Tag: cisco

Cisco: How to determine the serial number of hardware components

cisco-serial-numbersSome days ago I had to check for the serial number of a faulty fan tray that need to be exchanged in C6500 series. Now most of you I believe know the commands “show version” or “show hardware” which will get all the information that you need most of the time, but not always. I decided to put in this post some useful commands to identify the Cisco hardware components and their respective identifiers (serial nnumber) on different platforms.

I will use for my example a C6500 series switch, because this support most of the commands that I know. Also the real serial numbers will be stripped out and replace with a fake one, as I don’t want this to be used by third parties.

show version – Any network administrators who work with Cisco devices are more than likely familiar with the show version command. The most common use of this command is to determine which version of the Cisco IOS a device is running, but this command also offers different usesful information like the IOS version, ROM bootstrap, uptime,  RAM quantity, FLASH capacity and many more. Coming back to our topic from this post, show version ouput the Processor board ID which should be the same serial number like the one printed on a sticker on the back of the Cisco device. This is also used as the device serial number in any service contract that you might have. You can see below an excerpt of the show version command on C6500 platform:

Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software
IOS ™ s72033_rp Software (s72033_rp-JK9SV-M), Version 12.2(18)SXD6, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport
Copyright (c) 1986-2005 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Wed 17-Aug-05 17:48 by evmiller
Image text-base: 0x4002100C, data-base: 0x42698000

ROM: System Bootstrap, Version 12.2(17r)S4, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
BOOTLDR: s72033_rp Software (s72033_rp-JK9SV-M), Version 12.2(18)SXD6, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)

r8-c6500 uptime is 6 weeks, 3 days, 20 hours, 32 minutes
Time since r8-c6500 switched to active is 6 weeks, 3 days, 20 hours, 31 minutes
System returned to ROM by reload at 18:50:17 PDT Sat Apr 7 2007 (SP by reload)
System image file is “disk0:s72033-jk9sv-mz.122-18.SXD6.bin”

If you require further assistance please contact us by sending email to
[email protected].

cisco WS-C6506 (R7000) processor (revision 3.0) with 458720K/65536K bytes of memory.
Processor board ID SAL00000XXX
SR71000 CPU at 600Mhz, Implementation 0x504, Rev 1.2, 512KB L2 Cache
Last reset from s/w reset
Bridging software.
X.25 software, Version 3.0.0.
SuperLAT software (copyright 1990 by Meridian Technology Corp).
TN3270 Emulation software.
1 Virtual Ethernet/IEEE 802.3  interface(s)
42 Gigabit Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interface(s)
1917K bytes of non-volatile configuration memory.
8192K bytes of packet buffer memory.

65536K bytes of Flash internal SIMM (Sector size 512K).
Configuration register is 0x2102

show module – beside giving you a list of the modules and slots where they are connected (e.g. on C6500 series), it also return  status, model, hardware address, software / hardware version and the most important for us today, the serial number of each module / sub-module. Check C6500’s output of show module command:

Mod Ports Card Type                                                      Model                      Serial No.
— —– ————————————–               ——————          ———–
1    0  FRU type (0x6003, 0x450(1104))         7600-SSC-400        JAB000000XX
2    2  IPSec VPN Accelerator                                WS-SVC-IPSEC-1     SAD0000X0X
3   16  SFM-capable 16 port 1000mb GBIC     WS-X6516-GBIC      SAL0000000
4    6  Firewall Module                                              WS-SVC-FWM-1       SAD000000X
5    2  Supervisor Engine 720 (Active)              WS-SUP720-3B       SAL0000XX00
6   16  SFM-capable 16 port 1000mb GBIC     WS-X6516-GBIC      SAL0000XXXX

Mod MAC addresses                                            Hw         Fw                 Sw               Status
— ———————————-                      —— ———— ————         ——-
1  0013.60a4.c688 to 0013.60a4.c6c7    1.0    Unknown      Unknown      PwrDown
2  0001.c9df.65ba to 0001.c9df.65bd      1.3    Unknown      Unknown      PwrDown
3  0009.11e3.1c84 to 0009.11e3.1c93     5.0   Unknown      Unknown      PwrDown
4  0019.5671.803a to 0019.5671.8041   4.0    7.2(1)              3.2(10)              Ok
5  0013.c347.2e90 to 0013.c347.2e93   5.3    8.4(2)          12.2(18)SXD6     Ok
6  000d.65f7.1a8c to 000d.65f7.1a9b     5.5    6.3(1)          8.3(0.156)RO     Ok

