Technical Support Information List

When a problem arises that you are unable to resolve, the resource of last resort is your router technical support representative. To analyze a problem, your technical support representative will need certain information about the situation and symptoms. It will speed the problem isolation process if you are able to present this data when you contact your representative.

Gathering Information About Your Internet

Before gathering any specific data, the first thing to do is compile a list of all symptoms that users have reported on the internetwork (such as connections dropping or slow host responsiveness).

The next step is to gather specific information. Typical information needed to troubleshoot internetworking problems falls into two general categories: information required for any situation and information specific to the topology/problem.

Information always needed by technical support engineers includes the following:

Configuration listing of all routers involved

Complete specifications of all routers involved

Version numbers of software (obtained with show version command) and firmware (obtained with the show controllers command) on all routers

Network topology map, including any suspected back doors

List of hosts and servers (host and server type, number on network, description of host operating systems implemented)

List of network layer protocols, versions, vendors

Specific requirements that vary depending on the situation:

Output from general show commands:

show interfaces

show controllers {serial|token|mci|cbus|fddi}

show processes

Output from protocol-specific show commands:

show protocol-type route

show protocol-type traffic

show protocol-type interfaces

show protocol-type arp

show apple global (AppleTalk only)

show novell servers (Novell only)

The relevant debug diagnostic EXEC commands

Caution Throughout this publication, the use of debug commands is suggested for obtaining information about network traffic and router status. Use these commands with great care. In general, it is recommended that these commands only be used under the direction of your router technical support representative when troubleshooting specific problems. Enabling debugging can disrupt operation of the router when internets are experiencing high load conditions. When you finish using a debug command, remember to disable it with its specific undebug command or with the undebug all command.

The output from protocol-specific ping (Echo Request/Echo Reply) and trace diagnostic tests

Network analyzer traces

Core dumps (use exception dump global configuration command). You can also use the write core command with Software Release 9.0 or higher (if the system is operational)

Getting the Data from Your Router

You must tailor the way you obtain information from the router to the systems you are using to get that information. A few hints are outlined in the following list (organized by information-gathering tool).

For PC and Macintosh

Connect PC or Macintosh to the console port of the router and log all output to a disk file The exact procedure varies depending on the communication package used with the PC.

For Terminal Connected to Console Port or Remote Terminal

The only way to get information with this configuration is to attach a printer to the AUX port on the terminal (if one exists) and force all output to the screen to go to the printer. Using a terminal is undesirable because there is no way to capture the data to a file.

For UNIX Workstation

At your UNIX prompt, enter the command script filename, then Telnet to the router. The UNIX script command causes all screen output to be captured to the filename specified. Enter exit to stop capturing and close the file.

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Note To get your system to automatically log specific error messages or operational information to a UNIX syslog server, use the logging internet-address global configuration command. Refer to your Router Products Configuration and Reference publication for more information about using the logging command and setting up a syslog server.

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Presenting Data to Your Technical Support Representative

Your technical support representative will accept information in any format that you can provide. Common forms include data sent via file transfer, electronic mail, magnetic media, and hard copy. The order of preference is as follows:

• The preferred method of information delivery is for you to deliver information via the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) service over the Internet. If your environment supports FTP, you can place your file in the "incoming" directory on the host named ftp.cisco.com.

• The next best method is to send data by electronic mail. Before trying this method, be sure to contact your router technical support representative, especially when transferring binary core dump files.

• Third on the list is transfer via a PC-based communications protocol, such as Kermit. Again, be sure to contact your technical support representative before attempting any transfer.

• Fourth on the list is transfer by disk or tape.

• The least favorable method is hard copy transfer by physical mail or fax.