Information About Call Home
Call Home provides e-mail-based notification of critical system events. Nexus 5000 Series switches provide a range of message formats for optimal compatibility with pager services, standard e-mail, or XML-based automated parsing applications. You can use this feature to page a network support engineer, e-mail a Network Operations Center, or use Cisco Smart Call Home services to automatically generate a case with the Technical Assistance Center.
This section includes the following topics:
Call Home Overview
You can use Call Home to notify an external entity when an important event occurs on your device. Call Home delivers alerts to multiple recipients that you configure in destination profiles (see “Destination Profiles” section).
Call Home includes a fixed set of predefined alerts on your switch. These alerts are grouped into alert groups and CLI commands to are assigned to execute when an alert in an alert group occurs. The switch includes the command output in the transmitted Call Home message. See the “Call Home Alert Groups” section for a list of alerts and the predefined set of CLI commands sent when the alert triggers.
The Call Home feature offers the following advantages:
- Automatic execution and attachment of relevant CLI command output.
- Multiple message format options such as the following:
– Short Text—Suitable for pagers or printed reports.
– Full Text—Fully formatted message information suitable for human reading.
– XML—Matching readable format that uses Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Adaptive Messaging Language (AML) XML schema definition (XSD). The AML XSD is published on the Cisco.com web site at http://www.cisco.com/. The XML format enables communication with the Cisco Systems Technical Assistance Center.
- Multiple concurrent message destinations. You can configure up to 50 e-mail destination addresses for each destination profile.
Destination Profiles
A destination profile includes the following information:
- One or more alert groups—The group of alerts that trigger a specific Call Home message if the alert occurs.
- One or more e-mail destinations—The list of receipents for the Call Home messages generated by alert groups assigned to this destination profile.
- Message format—The format for the Call Home message (short text, full text, or XML).
- Message severity level—The Call Home severity level that the alert must meet before the switch generates a Call Home message to all e-mail addresses in the destination profile. For more information about Call Home severity levels, see the “Call Home Message Levels” section. The Nexus 5000 Series switch does not generate an alert if the Call Home severity level of the alert is lower than the message severity level set for the destination profile.
You can also configure a destination profile to allow periodic inventory update messages by using the inventory alert group that will send out periodic messages daily, weekly, or monthly.
Nexus 5000 Series switches support the following predefined destination profiles:
- CiscoTAC-1—Supports the Cisco-TAC alert group in XML message format.
- full-text-destination—Supports the full text message format.
- short-text-destination—Supports the short text message format.
See the “Message Formats” section for more information about the message formats.
Call Home Alert Groups
An alert group is a predefined subset of Call Home alerts that are supported in all Nexus 5000 Series switches. Alert groups allow you to select the set of Call Home alerts that you want to send to a predefined or custom destination profile. The switch sends Call Home alerts to e-mail destinations in a destination profile only if that Call Home alert belongs to one of the alert groups associated with that destination profile and if the alert has a Call Home message severity at or above the message severity set in the destination profile (see the “Call Home Message Levels” section).
Table 1-1 lists supported alert groups and the default CLI command output included in Call Home messages generated for the alert group.
Table 1-1 Alert Groups and Executed Commands
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Cisco-TAC |
All critical alerts from the other alert groups destined for Smart Call Home. |
Execute commands based on the alert group that originates the alert. |
Configuration |
Periodic events related to configuration. |
show module show module fex show running-config all show startup-config show version |
Diagnostic |
Events generated by diagnostics. |
show diagnostic result fex all show diagnostic result module all show diagnostic result module number show logging last number show module show module fex show prom all show tech-support platform show tech-support platform callhome show tech-support platform callhome fex show version |
EEM |
Events generated by EEM. |
show diagnostic result module all show diagnostic result module number show module show tech-support platform |
Environmental |
Events related to power, fan, and environment-sensing elements such as temperature alarms. |
show environment show environment fan show environment fex all show environment power show environment temperature show logging last 1000 show module show tech-support platform callhome show version |
Inventory |
Inventory status that is provided whenever a unit is cold booted, or when FRUs are inserted or removed. This alert is considered a noncritical event, and the information is used for status and entitlement. |
show inventory show inventory fex all show license show license usage show module show sprom all show system uptime show version |
License |
Events related to licensing and license violations. |
show license show license usage show logging last number |
Linecard hardware |
Events related to standard or intelligent switching modules. |
show diagnostic result module all show diagnostic result module number show module show prom all show tech-support ethpm show tech-support platform show tech-support platform callhome show version |
Supervisor hardware |
Events related to supervisor modules. |
show diagnostic result module all show diagnostic result module number show module show prom all show tech-support ethpm show tech-support platform show tech-support platform callhome show version |
System |
Events generated by failure of a software system that is critical to unit operation. |
show diagnostic result module all show diagnostic result module number show logging last number show module show prom all show system reset-reason show system resources show system uptime show tech-support show tech-support ethpm show tech-support platform |
Call Home maps the syslog severity level to the corresponding Call Home severity level for syslog port group messages (see the “Call Home Message Levels” section).
