For esxi 6 5 6 7 and higher the changes take effect immediately.
Esx 6 5 system logs on host are stored on non persistent storage.
Verifying the location of system logs in vsphere web client.
This means that the log files are written on the sd card.
Vcenter select host configure advance system settings.
If the logs are stored on a local scratch disk vcenter will display an alert stating system logs on host xxx are stored on non persistent storage configure esxi syslog location vsphere web client.
For older versions you may need a reboot the host for the changes to take effect.
After the installation finishes and you connect the first time with the vsphere client a message is displayed.
Vmware esxi syslog errors system logs on host host name are stored on non persistent storage and system logging is not configured on host.
Click the manage tab then click settings.
Click on edit and search for syslog global logdir.
When you are booting up an esxi host using a usb or sd card you might commonly get this system logs are stored on non persistent storage warning message on your esxi hosts.
After a reboot the log files disappear.
Browse to the host in the vsphere web client navigator.
Solved system logs are stored on non persistent storage september 13 2017 january 17 2018 vsaiyan while upgrading esxi hosts from 6 0 u1 to 6 0 u3 i got this warning as showing in below image.
The esx problem syslog nonpersistent warning means that the system writes logs scratch to the non persistent usb device and if you restart your host they won t be saved.