Synopsis:
Forward a virtual machine's vmware.log file to a syslog server
Prerequisites:
- vSphere 5.1 or higher
- ESXi hosts configured to forward logs to syslog server
The function creates two advanced vm settings, 'vmx.log.destination' and 'vmx.log.syslogID'. The first setting sends the log to the vm's datastore and the syslog server. The second adds the virtual machine's name to the log. Without the second setting the virtual is only identified by its PID. If the virtual machine name has changed since the last time the function has run the name will be updated to the new name.
This function can be run on powered on machines but logs will not be forwarded until the vmx file is reloaded. To reload a vmx file either power off and power on the virtual machine or perform a vMotion. Added .Reload() method to modified virtual machines. Now changes will be reflected immediately.
Inspired from A Hidden vSphere 5.1 Gem – Forwarding Virtual Machine Logs (vmware.log) to Syslog Part 1 | virtually...
function Set-VMSyslog
{
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Add VM advanced settings to foward vmware.log to syslog server
.EXAMPLE
Get-VM -Name "VM Name" | Set-VMSyslog
.EXAMPLE
$VM = Get-VM -Name "VM Name"
Set-VMSyslog -VM $VM
#>
Param (
[Parameter (
Mandatory=$true,
ValueFromPipeline=$true
)
][VMware.VimAutomation.ViCore.Impl.V1.Inventory.VirtualMachineImpl]$VM
)
Begin
{}
Process
{
$SyslogName = $VM.name
$VMLogDestSetting = $VM | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name 'vmx.log.destination'
$VMLogIDSetting = $VM | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name 'vmx.log.syslogID'
$Edit = $false
#Set log destination if needed
if ([bool]!$VMLogDestSetting)
{
$VM | New-AdvancedSetting -Name 'vmx.log.destination' -Value 'syslog-and-disk' -Confirm:$false | Out-Null
$Edit = $true
}
#Set syslog id if needed
if ([bool]!$VMLogIDSetting)
{
$VM | New-AdvancedSetting -Name 'vmx.log.syslogID' -Value $SyslogName -Confirm:$false | Out-Null
$Edit = $true
}
#Update syslog id if name has changed
elseif ($VMLogIDSetting.Value -ne $SyslogName)
{
$VMLogIDSetting | Set-AdvancedSetting -Value $SyslogName -Confirm:$false | Out-Null
$Edit = $true
}
#Reload VM object if edit is made
if ($Edit)
{
$VM.ExtensionData.reload()
}
}
End
{}
}
