Following is a list of the most common Cisco device configuration commands that I am using when setting up a router or switch from scratch, such as hostname, username, logging, vty access, ntp, snmp, syslog. For a router I am also listing some basic layer 3 interface commands, while for a switch I am listing STP and VTP examples as well as the interface settings for access and trunk ports.
This is not a detailed best practice list which can be used completely without thinking about it, but a list with the most common configurations from which to pick out the once required for the current scenario. Kind of a template. Of course with IPv6 and legacy IP.
Second post of this little series. While I was using my CCNP SWITCH lab for testing many different protocols, I “showed” and saved the output of those protocols as well. Refer to the lab overview of my last post in order to understand those outputs.
I basically saved them as a reference for myself in case I am interested in the information revealed by them. I won’t explain any details of the protocols nor the outputs here. Just many listings. Fly over them and reflect yourself whether you would understand anything. ;) Here we go:
Continue reading CCNP SWITCH Lab show commands
While preparing for my CCNP SWITCH exam I built a laboratory with 4 switches, 3 routers and 2 workstations in order to test almost all layer 2/3 protocols that are related to network management traffic. And because “PCAP or it didn’t happen” I captured 22 of these protocols to further investigate them with Wireshark. Oh oh, I remember the good old times where I merely used unmanaged layer 2 switches. ;)
In this blogpost I am publishing the captured pcap file with all of these 22 protocols. I am further listing 46 CHALLENGES as an exercise for the reader. Feel free to download the pcap and to test your protocol skills with Wireshark! Use the comment section below for posting your answers.
Of course I am running my lab fully dual-stacked, i.e., with IPv6 and legacy IP. On some switches the SDM template must be changed to be IPv6 capable such as
sdm prefer dual-ipv4-and-ipv6 default .
Continue reading Wireshark Layer 2-3 pcap Analysis w/ Challenges (CCNP SWITCH)
This is just a small post on how to enable SNMP on a Lastline Advanced Malware Protection appliance in order to query the basic host and network MIBs from an SNMP monitoring server. Note that this is not the preferred method of monitoring a Lastline device. The Product API (PAPI) should be used instead such as shown in the online docs. However, basic SNMP gives access to the CPU, memory, load average and the network interface statistics incl. the anonymous VPN tunnel interface.
Since all Lastline devices are basically a Ubuntu server, the basic setup for SNMP is quite similar to my tutorial for a generic Linux. The only step missing there is the allow statement for the Uncomplicated Firewall (ufw).
Continue reading Lastline SNMP Monitoring
A few weeks ago I constructed an MRTG/Routers2 template for the Fortinet FortiGate firewalls. I am using it for monitoring the FortiGate from my MRTG/Routers2 server. With the basic MRTG tool “cfgmaker” all graphs for the interfaces are generated automatically. My template is an add-on that appends graphs for CPU, memory, and disk usage, as well as connections and VPN statistics. Furthermore, it implements the ping statistics graph and a “short summary”, which only shows the system relevant graphs.
Continue reading MRTG/Routers2: Template FortiGate
Finally, this is how I am monitoring my Juniper ScreenOS SSG firewalls with MRTG/Routers2. Beside the interfaces (that can be built with cfgmaker) I am using my template in order to monitor the CPU & memory, count of sessions & VPNs, count of different kind of attacks, etc.
Continue reading MRTG/Routers2: Template Juniper SSG
I am monitoring an (old) SA-2000 cluster of Juniper Secure Access devices with my MRTG/Routers2 system. With the JUNIPER-IVE-MIB I built the configuration file for that monitoring system. In this blog post, I show the graphs generated with MRTG/Routers2 and publish my cfg file as a template.
Continue reading MRTG/Routers2: Template Juniper SA/MAG
Here is my MRTG/Routers2 configuration for a Palo Alto Networks PA-200 firewall. It uses all available OIDs from the PAN-MIB. With a few search-and-replace runs, this template can be used in many other scenarios.
Continue reading MRTG/Routers2: Template Palo Alto
I constructed a MRTG/Routers2 configuration template for the Cisco ASA firewall which consists the OIDs (graphs) for the interfaces, CPU, memory, VPNs, connections, ping times, and traceroute hop counts. With only four search-and-replace changes as well as a few further specifications, the whole SNMP monitoring for that firewall is configured.
I am very interested in statistics about the usage of IPv6 on Internet routers and firewalls. The problem is, that most routers/firewalls do not have unique SNMP OIDs for IPv4 and IPv6 traffic, but only the normal incoming/outgoing packet counters per interface. Therefore I am using two independent ethernet ports and cables between my outer router and my first firewall, one for IPv4-only and the other one for IPv6-only traffic. Now I have independent statistics for each protocol and can combine them in one summary graph. (Though I know that this will never be a “best practice” solution…)
Eine sehr praktische Variante, möglichst viele Sensoren übers Netzwerk abzufragen ohne dabei viel basteln zu müssen, ist die Ethernetbox von MessPC. Man kann sie zum Beispiel mit mehreren kombinierten Temperatur/Luftfeuchtigkeits-Sensoren bestücken. Die Auswertung erfolgt am besten über ein zentrales Monitoring-System.
Auf der Homepage von MessPC befindet sich zwar eine kleine Dokumentation für die Verwendung von MRTG, allerdings wird dort ein zusätzliches Skript vorgestellt, was dank der Verwendung von SNMP ja gar nicht nötig ist. Deswegen poste ich hier mein Template von einem MessPC mit zwei Kombisensoren für Temperatur/Luftfeuchtigkeit, welches für die Verwendung mit MRTG und Routers2 gemäß meiner Installation geeignet ist. Mit nur drei Suchen-und-Ersetzen Durchläufen hat man das Template angepasst.
Continue reading MRTG/Routers2: Template MessPC Ethernetbox
I am always interested in capturing real values via hardware devices in order to generate the appropriate graphs with my monitoring system. Of course, the outside temperature in our city was at the pole position for such a project. Therefore I ordered a few temperature/humidity sensors from PCsensor (via eBay), plugged them via USB on my Raspberry Pi (Raspbian Linux), and queried them via SNMP from my MRTG/Routers2 monitoring server. Here is the whole story:
Continue reading Measuring Temperatures with PCsensor’s TEMPerHUM Sensor
This post describes how to add a Linux machine to the MRTG/Routers2 monitoring server. First, the host must be able to process SNMP requests. Then, a *.cfg file for MRTG/Routers2 is created by running the “cfgmaker” tool with a host-template. Since a few values are wrong in the cfgmaker file, I also explain how to correct them. Finally, I am adding the mrtg-ping-probe lines to the configuration.
Continue reading MRTG/Routers2: Adding a Linux Host
The Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG) can, of course, not only monitor routers via SNMP, but any devices that support the Simple Network Management Protocol, e.g., switches. With the tool “cfgmaker” it is quite easy to add switches with many ports to the monitoring system. However, some subsequent work is needed to have a clean configuration. This blog post presents a step-by-step guide for adding a switch into MRTG/Routers2.
Continue reading MRTG/Routers2: Adding a Switch
This post shortly explains the process of adding a Cisco router into the monitoring system “MRTG with Routers2” as I explained it here. It gives an example on how SNMP is activated on the router and how the *.cfg file for MRTG/Routers2 is created with the additional values for CPU and memory usage.