VMware: Is the SYSLOG Collector running

syslogvmware-esxivmware-vcentervmware-vsphere

I am trying to determine if my Syslog Collector I just set up in vCenter 5 is working correctly.

According to this VMware KB article and this VMware blog article, everything seems to be up and running but I don't see any data in the data folder.

Things I have checked:

  1. The Windows firewall on vCenter has the ports set to allow inc from the Syslog Collector.
  2. The service is running
  3. The directories are there, the install went OK, no errors.
  4. Viewing the Syslog collector in vCenter display setting I set during setup under Home>Administration>Network Syslog Collector> vCenter name. Appears to be listening.

So should I see data under \data right from the start or does something 'bad' have to happen before I see data populate in the folder that Syslog is pointed at? In vCenter there are columns for Host, Logging to, Size listed under Home>Administration>Network Syslog Collector> vCenter name, but I don't see any of my hosts in vCenter listed there.

Best Answer

Okay, I just ran into the same problem myself. From this blog post:

Also, apparently vCenter updates this only as you start the client, there is not refresh button, so as you fix this or add servers to this syslog collector you need to exit vCenter and come back in to see them.

Sometimes it's the simple things...