Troubleshooting the Cisco ACI HTML5 vCenter Plug-in

Troubleshooting the Cisco ACI HTML5 vCenter Plug-in

If problems arise with the Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) HTML5 vCenter plug-in, you can view status and faults for the fabric and for Cisco ACI objects. You also can collect the VMware vSphere Client logs for troubleshooting.

Collect VMware vSphere Client Logs

You can collect VMware vSphere Client logs to troubleshoot problems that might arise in using the Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) HTML5 vCenter plug-in.

Procedure

Step 1

Collect the logs, using one of the following paths, depending on your platform:

  • Linux appliance: /var/log/vmware/vsphere-ui/logs
  • Windows: C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\logs\vsphere-ui\logs

The main VMware vSphere Client log file is vsphere_client_virgo.log.

Step 2

Look for the following information in the log file:

  • URL:=>, Response:=>

    URL:=> is printed before the request to the Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC), and Response:=> is printed after the response from the Cisco APIC. You can analyze the XML that was sent and received.

  • com.cisco.aci.vcplugin

    If an error occurs during the Cisco ACI HTML5 vCenter plug-in installation, related error messages contain com.cisco.aci.vcplugin strings.

  • ERROR: Error-level log messages.

Change the Log Level to Enable Debugging

By default, VMware vSphere Client logs are assigned INFO, WARNING, and ERROR levels. However, you can change the log level to enable debugging.

For detailed information, see Enabling debug logging on the VMware vSphere 5.x/6.x Web Client service (2011485) in the Knowledge Base section of the VMware website.

Procedure

Step 1

Open serviceability.xml.

The following example is for a Linux appliance.

Example:

/usr/lib/vmware-vsphere-ui/server/conf/serviceability.xml

Step 2

Add the following near the end of the serviceability.xml, just before the </configuration> element: 

<logger level="DEBUG" additivity="false" name="com.cisco.aci.vcplugin">
<appender-ref ref="SIFTED_LOG_FILE" />
<appender-ref ref="LOG_FILE" />
</logger>

Step 3

Restart the VMware vSphere Client.

For Linux server:

service-control --stop vsphere-ui
service-control --start vsphere-ui

For Windows server:

cd C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\bin
service-control --stop vsphere-ui 
service-control --start vsphere-ui

Cisco ACI HTML5 vCenter Plug-in Missing from GUI

If you don't see the Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) HTML5 vCenter plug-in in the VMware vCenter Cisco ACI Fabric GUI, complete the following steps:

Procedure

Step 1

Make sure that you can download the .zip file from the VMware vCenter.

Step 2

Check the VMware vSphere Client logs.

See Collect VMware vSphere Client Logs.

You can find relevant information by looking for the string com.cisco.aci.vcplugin.

Step 3

Check that the registration occurred by going to the following URL: https://<VCENTER_IP>/mob/? moid=ExtensionManager&doPath=extensionList["com.cisco.aci.vcplugin"].

You should see the plug-in details on the page that opens. If the page is blank, registration did not occur.

What to do next

If the installation or upgrade failed, unregister the Cisco ACI HTML5 vCenter plug-in and restart the VMware vSphere Client before trying to install again. For information on how to restart the VMware vSphere Client, see Collect VMware vSphere Client Logs.