syslog spam Failed to get vmstats.

[Patrick Domack]

open-vm-tools spams syslog every 30seconds with:

[warning] [guestinfo] Failed to get vmstats.

This is cause of the procfs disable on the configure line.
This has been fixed upstream in debian, but hasn't been adjusted yet in ubuntu.

Fix is to remove the --disable-procfs configure option, and to add libprocps-dev to control deps.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Mr. Jester (mrjester)]

Has any work been done to address this bug?

[Patrick Domack (patrickdk)]

It is not, it might be fixed in vivid, as that was pulled from upstream, but I haven't verified yet.

I have pushed my own fixed package into my ppa:patrickdk/general-lucid for trusty if you wish to use it.

[flickerfly (josiah-ritchie)]

What is the file I need to edit to remove --disable-procfs option?

[Patrick Domack (patrickdk)]

debian/rules

and add libprocps-dev to debian/control

Quoting flickerfly <email address hidden>:

> What is the file I need to edit to remove --disable-procfs option?
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1322897
>
> Title:
> syslog spam Failed to get vmstats.
>
> Status in open-vm-tools package in Ubuntu:
> Confirmed
>
> Bug description:
> open-vm-tools spams syslog every 30seconds with:
>
> [warning] [guestinfo] Failed to get vmstats.
>
>
> This is cause of the procfs disable on the configure line.
> This has been fixed upstream in debian, but hasn't been adjusted
> yet in ubuntu.
>
> Fix is to remove the --disable-procfs configure option, and to add
> libprocps-dev to control deps.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1322897/+subscriptions

[flickerfly (josiah-ritchie)]

Oh, inside the package! Thanks.

[WIll Salmon (will-salmon)]

I have just installed open-vm-tools-lts-trusty version: 2:9.4.0-1280544-5ubuntu6~precise2 in place of an out-of-date version of VMware Tools and everything seems to be working fine except for these syslog messages every 30 seconds :

"vmsvc[....]: [ warning] [guestinfo] Failed to get vmstats."

Can anyone tell me if this bug matters?
Is it just annoying messages in syslog or is something really not working?
What do the syslog messages really mean?

Could this fix PLEASE be added to trusty as we're not permitted to use personal packages archives as an O/S code source?

[flickerfly (josiah-ritchie)]

No, it doesn't really matter. It is just annoying to those of us who
appreciate clean logs and systems. You could also simply write a line in
the rsyslog config to discard it. That is actually where I went with it as
it was the least change to the default system and most easily replicated in
my environment. You can put the below in /etc/rsyslog.d/40-discard.conf
then restart rsyslog and it should go away.

# Ubuntu Server has a bug that pops this message out every half hour:
# "vmsvc[1070]: [ warning] [guestinfo] Failed to get vmstats."
if $programname == 'vmsvc' and $msg contains 'Failed to get vmstats' then
stop

On Fri, Jun 5, 2015 at 4:05 AM WIll Salmon <email address hidden> wrote:

> I have just installed open-vm-tools-lts-trusty version:
> 2:9.4.0-1280544-5ubuntu6~precise2 in place of an out-of-date version of
> VMware Tools and everything seems to be working fine except for these
> syslog messages every 30 seconds :
>
> "vmsvc[....]: [ warning] [guestinfo] Failed to get vmstats."
>
> Can anyone tell me if this bug matters?
> Is it just annoying messages in syslog or is something really not working?
> What do the syslog messages really mean?
>
> Could this fix PLEASE be added to trusty as we're not permitted to use
> personal packages archives as an O/S code source?
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1322897
>
> Title:
> syslog spam Failed to get vmstats.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1322897/+subscriptions
>

[WIll Salmon (will-salmon)]

Thanks. At least it's useful to know that the message can be ignored as it comes out EVERY 30 SECONDS (not every 30 min) !!

I found that the suggested rsyslog /etc/rsyslog.d/40-discard.conf did not work (on Ubuntu 12.04.5 with Trusty kernel and rsyslog version 5.8.6-1ubuntu8.9), so I used the file below instead - see : http://www.rsyslog.com/discarding-unwanted-messages/

# Discard unwanted message from vmtoolsd
# Ubuntu open-vm-tools-lts-trusty has bug that writes message every 30sec:
# "vmsvc[1070]: [ warning] [guestinfo] Failed to get vmstats."
#
# See https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1322897
#
:msg, contains, "[ warning] [guestinfo] Failed to get vmstats." ~

[flickerfly (josiah-ritchie)]

Sorry, I was assuming a newer version. That should work on 14.04, but your
syntax will work on both I believe. Glad you found what you needed.

On Tue, Jun 9, 2015 at 4:11 AM WIll Salmon <email address hidden> wrote:

> Thanks. At least it's useful to know that the message can be ignored as
> it comes out EVERY 30 SECONDS (not every 30 min) !!
>
> I found that the suggested rsyslog /etc/rsyslog.d/40-discard.conf did
> not work (on Ubuntu 12.04.5 with Trusty kernel and rsyslog version
> 5.8.6-1ubuntu8.9), so I used the file below instead - see :
> http://www.rsyslog.com/discarding-unwanted-messages/
>
> # Discard unwanted message from vmtoolsd
> # Ubuntu open-vm-tools-lts-trusty has bug that writes message every 30sec:
> # "vmsvc[1070]: [ warning] [guestinfo] Failed to get vmstats."
> #
> # See https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1322897
> #
> :msg, contains, "[ warning] [guestinfo] Failed to get vmstats." ~
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1322897
>
> Title:
> syslog spam Failed to get vmstats.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/1322897/+subscriptions
>