Linux or UNIX based managed machines.

Troubleshooting UNIX Agent problems might be easier than Windows, because certain operations available for Windows Agents are not available on the UNIX side. For example, compliance enforcement is not available for UNIX, so you do not need to investigate compliance messages when you troubleshoot on UNIX.

Report Server Problems

The Report Server is responsible for the graphical display of information in VCM and for VCM scheduled reports. A Report Server error usually appears in the user interface.

An error has occurred during report processing.

System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: An error has occurred during

report processing -

Microsoft.Reporting.Services.Diagnostics.Utilities.RSException: An error has

occurred during report processing -

. . .

You can determine if a problem exists with the Report Server by navigating to the Report Server home page to see if the native interface for the Report Server is working. The URL is usually the name or IP address of the Report Server machine followed by Reports:

http://report-server-name-or-IP/Reports

VMware, Inc.

If the same error seen in the VCM user interface also occurs directly in the Report Server interface, the problem is almost certainly with the Report Server itself, and not with VCM. If the Report Server interface does not show the error, the cause is likely in VCM.

VCM Troubleshooting Guide

Internet Information Services Problems

The VCM user interface is hosted on Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), which might be incorrectly configured.

Sometimes the VCM user interface displays an error similar to what you see when you fail to connect to a Web page. Error messages such as 404 File Not Found or 403 Forbidden are typical IIS messages, and indicate improper configuration of IIS in relation to VCM or Report Server pages. You might also see ASP.NET errors:

Server object error 'ASP 0177:8007007e'

Server.CreateObject Failed

/vcm5/L1033/SumAdminDeployment.asp, line 68

8007007e

Network Connectivity Problems

The VCM Collector must have a network connection to all the Agents that send data. In addition, split installations require network connections between the separate VCM servers: Collector, SQL database, and Web server.

Failed network connections do not usually occur between all systems at the same time, so network issues are often easier to diagnose. A failed connection typically appears in the user interface as a failure of a VCM or VCM Patching job on a single or subset of managed machines. In the Jobs Detail display, a

PingFailed message indicates connectivity problems.

A way to test network connectivity is to ping the Agent from the Collector. From the Collector, it might be necessary to connect to the HTTP port of an Agent if any of the following are true:

n The environment contains a firewall.

n The Agent is a UNIX Agent.

n The Agent machine is using HTTP instead of the DCOM protocol for its primary communication

method.

To connect to the HTTP port, type telnet

agent-machi ne-name -or-IP

A successful command returns only a blank screen, which indicates that the managed machine has answered the connection request and awaits further instructions. You can break the connection and exit telnet by typing Ctrl+] and then quit.

If you send the telnet command and receive any other message (such as Connection refused or

Connection timeout) that is a good indication of a network problem. Failed network connections must

be resolved with the help of local support before further VCM troubleshooting. Otherwise, you cannot know whether or not the problems you are seeing are network related.

Hardware and Performance Problems

Hardware and performance problemsare among the most difficult to diagnose because they are often intermittent and random.

Sometimes, the only common denominator is that the problem is random. When that happens, look for possible hardware or performance evidence.

26542 at the command prompt.

Running out of disk space is the most common hardware problem.On the VCM servers, use the operating system file or disk management tools to check that enough disk space is available for the database and for the VCM application itself.

VMware, Inc.

Types of Problems

Next, make sure that enough memory and CPU cycles exist for VCM services and processes to start and continue properly. If VCM is competing with other, non-VCM processes, performance might degrade to the point that errors and exceptions appear in the debug log.

Finally,you might need to run diagnostics on hardware components, such as memory chips, processors, or system boards.

For the recommended hardware sizing and configuration needed to run VCM, see the installation documentation.

VMware, Inc.

VCM Troubleshooting Guide

VMware, Inc.

Gathering Diagnostic Information

To solve a problem, you need to collect information for your own analysis or for forwarding to VMware Technical Support.

This chapter includes the following topics:

What to Send to VMware Technical Support 19

Capture a Desktop Image 20

Capture a Window Image 20

Set the Debug Log to Store all Message Types 21

Extract the Debug Log 21

Extract SQL Server Logs 22

Collect IIS Logs 22

Collect ARS Files 23

Collect the UNIX Syslog Messages 24

Collect Import/Export Tool Logs 24

Extract Windows Event Logs 24

Extract Windows System Information 25

Collect UNIX ETL Logs 25

Collect VCM Installation Logs 25

Enable VCM Patching Logging 25

Collect VCM Patching Logs 26

Collect Agent Logging 26

What to Send to VMware Technical Support

To help VMware Technical Support analyze a VCM problem, you often need to gather and send files, exports of system logs, message text, or interface images.

Table 3–1. What to Send to VMware Technical Support

Type of Problem What to Send

User interface Screenshots

Security and authentication

VMware, Inc.