Mod Sub-Module                        Model                               Serial            Hw     Status
— ————————— ——————                 ————      ——-  ——-
5 Policy Feature Card 3       WS-F6K-PFC3B       SAL0000XXX   2.3     Ok
5 MSFC3 Daughterboard         WS-SUP720          SAL0000X0X0   2.6     Ok

Mod Online Diag Status
— ——————-
1 Unknown
2 Unknown
3 Unknown
4 Pass
5 Pass
6 Pass

show inventory – retrieve and display the Unique Device Identifier (UDI) information from any Cisco product that has electronically stored such identity information. A UDI consists of the following elements: Product identifier (PID), Version identifier (VID) and Serial number (SN).
The PID is the name by which the product can be ordered; it has been historically called the “Product Name” or “Part Number.” This is the identifier that one would use to order an exact replacement part.

The VID is the version of the product. Whenever a product has been revised, the VID will be incremented. The VID is incremented according to a rigorous process derived from Telcordia GR-209-CORE, an industry guideline that governs product change notices.

The SN is the vendor-unique serialization of the product. Each manufactured product will carry a unique serial number assigned at the factory, which cannot be changed in the field. This is the means by which to identify an individual, specific instance of a product.

The raw parameter on the show inventory command is useful mostly for troubleshooting purpose. Compared with the previous commands, this one give you a better overview of the full range of hardware components installed (e.g. fan-tray, power source….) Below you can see an excerpt from the command output:

NAME: “WS-C6506”, DESCR: “Cisco Systems Catalyst 6500 6-slot Chassis System”
PID: WS-C6506          , VID:    , SN: SAL00000XXX

NAME: “WS-C6K-VTT 1”, DESCR: “VTT FRU 1”
PID: WS-C6K-VTT        , VID:    , SN: SMT0000X000

NAME: “WS-C6K-VTT 2”, DESCR: “VTT FRU 2”
PID: WS-C6K-VTT        , VID:    , SN: SMT0000X000

NAME: “WS-C6K-VTT 3”, DESCR: “VTT FRU 3”
PID: WS-C6K-VTT        , VID:    , SN: SMT0000X000

NAME: “WS-C6000-CL 1”, DESCR: “C6K Clock FRU 1”
PID: WS-C6000-CL       , VID:    , SN: SMT0000X000

NAME: “WS-C6000-CL 2”, DESCR: “C6K Clock FRU 2”
PID: WS-C6000-CL       , VID:    , SN: SMT0000A000

NAME: “1”, DESCR: “7600-SSC-400 0 ports FRU type (0x6003, 0x450(1104)) Rev. 1.0”
PID: 7600-SSC-400      , VID: V01, SN: JAB000000XX

show diagbus – in order to find the serial number of port adapters that plug into the Flex WAN module, issue the show diagbus command from the MSFC command-line interface (CLI), like in the example below:

Slot 2: Logical_index 4
2 port adapter Enhanced FlexWAN controller
Board is analyzed ipc ready
HW rev 2.0, board revision A0
Serial Number: JAB0000000 Part number: 73-9539-03

Slot database information:
Flags: 0x2004   Insertion time: 0x249E4 (18w3d ago)

Controller Memory Size:
192 MBytes CPU Memory
63 MBytes Packet Memory
255 MBytes Total on Board SDRAM
Cisco IOS Software, cwlc Software (cwpa2-DW-M), Version 12.2(33)SXH3a, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)

PA Bay 0 Information:
T3+ Serial PA, 1 ports
EEPROM format version 1
HW rev 1.00, Board revision B1
Serial number: 15225203  Part number: 73-3762-02
Slot 2: Logical_index 5
2 port adapter Enhanced FlexWAN controller
Board is analyzed ipc ready
HW rev 2.0, board revision A0
Serial Number: JAB0000000 Part number: 73-9539-03

Slot database information:
Flags: 0x2004   Insertion time: 0x209C0 (18w3d ago)

Controller Memory Size:
192 MBytes CPU Memory
63 MBytes Packet Memory
255 MBytes Total on Board SDRAM
Cisco IOS Software, cwlc Software (cwpa2-DW-M), Version 12.2(33)SXH3a, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)

show idprom – In order to determine the serial number for the chassis and other components. This command has multiple parameter to issue in case that you want to restrict the information that is returned to you show idprom [parameter]. Some parameter option would be: backplane, fan-tray, module, interface and others which you can discover with well known help command show idprom ? . An example you can see below:

show idprom backplane
IDPROM for backplane #0
(FRU is ‘Catalyst 6500 6-slot backplane’)
OEM String = ‘Cisco Systems’
Product Number = ‘WS-C6506’
Serial Number = ‘SAL0000XXX’
Manufacturing Assembly Number = ’73-3436-03′
Manufacturing Assembly Revision = ‘B0’
Hardware Revision = 3.0
Current supplied (+) or consumed (-) =  –

As i said before not all of this commands are working on every Cisco device, that’s why I choose a C6500 for the example as it support all of them. Also this are the commands that I used mostly to obtain information about Cisco hardware components, if there are another ones that you find useful please add them to the comments section and I’ll add them to this article.

