Getting the zdump and extracting vmkernel from it, is a routing procedure. Here is another way of seeing the VMkernel log.
When a host PSOD's just hit ESC (key) on your keyboard. You will be routed to VMKDBG> prompt.
And here are the options:
From the prompt, hit l (l as in Lima) You can trace the VMkernel log here.
Few points on ESXi:
1. There is no seperate VMkernel log created/generated when you run vm-support to extract log file. Needed VMkernel log entries are merged with messages log.
2. zdump file generally gets created after a crash in /var/core partition. There might be instances where you will be unable to extract zdump file from host in such scenarios you can switch to VMKDBG (vmkernel debug mode to see kernel logs).
3. You might want to enable kernelDebug Break and DumpDiagnostic with LogonScreen option from Advanced settings->VMkernel>Boot, For seeing what happens prior to vmkernel load. If you hit ALT+F11 you will see DCUI screen will get stuck @ loading VMkernel.
4. Always good to configure Syslog server for ESXi, specially if you running ESXi on USB sticks. (See my previous post for this reason).
5. Yes, it is a supported option for running ESXi on USB sticks but I have seen always an issues here like (Host hang, DF command showing fully used of VSIORFS file system, Low performance etc). Though I saw good results running ESXi on SD cards (4GB). Check with vendor about the RAMdisk I/O reads and writes performance when considering USB sticks in production environment.
I have more topics to discuss on this. Will post after consolidating important and tested points.
Happy ESXi’s…..:)
Disclaimer: Do it @ your risk. It is recommended to contact Technical Support for crash issues.
