---
name: "nvme-samsung-vs-internal-log"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "nvme-cli"
version: "3.2-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/nvme-samsung-vs-internal-log"
---

# nvme-samsung-vs-internal-log(1)

Retrieve Samsung vendor specific internal firmware logs

## NAME

nvme-samsung-vs-internal-log - Retrieve Samsung vendor specific internal firmware logs

## SYNOPSIS

```
nvme [<global-options>] samsung vs-internal-log <device> [OPTIONS]
```

## DESCRIPTION

Collect the internal firmware logs of a Samsung NVMe SSD and write them to disk. Host-initiated telemetry, controller-initiated telemetry and the vendor crash, memory and debug dumps are supported. Each dump is saved as its own file, so a single run usually produces several files.

Use *--dump-type* to pick which dumps to collect; several types may be requested in a single run.

This command will only work on Samsung devices supporting this feature.

The *\<device\>* parameter is mandatory and may be either an NVMe character device (ex: /dev/nvme0) or an nvme block device (ex: /dev/nvme0n1).

## OPTIONS

- \-t \<NAME,...\>, --dump-type=\<NAME,...\>

  Comma-separated list of dump types to extract, given without spaces. The supported types are *host0* and *host1* for the host-initiated telemetry dump using Log Specific Parameter 0 and 1 respectively, *ctlr* (or *controller*) for the controller-initiated telemetry dump, and *vendor* for the vendor dumps. The option may be given more than once to add more types. When this option is omitted, every dump type except *host0* is extracted; *host0* is only collected when it is requested explicitly.

- \-a \<NUM\>, --telemetry-data-area=\<NUM\>

  Telemetry data area to retrieve, 1 to 4. Defaults to 0, which retrieves every data area. Data area 4 is only extracted when the device reports that it supports it. This option only affects the telemetry dumps.

- \-O \<FILE\>, --output-file=\<FILE\>

  Output file name, optionally preceded by a path (ex: *./path/name* or *./path1/path2/*). Any directory in the path that does not exist yet is created. When this option is omitted, the dumps are written to the current directory.

- \-z, --compress

  Collect the dumps into a *temp\_samsung\_dumps* directory next to the output path and save them as a single compressed .tar.gz archive, removing that directory afterwards. The directory is created for this run alone, so the command fails if anything already sits at that path: one left behind by an interrupted run has to be removed before retrying.

- \--hide-progress

  Do not print the incremental progress of an extraction. Useful where the output is captured line by line and a carriage return does not overwrite, so that every update would be kept. The completion line of each dump is still printed.

## GLOBAL OPTIONS

The following options are defined at the top-level nvme command and are available to this subcommand:

- \--dry-run

  Print the command that would be executed, but do not actually execute it.

- \--no-ioctl-probing

  Disable probing for 64-bit IOCTL support.

- \--no-retries

  Disable retry logic on transient errors.

- \-o \<fmt\>, --output-format=\<fmt\>

  Set the reporting format to *normal*, *tabular, 'json*, or *binary*. Only one output format may be used at a time.

- \--output-format-version=\<version\>

  Select the output format version. Version *1* uses the original field naming, while version *2* (default) provides more consistent and script-friendly field names. Other versions are rejected.

- \--quiet

  Suppress informational messages. Errors are still reported, and --quiet cancels any --verbose for the library log level.

- \--set-options=\<key=value\>\[,\<key=value\>...\]

  Set libnvme library options for this invocation. Supported keys are *force-4k*, *mi-probe-enabled*, *test-base-dir* and *test-sysfs-dir*.

- \--timeout=\<ms\>

  Set the timeout for the command in milliseconds. *infinite* or *-1* waits without a time limit (0xffffffff).

- \-v, --verbose

  Increase the level of detail in the output. May be specified multiple times to further increase verbosity.

These options can also be set as machine-wide defaults in [nvme-cli.conf(5)](/nvme-cli.conf/5.md). A command-line flag always overrides the file.

## EXAMPLES

Extract the controller-initiated telemetry, the host-initiated telemetry using Log Specific Parameter 1 and the vendor dumps of the given device into the current directory.

```
# nvme samsung vs-internal-log /dev/nvme0
```

Extract only the controller-initiated telemetry and the vendor dumps, naming both types in a single run.

```
# nvme samsung vs-internal-log /dev/nvme0 -t ctlr,vendor
```

Extract the host-initiated telemetry using Log Specific Parameter 0, which is not collected unless it is named explicitly, into ./dumps/, creating that directory if it does not exist.

```
# nvme samsung vs-internal-log /dev/nvme0 -t host0 -O ./dumps/
```

Extract data area 2 of the host-initiated telemetry using Log Specific Parameter 1, store the result compressed and keep the output quiet.

```
# nvme samsung vs-internal-log /dev/nvme0 -t host1 -a 2 -z --hide-progress
```

## NVME

Part of the nvme-user suite