6.7

Recognizing the characteristics of the software and hardware elements and how they can impact the
problem, you can explore general problems that might be causing the symptoms.
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Misconfiguration of software settings
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Failure of physical hardware
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Incompatibility of components
Break down the process and consider each piece and the likelihood of its involvement separately. For
example, a case that is related to a virtual disk on local storage is probably unrelated to third-party router
configuration. However, a local disk controller setting might be contributing to the problem. If a component
is unrelated to the specific symptoms, you can probably eliminate it as a candidate for solution testing.
Think about what changed in the configuration recently before the problems started. Look for what is
common in the problem. If several problems started at the same time, you can probably trace all the
problems to the same cause.
Testing Possible Solutions
After you know the problem's symptoms and which software or hardware components are most likely
involved, you can systematically test solutions until you resolve the problem.
With the information that you have gained about the symptoms and affected components, you can design
tests for pinpointing and resolving the problem. These tips might make this process more effective.
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Generate ideas for as many potential solutions as you can.
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Verify that each solution determines unequivocally whether the problem is fixed. Test each potential
solution but move on promptly if the fix does not resolve the problem.
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Develop and pursue a hierarchy of potential solutions based on likelihood. Systematically eliminate
each potential problem from the most likely to the least likely until the symptoms disappear.
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When testing potential solutions, change only one thing at a time. If your setup works after many
things are changed at once, you might not be able to discern which of those things made a difference.
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If the changes that you made for a solution do not help resolve the problem, return the
implementation to its previous status. If you do not return the implementation to its previous status,
new errors might be introduced.
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Find a similar implementation that is working and test it in parallel with the implementation that is not
working properly. Make changes on both systems at the same time until few differences or only one
difference remains between them.
Troubleshooting with Logs
You can often obtain valuable troubleshooting information by looking at the logs provided by the various
services and agents that your implementation is using.
Most logs are located in C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\logs for Windows deployments
or /var/log/ for Linux deployments. Common logs are available in all implementations. Other logs are
unique to certain deployment options (Management Node or Platform Services Controller).
vCenter Server and Host Management
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