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Table of Contents

Message Format

Message Format

This chapter describes how messages from the Catalyst 6000 or Catalyst  6500 series switch are formatted and how you can enable the System Message Log feature to send messages to the switch internal buffer and system console for display (and optionally, to a logging server on another system). Not all messages indicate problems; some messages are purely informational, while others help diagnose problems with communications lines, internal hardware, or the system software.

Messages are listed by the facility (hardware device, protocol, or a module or system software) that produces the messages. Within each facility, messages are listed by the severity level, from highest to lowest. Each message is followed by an explanation and a recommended action. Messages appear only when the system remains operational.

This chapter contains the following sections:

Message Structure

Messages are structured as follows:

facility-severity-MNEMONIC:description

Messages from the System Message Log are structured the same, but include this date/time stamp at the beginning of the message:

mm/dd/yyy:hh/mm/ss:facility-severity-MNEMONIC:description

where

mm/dd/yyy:hh/mm/ss

is the date and time of the error/event.

Both message types contain this information:


Table 1-1: Facility Codes
Code Facility

CDP

Cisco Discovery Protocol

DTP

Dynamic Trunking Protocol

EARL

Enhanced Address Recognition Logic

FILESYS

Flash File System

IP

Internet Protocol

KERNEL

Kernel

MGMT

Management messages

MCAST

Multicast messages

PAgP

Port Aggregation Protocol

PROTFILT

Protocol Filtering

PRUNING

VLAN Trunking Protocol Pruning

QOS

Quality of Service

SNMP

Simple Network Management Protocol

SPANTREE

Spanning-Tree Protocol

SYS

System

TAC

Terminal Access Controller Access Control System

VTP

VLAN Trunking Protocol

SECURITY

Port Security

UDLD

UniDirectional Link Detection Protocol


Table 1-2:
Severity Level Description

0 - emergency

System is unusable

1 - alert

Immediate action required

2 - critical

Critical condition

3 - error

Error condition

4 - warning

Warning condition

5 - notification

Normal but significant condition

6 - informational

Informational message only

7 - debugging

Message that appears during debugging only

Message Severity Levels

Table 1-3: Representation of Variable Fields in Messages
Representation Type of Information

[dec]

Decimal

[chars]

Character string

[hex]

Hexadecimal integer

The following is a sample system message; an explanation of the message follows (see Table 1-3):

10/17/1998,18:31:15:SYS-5-MOD_INSERT:Module 5 has been inserted

where

10/17/1998,18:31:15 is the date and time of the error (this appears if set for system log messaging).

SYS is the facility type.

5 is the severity level, indicating that it is a normal but significant condition.

MOD_INSERT is the mnemonic code that uniquely identifies the message.

Module 5 has been inserted is the message text.

System Message Log

The System Message Log (syslog) software can save system messages in a log file or direct the messages to other devices. You can specify which system messages to save based on the facility type and the severity level of the message. These messages are saved in an internal buffer that can store up to 1024 system log messages. You can also save messages on UNIX servers that are configured properly. The syslog software reads the messages from the buffer and sends them to the specified destination.

With syslog, you can access system messages by logging in to the console through Telnet. This allows you to monitor system messages remotely from any workstation that supports the Telnet protocol.

System Message Log Procedures

This section describes the configurable options for the System Message Log.

Default System Message Log Configuration

The Catalyst  6000 and 6500 series switches ship with the default configuration shown in Table 1-4:


Table 1-4: Default Configuration
Configuration Parameters Default Setting

System message logging to the console

Enabled

Syslog servers

None configured

System message logging to Telnet sessions

Enabled

Facility/severity level for system messages

sys/5
dtp/5
pagp/5
mgmt/5
cdp/4
udld/4
all other facilities/2

When you first log on to the Catalyst 6000 or 6500 series switch console, enter the show logging command to display the default configuration.

Console Configuration

To change the default facility and severity levels from the default values, perform this task:
Task Command

Set the default facility and severity level for system messages.

set logging level facility severity

To disable system message logging to the console, enter this command:

Console <enable> set logging console disable

syslog Daemon on UNIX syslog Server Configuration

Before system log messages can be sent to a UNIX syslog server, you must configure the syslog daemon on the UNIX server. To configure the syslog daemon on a 4.3 BSD UNIX system, log in as root and perform these steps:

Step 1 Add a line such as the following in the file /etc/syslog.conf:

local7.debug          /var/log/myfile.log

The switch sends messages according to specified facility types and severity levels. The local7 keyword specifies the UNIX logging facility. The messages from the switch are sent to local7. The debug keyword specifies the severity level of the condition being logged. UNIX systems can be set to receive all messages from the Catalyst  6000 or 6500 series switch.

