vCenter Server log file locations by services

Location of vCenter Server log files (KB 1021804)

vCenter Server 5.x and earlier versions on Windows XP, 2000, 2003:    %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs\
vCenter Server 5.x and earlier versions on Windows Vista, 7, 2008:    C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs\
vCenter Server Appliance 5.x:    /var/log/vmware/vpx/
vCenter Server Appliance 5.x    UI: /var/log/vmware/vami


vpxd.log: 

The main vCenter Server logs, consisting of all vSphere Client and WebServices connections, internal tasks and events, and communication with the vCenter Server Agent (vpxa) on managed ESX/ESXi hosts.
vpxd-profiler.log, profiler.log and scoreboard.log: 

Profiled metrics for operations performed in vCenter Server. Used by the VPX Operational Dashboard (VOD) accessible at https://VCHostnameOrIPAddress/vod/index.html.
vpxd-alert.log: 

Non-fatal information logged about the vpxd process.
cim-diag.log and vws.log: 

Common Information Model monitoring information, including communication between vCenter Server and managed hosts' CIM interface.
drmdump\: 

Actions proposed and taken by VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), grouped by the DRS-enabled cluster managed by vCenter Server. These logs are compressed.
ls.log: 

Health reports for the Licensing Services extension, connectivity logs to vCenter Server.
vimtool.log: 

Dump of string used during the installation of vCenter Server with hashed information for DNS, username and output for JDBC creation.
stats.log:

 Provides information about the historical performance data collection from the ESXi/ESX hosts
sms.log: 

Health reports for the Storage Monitoring Service extension, connectivity logs to vCenter Server, the vCenter Server database and the xDB for vCenter Inventory Service.
eam.log: Health reports for the ESX Agent Monitor extension, connectivity logs to vCenter Server.
catalina.<date>.log and localhost.<date>.log: 

Connectivity information and status of the VMware Webmanagement Services.
jointool.log: 

Health status of the VMwareVCMSDS service and individual ADAM database objects, internal tasks and events, and replication logs between linked-mode vCenter Servers.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1021804

Location of vSphere Profile-Driven Storage log files (KB 2056646)

vCenter Server 5.x and earlier versions on Windows XP, 2000, 2003:    %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\VMware\Infrastructure\Profile-Driven Storage\Logs
vCenter Server 5.x and earlier versions on Windows Vista, 7, 2008:    C:\ProgramData\VMware\Infrastructure\Profile-Driven Storage\Logs
vCenter Server 5.x Linux Virtual Appliance: /var/log/vmware/vpx/sps


sps.log:

The main Profile-Driven Storage logs, consisting of all vCenter Server and Management Webservices connections, internal tasks and events, and information about the storage profile integrity.
vim-sps-install.log: 

This file consists of information about the installation of Profile-Driven Storage including computer name, operating system revision, the date of installation and the number of revisions that have been installed or upgraded on the system.
wrapper.log:   

This file provides information about the state of the Java runtime environment.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2056646

Location of vSphere Web Client service logs (KB 2004090)

For vSphere 5.0, all the logs for the vSphere Web Client service are located at:
   Windows: C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\vSphere Web Client\DMServer\serviceability\
   Linux: /usr/lib/vmware-vsphere-client/server/serviceability/
For vSphere 5.1, all the logs for the vSphere Web Client service are located at:
   Windows: C:\ProgramData\VMware\vSphere Web Client\serviceability\
   Linux: /var/log/vmware/vsphere-client/serviceability/
For vSphere 5.5, all the logs for the vSphere Web Client service are located at:
   Windows: C:\ProgramData\VMware\vSphere Web Client\serviceability\
   Linux: /var/log/vmware/vsphere-client/


logs\vsphere_client_virgo.log:

The main vSphere Web Client log, consisting of all communication between underlying Flex endpoint connections, internal tasks and events
logs\access\localhost_access_log.<date>.txt:

Individual HTTP requests from the Web browser
logs\virgo-serverlog.log:

Information about plug-in bundle communication
eventlogs/eventlog.log

Time stamps of startup and shutdown of the vSphere Web Client service

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2004090

Location of vCenter Single Sign-On log files for vCenter Server 5.1 and 5.5 (KB 2033430)

vSphere 5.1 using vCenter Single Sign-On 5.1:
   vCenter Server 5.1.x on Windows Server 2003 – C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\SSOServer\logs\
vCenter Server 5.1.x on Windows Server 2008/2012 – C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\SSOServer\logs\
vCenter Server Virtual Appliance 5.1.x – /var/log/vmware/sso/
vSphere 5.5 using vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5:
   vCenter Server 5.5.x on 2003 – %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\CIS\
vCenter Server 5.5.x and 2008, 2012 – C:\ProgramData\VMware\CIS\
vCenter Server Virtual Appliance 5.5.x – /var/log/vmware/sso/


vminst.log

 SSO installer log
vim-sso-msi.log 

MSI installer verbose logs for SSO installation
vim_ssoreg.log 

SSO Service log
exported_sso.properties 

Endpoint information about each of the SSO Solution Users and identity sources extracted from previous vCenter Single Sign On 5.1.0 instance
vim-openssl-msi.log 

MSI installer verbose log for OpenSSL installation
vim-python-msi.log 

MSI installer verbose log for Python installation
vim-kfw-msi.log 

MSI installer verbose log for MIT Kerberos installation

SSO logs grouped by component and purpose include:
logs\vmdird\vdcpromo.log

Promotion and demotion operation information for the SSO instance when joined or removed from a linked configurations
logs\vmdird\vdcsetupIdu.log

 VMware Directory Service setup post-installation log containing information about the localhost name
logs\vmdird\vmdir.log 

Health reports for the VMware Directory Service (VMDir) service and the VMDir database
logs\vmkdcd\vmkdcd.log 

Key Distribution Center (kdc) run-time log, reports ports conflicts preventing the service from starting
logs\vmware-sso\vmware-sts-idmd.log 

VMware Identity Management service run-time logs, time-stamped records of user attempts when accessing SSO for administrative purposes
logs\vmware-sso\vmware-sts.ldmd-perf.log 

VMware Identity Management service performance counter logs
logs\vmware-sso\VMwareIdentityMgmtService. date.log 

Commons Daemon log once the Identity Management Service has started
runtime\VMwareSTS\logs\ssoAdminserver.log 

SSO admin server
runtime\VMwareSTS\logs\lookupServer.log 

Lookup server log
runtime\VMwareSTS\logs\catalina. date.log 

Standard Tomcat logs
runtime\VMwareSTS\logs\vmware-identity-sts.log 

VMware Security Token Service service run-time logs, time-stamped records of issuing, validating, and renewal of security tokens.
runtime\VMwareSTS\logs\vmware-identity-sts.log 

VMware Security Token Service performance counter logs.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2033430