Screenshots Error messages VCM debug logs

VCM Troubleshooting Guide

Type of Problem What to Send

SQL Server SQL Server logs

VCM Agent Collector debug log

UNIX Agent Collector debug log

Report server Screenshots

IIS Screenshots

Network connectivity Network connectivity problems are usually investigated by local site

Windows system and application event logs VCM debug logs

Agent ARS files Windows system and application event logs

UNIX Agent debug log UNIX Agent ZRP files UNIX system log

SQL profiler trace files Collector debug log

Entries from IIS logs

support.

Hardware and performance

Capture a Desktop Image

Desktop screenshots capture the exact behavior that you see, in the broad context of your entire workspace.

Use desktop screenshots alone or in a series to capture error messages, changes in behavior over time, or to verify data that you enter in wizards or other interfaces.

Procedure

1. On the keyboard, press Print Screen (PrtScn).

2. Open a new message or document.

3. Press Ctrl+v to paste the image into the message or document.

Capture a Window Image

Window screenshots capture the exact behavior that you see, with the focus on one interface.

Use window screenshots alone or in a series to capture error messages, changes in behavior over time, or to verify data that you enter in wizards or other interfaces.

Procedure

Hardware and performance problems are usually investigated by local site support.

1. To bring it into focus, click the window that you want.

2. On the keyboard, press Alt+Print Screen (PrtScn).

3. Open a new message or document.

4. Press Ctrl+v to paste the image into the message or document.

VMware, Inc.

Set the Debug Log to Store all Message Types

Because Info messages might contain important troubleshooting clues, turn them on before extracting the log.

By default, the Collector debug log saves on performance and space by not storing Info messages. After extracting the debug log, turn Info messages back off.

CAUTION This procedure involves using the regedit command to open the Windows Registry and edit the settings.

Procedure

1. In the VCM Console, click Administration, and select Settings > General Settings > Collector.

2. In the Description column, select Type of information that should be logged, and click Edit Settings.

3. Select all message types: Exception, Error, Warning, and Info.

4. Follow the prompts to finish turning on the messages, and click Finish.

5. Repeat steps 1 through 4 for the following Administration settings:

n Settings > General Settings > Database

GatheringDiagnostic Information

n Settings > Windows > Agent - General

n Settings > UNIX > Agent - General

6. On Windows Agent machines, edit the Windows Registry to create a DWORD under the following Registry key.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Configuresoft\CSI\5.0\Common\DebugEvent

DWORD name = Filter DWORD value = 0000003C

7. On the Collector, in the Windows Services Manager, restart the VCM Collector service.

What to do Next

Extract the log.

Extract the Debug Log

To create a DBEfile from your Collector debug log messages, extract the log from the database.

Prerequisites

Configure the debug log to capture all messages, including Info messages. See"Set the Debug Log to Store

all Message Types" on page 21.

Procedure

VMware, Inc.

1. To put the full set of messages into the log, rerun the job that caused the problem you are troubleshooting.

2. After the job completes, wait five minutes before proceeding.

3. In Windows, navigate to the following VCM tools folder.

(By default) C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VCM\Tools

VCM Troubleshooting Guide

4. To open the debug log viewer, right-click the following executable, andRun As Administrator.

ECMDebugEventViewer.exe

5. Click Filter Settings.

6. In the Message Type and Message Source areas, select all of the check boxes and click OK.

7. In the Data Source area, type the names of the servers and databases and click OK.

8. Click Date/Time, and select the between option.

9. Specify the start and end times when the job ran, and pad the times with an additional five or more minutes at each end.

10. Click File, and select Fetch.

The displayed data refreshes.

11. Click File, and select Fetch Next.

Continue the Fetch Next process until no additional data is added to the displayed debug log.

12. Click File, and select Save as DBE.

13. Name the DBE file and note where it is saved.

What to do Next

Using "Set the Debug Log to Store all Message Types" on page 21 as a guideline, restore the original logging levels. Usually, you only log Exception, Error, and Warning messages.

Extract SQL Server Logs

To save messages about database operations, extract SQL Server logs.

Procedure

1. On your SQL Server machine, open SQL Server Management Studio.

2. Select the server name and authentication method, and click Connect.

3. In the Object Explorer pane, expand server-name > Management > SQL Server Logs.

4. Right-click a log, and select View SQL Server Log.

The Log File Viewer displays the logs.

5. Click Export.

The Export Last Fully Retrieved Log dialog box appears.

6. Save the logs.

Give each saved file a meaningful name and note where it is saved.

Collect IIS Logs

To save messages about VCM Web server operations, extract Internet Information Services (IIS) Server logs.

VMware, Inc.

Procedure

1. On the Web server, select Start > Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

2. Expand Internet Information Services > server-name > Web Sites.

3. Right-click Default Web Site, and select Properties.

4. Verify that the Enable Logging check box is selected.

5. In the Active log format drop-down menu, select W3C Extended Log File Format, and click Properties.

6. Make a note of where the logs are stored.

The default location is C:\WINDOWS\system32\LogFiles\W3SVC1\

Each log file has the notation u_exyymmdd.log where yymmdd represents the date.