You can customize predefined alert groups to execute additional CLI show commands when specific events occur and send that show output with the Call Home message.
You can add show commands only to full text and XML destination profiles. Short text destination profiles do not support additional show commands because they only allow 128 bytes of text.
Call Home Message Levels
Call Home allows you to filter messages based on their level of urgency. You can associate each destination profile (predefined and user defined) with a Call Home message level threshold. The switch does not generate any Call Home messages with a value lower than this threshold for the destination profile. The Call Home message level ranges from 0 (lowest level of urgency) to 9 (highest level of urgency), and the default is 0 (Nexus 5000 Series sends all messages).
Call Home messages that are sent for syslog alert groups have the syslog severity level mapped to the Call Home message level.
Note Call Home does not change the syslog message level in the message text.
Table 1-2 lists each Call Home message level keyword and the corresponding syslog level for the syslog port alert group.
Table 1-2 Severity and syslog Level Mapping
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|
9 |
Catastrophic |
N/A |
Network-wide catastrophic failure. |
8 |
Disaster |
N/A |
Significant network impact. |
7 |
Fatal |
Emergency (0) |
System is unusable. |
6 |
Critical |
Alert (1) |
Critical conditions that indicate that immediate attention is needed. |
5 |
Major |
Critical (2) |
Major conditions. |
4 |
Minor |
Error (3) |
Minor conditions. |
3 |
Warning |
Warning (4) |
Warning conditions. |
2 |
Notification |
Notice (5) |
Basic notification and informational messages. Possibly independently insignificant. |
1 |
Normal |
Information (6) |
Normal event signifying return to normal state. |
0 |
Debugging |
Debug (7) |
Debugging messages. |
Obtaining Smart Call Home
If you have a service contract directly with Cisco Systems, you can register your devices for the Smart Call Home service. Smart Call Home provides fast resolution of system problems by analyzing Call Home messages sent from your devices and providing background information and recommendations. For issues that can be identified as known, particularly GOLD diagnostics failures, Automatic Service Requests will be generated with the Cisco TAC.
Smart Call Home offers the following features:
- Continuous device health monitoring and real-time diagnostic alerts.
- Analysis of Call Home messages from your device and, where appropriate, Automatic Service Request generation, routed to the appropriate TAC team, including detailed diagnostic information to speed problem resolution.
- Secure message transport directly from your device or through a downloadable Transport Gateway (TG) aggregation point. You can use a TG aggregation point in cases that require support for multiple devices or in cases where security requirements mandate that your devices may not be connected directly to the Internet.
- Web-based access to Call Home messages and recommendations, inventory and configuration information for all Call Home devices. Provides access to associated field notices, security advisories and end-of-life information.
You need the following items to register:
- The SMARTnet contract number for your switch.
- Your e-mail address
- Your Cisco.com ID
For more information about Smart Call Home, see the Smart Call Home page at this location:
http://www.cisco.com/go/smartcall/
Configuring Call Home
This section includes the following topics:
Guidelines for Configuring Call Home
To configure Call Home, perform this task:
Step 1 Assign contact information.
Step 2 Configure destination profiles.
Step 3 Associate one or more alert groups to each profile.
Step 4 (Optional) Add additional show commands to the alert groups.
Step 5 Configure transport options.
Step 6 Enable Call Home.
Step 7 (Optional) Test Call Home messages.
Configuring Contact Information
You must configure the e-mail, phone, and street address information for Call Home. You can optionally configure the contract ID, customer ID, site ID, and switch priority information.
To configure contact information, perform this task:
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Step 1 |
switch# configuration terminal |
Enters configuration mode. |
Step 2 |
switch(config)# snmp-server contact sys-contact |
Configures the SNMP sysContact. |
Step 3 |
switch(config)# callhome |
Enters callhome configuration mode. |
Step 4 |
switch(config-callhome)# email-contact email-address |
Configures the e-mail address for the primary person responsible for the device. Up to 255 alphanumeric characters are accepted in e-mail address format. Note You can use any valid e-mail address. You cannot use spaces. |
Step 5 |
switch(config-callhome)# phone-contact international-phone-number |
Configures the phone number in international phone number format for the primary person responsible for the device. Up to 17 alphanumeric characters are accepted in international format. Note You cannot use spaces. Be sure to use the + prefix before the number. |
Step 6 |
switch(config-callhome)# streetaddress address |
Configures the street address as an alphanumeric string with white paces for the primary person responsible for the device. Up to 255 alphanumeric characters are accepted, including spaces. |
Step 7 |
switch(config-callhome)# contract-id contract-number |
(Optional) Configures the contract number for this device from the service agreement. The contract number can be up to 255 alphanumeric characters in free format. |
Step 8 |
switch(config-callhome)# customer-id customer-number |
(Optional) Configures the customer number for this device from the service agreement. The customer number can be up to 255 alphanumeric characters in free format. |
Step 9 |
switch(config-callhome)# site-id site-number |
(Optional) Configures the site number for this device. The site number can be up to 255 alphanumeric characters in free format. |
Step 10 |
switch(config-callhome)# switch-priority number |
