Problem Description
While reviewing the vCenter Server health status, the node appeared as "Degraded", even though CPU and memory were reported as healthy.
The degraded component was the Database, which can be alarming at first glance.
This issue was detected in a single-node vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) environment. All identifying information has been intentionally omitted.
Initial Symptoms
- Node Health: Degraded
- CPU: Good
- Memory: Good
- Database: Degraded
- Replication Partner: None (expected for single-node setup)
At first, this may look like a database corruption or service failure, but the database degradation turned out to be a secondary symptom.
Root Cause Analysis (VAMI)
By accessing the VAMI (vCenter Server Management Interface), the following alert was found:
Alert Type: Storage ⚠️
Message:
File system /storage/log is low on storage space.
Increase the size of disk /storage/log.
Alert Date: December 27, 2025
Storage Details
- Partition:
/storage/log - Total Size: 9.8 GB
- Used: 7.8 GB
- Available: 1.5 GB
- Usage: 85%
Although the partition was not critically full, VMware triggers warnings once usage exceeds 80%, which explains the alert and the degraded database status.
Resolution Plan
The selected approach was log cleanup, without resizing disks or restarting services unnecessarily.
Step 1: Backup current usage state
df -h /storage/log > /tmp/df_before.txt
du -h --max-depth=2 /storage/log > /tmp/du_before.txt
Step 2: Remove old rotated logs (older than 30 days)
find /storage/log -name "*.log.[0-9]*" -type f -mtime +30 -delete
find /storage/log -name "*.log.*.gz" -type f -mtime +30 -delete
Step 3: Truncate large active log files
cat /dev/null > /storage/log/vmware/vc-ws1a-broker/nginx-error.log
cat /dev/null > /storage/log/vmware/vc-ws1a-broker/nginx-cds-access.log
Result
After completing the cleanup:
/storage/logusage dropped below the 80% threshold- VAMI storage alert disappeared
- Database health returned to "Good"
- vCenter Server node status changed from Degraded to Healthy
- No reboot was required
Key Takeaway
When vCenter reports "Database Degraded", always check VAMI storage alerts first.
In many cases, this is not a database issue but a log partition threshold problem that can be resolved safely with proper cleanup.