VCSA6.0 /storage/core 100% Usage

Posted 2021-01-22

VCSA6.0 /storage/core 100% Usage due to the big core dumps.

I ran into this issue recently when one of the vCenter appliances in my test environment triggered this alarm in the vSphere web client:

Logging into the VCSA via SSH and running ‘df –h’ showed that the /storage/core area was indeed 100% utilized:

The process for removing these is to stop the vpxd service, then remove the files. You can stop the vpxd service by running :

vcsa01:/ # service vmware-vpxd stop
vmware-vpxd: Stopping vpxd by administrative request. process id was 32334
success

Before removing anything, make sure that the services are stopped by running:

vcsa01:/# service vmware-vpxd status
vmware-vpxd is stopped

Once confirmed to be stopped, that files can be removed by using the ‘rm’ command. For example:

#rm core.vpxd-worker.10288

Once done, confirm that there is now free space in the /storage/core area
With the space now freed up, you can start the vpxd service to get vCenter back up and running:

vcsa01:/# service vmware-vpxd start

The error alarm should now clear in vCenter. As always, be careful when deleting any files from your VCSA. If in doubt, check with VMware Technical Support!