Step 2 Create the log file by entering these commands at the UNIX shell prompt:

$ touch /var/log/myfile.log
$ chmod 666 /var/log/myfile.log

Step 3 Make the syslog daemon read the new changes by entering this command:

        $ kill -HUP \Qcat /etc/syslog.pid\Q
        

syslog Server Configuration

Before system log messages can be sent to a UNIX syslog server, you must configure the syslog daemon on the UNIX server, as described in the section "Console Configuration" on page  1-6. To configure the syslog servers, perform these steps:
Task Command

Step 1 Add a syslog server to the configuration1.

set logging server ip_addr

Step 2 Enable system message logging to configured syslog servers.

set logging server enable

Step 3 Set the facility and severity level for syslog server messages.

set logging level facility severity default

1You can configure a maximum of three syslog servers at any time.

Console <enable> clear logging server ip_addr
 
Console <enable> set logging server disable

Telnet Login Session Configuration

By default, Telnet login sessions to the Catalyst 6000 or 6500 series switch are enabled and receive system messages based on the default facility and severity values. To configure Telnet login sessions, enter these commands:

Console <enable> set logging level facility severity
 
Console <enable> set logging session disable
 
Console <enable> set logging session enable

System Message Display

To display the current configuration for system messages, perform this task:
Task Command

Display the current system message log configuration.

show logging

To display the first N system messages in the internal buffer of the Catalyst  6000 or 6500  series switch, perform this task:
Task Command

Display the first N messages in the buffer.

show logging buffer N

To display the last N system messages in the internal buffer of the Catalyst  6000 or 6500  series switch, perform this task:
Task Command

Display the last N messages in the buffer.

show logging buffer -N

Verification

To verify the System Message Log configuration, enter the show logging command. If you are verifying the System Message Log configuration for the console and the syslog server is disabled, the first two lines of output look as follows:

Console <enable> show logging
Logging console:            enabled
Logging server:            disabled
 

If you are verifying the System Message Log configuration for a Telnet login session, an additional line showing the Current Logging Session is displayed, as follows:

Console <enable> show logging
Logging console: enabled
Logging server: disabled
Current Logging Session: enabled

Examples

This section provides examples for using the System Message Log commands to perform the following tasks:

Console <enable> set logging server enable
System logging messages will be sent to the configured syslog servers.
Console <enable> set logging server 171.69.192.205
171.69.192.205 added to the System logging server table.
Console <enable> set logging session enable
System logging messages will be sent to the current login session.
Console <enable> set logging level all 2 default
System logging facility <all> set to severity 2(alerts).
Console <enable> set logging level all 1
System logging facility <all> set to severity 1(alerts).
 
To display the new System Message Log configuration, enter the show logging command and note the new values in the Server/Default Severity and Current Session Severity columns.
Console <enable> show logging level snmp 3
System logging facility <snmp> set to severity 3 (errors).

To display the new System Message Log configuration, enter the show logging command and note the new value for snmp under the Current Session Severity column:

Console <enable> show logging buffer 4
11/17/1998,13:52:46:SYS-5-MOD_OK:Module 1 is online
11/17/1998,13:52:52:SYS-5-MOD_OK:Module 5 is online
11/17/1998,13:52:54:SYS-3-MOD_FAILREASON:Module 3 failed due to CBL0, CBL1, or CBL2 Error
11/17/1998,13:52:54:SYS-3-MOD_MINORFAIL: Minor problem in module 3
Console <enable> show logging buffer -4
11/17/1998,13:52:54:SYS-3-MOD_MINORFAIL: Minor problem in module 3
11/17/1998,13:53:04:SYS-5-MOD_OK:Module 4 is online
11/17/1998,13:53:31:SNMP-6-SUBAGENTCONN:Subagent 2 connected
11/17/1998,13:54:45:SNMP-5-COLDSTART:Cold Start Trap


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Posted: Thu Feb 4 18:41:35 PST 1999
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