7. In Windows, copy the log files for the timeframe that you want.

Collect ARS Files

ARS files are raw data files sent to the Collector by the Agent. The Collector deletes the files after processing the data, but you can configure the Collector to keep the files.

GatheringDiagnostic Information

ARS files might hold valuable troubleshooting clues.

CAUTION This procedure involves using the regedit command to open the Windows Registry and edit the settings.

Procedure

1. On the Collector, type regedit at the command prompt to open the Registry.

2. Navigate to the following key:

(32-bit) \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Configuresoft\ECM\4.0\Agent (64-bit) \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Configuresoft\ECM\4.0\Agent

If the Agent key does not exist, navigate to 4.0, right-click, and select New > Key to create it.

3. Under Agent, verify that the AreResultsSaved key value is 1.

If AreResultsSaved does not exist, create it as a new DWORD and set its value to 1.

4. Navigate to the following key:

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\WOW6432Node\Configuresoft\ECM\4.0\Collector

If the Collector key does not exist, navigate to 4.0, right-click, and select New > Key to create it.

5. Under Collector, verify that the AreResultsSaved key value is 1.

If AreResultsSaved does not exist, create it as a new DWORD and set its value to 1.

VMware, Inc.

6. Close the Registry.

7. Stop all running jobs, or make sure that no jobs are currently running.

8. Navigate to the following VCM folder:

The default location is C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VCM\CollectorData

9. Wait until no jobs are running, and delete any existing folders under the directory.

VCM Troubleshooting Guide

10. Start a collection, and note its Job ID as seen in the Running Jobs window.

11. After the job is finished, look for a CollectorData subfolder named with the Job ID of the job that just finished.

12. Create a ZIP file of the entire subfolder.

The ZIP file is what you send to VMware Technical Support.

What to do Next

Reopen the Registry, and set the two AreResultsSaved values to 0.

Collect the UNIX Syslog Messages

The UNIX syslog functions like the Event Log in Windows, because it records a large amount of detailed system messages.

NOTE The messages file location varies.

Procedure

1. Log in to the UNIX Agent system as the root user.

2. Use catto view the contents of the /etc/syslog.conf file.

In the file, look for an entry that indicates where the messages file is located.

3. Find the messages file itself, and transfer a copy of it to your local workstation or Collector.

4. Look for log files that have been rotated, and copy those as well.

Rotated files typically have some value appended to their name, such as /var/log/messages.1.

Collect Import/Export Tool Logs

The VCM import/export tool creates a debug file that might provide troubleshooting clues to data import or export problems.

Procedure

1. Log in to the VCM machine where the import/export tool is installed.

2. Navigate to the following VCM folder:

The default location is C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VCM\Tools\ImportExport

3. Copy any DBE files in the folder.

Extract Windows Event Logs

The Windows Event Log categories are Application, Security, and System. VCM errors almost always appear in the Application or System categories.

Procedure

1. On the Collector, select Start > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer.

2. On the left, locate and highlight the Application or System log.

3. From the pull-down menus, select Action > Save Log File As.

4. Type an appropriate name and click Save.

VMware, Inc.

Extract Windows System Information

Windows includes an executable application file msinfo32.exe that can provide a detailed snapshot of the current state of a system.

Procedure

1. On the Collector, click Start > Run.

2. Type msinfo32.exein the text box.

3. From the pull-down menus, click File > Save.

4. Type a meaningful file name, and click Save.

The save process might take a few minutes to create the NFO file that holds the detailed snapshot.

Collect UNIX ETL Logs

UNIX extract, transform, load (ETL) logs record the detailed workings of the ETL service.

Procedure

1. On the Collector, navigate to the following folder:

GatheringDiagnostic Information

The default location is C:\ProgramData\Configuresoft\ECM\ExceptionLog

2. Copy the log files that begin with etl.

Collect VCM Installation Logs

When installing VCM, the installer script writes log files that record the progress and status of the installation.

Procedure

1. On the Collector, log in as the user who installed VCM.

2. Select Start > Run.

3. In the text box, type %TEMP% to open the \Temp directory.

If you are not taken to the \Temp directory, it might be because of the FlatTempDir Registry key. See Microsoft Knowledge Base article 243215 for more information.

4. Make a ZIP file of all the files in the \_csi_installation folder.

Enable VCM Patching Logging

The VCM Patching module creates its own logs, which supplement the VCM debug file.VCM Patching logging is disabled by default.

Procedure

VMware, Inc.

1. On your SQL Server machine, open SQL Server Management Studio.

2. Connect to the VCM database using your preferred authentication method.

3. From the toolbar, click New Query.

A blank query pane appears.

4. From the toolbar drop-down menu, select the VCM database.

+ 57 hidden pages