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Cisco’s take on 4G

Cisco is predicting that the advent of 4G services will lead to an explosion of new video applications that will transform telecom service providers into what the company is dubbing “experience providers.”

Suraj Shetty, the vice president of marketing for the Cisco Worldwide Service Provider Marketing, said during an interview this week that companies’ investments in high-speed wireless broadband technologies such as WiMAX and Long Term Evolution (LTE) will make high-definition video streaming widely available on both fixed and mobile devices. The upshot of this, he said, is that telecom providers will move more into the cable companies’ traditional territory by offering more comprehensive video services, while the cable companies will offer improved voice and Internet options that will put them in position to better compete with the telcos.

“One thing that has been very clear from day one is that you could deliver high-definition video over a fiber or a DSL connection but it was never possible to deliver it over the air,” he said. “But when 4G comes along, whether it’s WiMAX or LTE, it opens up that possibility.”

Read the full article on NetworkWorld.com…

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Cisco adds rack server to data center computing system

Cisco this week extended its Unified Computing System data center convergence platform with rack mountable servers, saying the new form factor represents an “entry level” into UCS and more choice for customers.

Cisco, however, did not disclose pricing for the 1RU and 2RU servers, which will be available in the fourth quarter.

The new C-Series rack-mount servers are designed to help accelerate the adoption of the Cisco unified computing and data center virtualization system. Like the predecessor B-Series blades, the C-Series rack mount servers utilize X86 Intel Xeon 5500 processors and are optimized for Cisco’s memory expansion and virtualized adapter technologies, which are integral to UCS.

The addition of the C-Series lets customers pick the compute form factor that fits their current and future data center environments, Cisco says.

Read the full article on NetworkWorld.com…

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CRS-1: Cisco’s huge router reaches five-year milestone

Cisco introduced the CRS-1 (Carrier Routing System) on May 25, 2004, as its first multichassis core router platform. The numbers were impressive: Fully configured, the system would have 72 racks of network interface modules and eight racks of interconnecting “fabric” modules, all acting as a single router with 92Tb per second (Tbps) of capacity. In the four-year development of the CRS-1, Cisco even created a new version of its IOS (Internetwork Operating System) software, called IOS XR. The new OS shared elements with the traditional IOS, including its venerable command-line interface, but had a modular architecture for high availability.

Five years later, Cisco’s predictions of high-definition online video and ever-growing demand for Internet capacity have come true, and big carriers including AT&T, Verizon Wireless, China Telecom, Telstra, Comcast and BT Group all have deployed CRS-1s, according to Cisco. But the rising tide has lifted rival Juniper Networks’ core routers even more than Cisco’s, and China’s Huawei Technologies is making inroads in the lower end of the market, according to one analyst.

The CRS-1 came in the wake of Juniper Networks’ T Series routers and TX Matrix interconnection system, another big multichassis platform for the core of carrier networks. It also emerged after several startups, including Caspian Networks and Procket Networks, had tried to jump into the big-money business of supplying the biggest routers on the Internet amid a historic telecommunication crash. Shortly after introducing the CRS-1, Cisco announced it was buying Procket’s assets.

Read the full article on NetworkWorld.com…

Posted on by Calin 0

Cisco releases patch for critical flaw in CiscoWorks

Cisco has released a patch that fixes a vulnerability in CiscoWorks Common Services that could allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to access application and host operating system files. The exploitability of this flaw is rated as high. Note that only CiscoWorks Common Services systems that run on Microsoft Windows are vulnerable. The Solaris version is not affected.

Specifically the following Cisco products that use CiscoWorks Common Services as their base are affected by this vulnerability.

* Cisco Unified Service Monitor versions 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, and 2.1
* CiscoWorks QoS Policy Manager versions 4.0 and 4.1
* CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution versions 2.5, 2.6, 3.0, and 3.1
* Cisco Security Manager versions 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2
* Cisco TelePresence Readiness Assessment Manager version 1.0
* CiscoWorks Voice Manager versions 3.0 and 3.1
* CiscoWorks Health and Utilization Monitor versions 1.0 and 1.1
* Cisco Unified Operations Manager versions 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, and 2.1
* Cisco Unified Provisioning Manager versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3

Source: NetworkWorld.com

Posted on by Calin 1