(Optional) Configures the switch priority for this device. The range is from 0 to 7, with 0 being the highest priority and 7 the lowest. The default is 7. Note Switch priority is used by the operations personnel or TAC support personnel to decide which Call Home message should be responded to first. You can prioritize Call Home alerts of the same severity from each switch. |
Step 11 |
switch(config-callhome)# show callhome |
(Optional) Displays a summary of the Call Home configuration. |
Step 12 |
switch(config)# copy running-config startup-config |
(Optional) Saves this configuration change. |
This example shows how to configure the contact information for Call Home:
switch# configuration terminal
switch(config)# snmp-server contact personname@companyname.com
switch(config)# callhome
switch(config-callhome)# email-contact admin@Mycompany.com
switch(config-callhome)# phone-contact +1-800-123-4567
switch(config-callhome)# street-address 123 Anystreet st. Anytown,AnyWhere
Creating a Destination Profile
To create a user-defined destination profile and configure the message format for that new destination profile, perform this task:
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Step 1 |
switch# configuration terminal |
Enters configuration mode. |
Step 2 |
switch(config)# callhome |
Enters callhome configuration mode. |
Step 3 |
switch(config-callhome)# destination-profile name format { XML | full-txt | short-txt } |
Creates a new destination profile and sets the message format for the profile. The name can be any alphanumeric string up to 31 characters. |
Step 4 |
switch(config-callhome)# show callhome destination-profile [ profile name ] |
(Optional) Displays information about one or more destination profiles. |
Step 5 |
switch(config)# copy running-config startup-config |
(Optional) Saves this configuration change. |
This example shows how to create a destination profile for Call Home:
switch# configuration terminal
switch(config)# callhome
switch(config-callhome)# destination-profile Noc101 format full-text
Modifying a Destination Profile
You can modify the following attributes for a predefined or user-defined destination profile:
- Destination address—The actual address, pertinent to the transport mechanism, to which the alert should be sent.
- Message formatting—The message format used for sending the alert (full text, short text, or XML).
- Message level—The Call Home message severity level for this destination profile.
- Message size—The allowed length of a Call Home message sent to the e-mail addresses in this destination profile.
See the “Associating an Alert Group with a Destination Profile” section for information on configuring an alert group for a destination profile.
Note You cannot modify or delete the CiscoTAC-1 destination profile.
To modify the attributes for a destination profile, perform this task:
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Step 1 |
switch# configuration terminal |
Enters configuration mode. |
Step 2 |
switch(config)# callhome |
Enters callhome configuration mode. |
Step 3 |
switch(config-callhome)# destination-profile { name | full-txt-destination | short-txt-destination } email-addr address |
Configures an e-mail address for a user-defined or predefined destination profile.
Tip You can configure up to 50 e-mail addresses in a destination profile.
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Step 4 |
destination-profile { name | full-txt-destination | short-txt-destination } message-level number Example: destination-profile full-txt-destination message-level 5 |
Configures the Call Home message severity level for this destination profile. The switch sends only alerts that have a matching or higher Call Home severity level to destinations in this profile. The range is from 0 to 9, where 9 is the highest severity level. |
Step 5 |
switch(config-callhome)# destination-profile { n ame | full-txt-destination | short-txt-destination } message-size number |
Configures the maximum message size for this destination profile The range is from 0 to 5000000. The default size is 2500000. However, if the message size is greater than 5000000, the message is automatically deleted. |
Step 6 |
switch(config-callhome)# show callhome destination-profile [ profile name ] |
(Optional) Displays information about one or more destination profiles. |
Step 7 |
switch(config)# copy running-config startup-config |
(Optional) Saves this configuration change. |
This example shows how to modify a destination profile for Call Home:
switch# configuration terminal
switch(config)# callhome
switch(config-callhome)# destination-profile full-text-destination email-addr person@place.com
switch(config-callhome)# destination-profile full-text-destination message-level 5
switch(config-callhome)# destination-profile full-text-destination message-size 10000
Associating an Alert Group with a Destination Profile
To associate one or more alert groups with a destination profile, perform this task:
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Step 1 |
switch# configuration terminal |
Enters configuration mode. |
Step 2 |
switch(config)# callhome |
Enters callhome configuration mode. |
Step 3 |
switch(config-callhome)# destination-profile name alert-group { All | Configuration | Diagnostic | EEM | Cisco-TAC | Environmental | Inventory | License | Linecard-Hardware | Supervisor-Hardware | Syslog-group-port | System | Crash | Test } |
Associates an alert group with this destination profile. Use the All keyword to associate all alert groups with the destination profile. |
Step 4 |
switch(config-callhome)# show callhome destination-profile [ profile name ] |
(Optional) Displays information about one or more destination profiles. |
Step 5 |
switch(config)# copy running-config startup-config |
(Optional) Saves this configuration change. |
This example shows how to associate all alert groups with the destination profile Noc101:
switch# configuration terminal
switch(config)# callhome
switch(config-callhome)# destination-profile Noc101 alert-group All
Adding show Commands to an Alert Group
To assign a maximum of five user-defined CLI show commands to an alert group, perform this task:
Note You cannot add user-defined CLI show commands to the CiscoTAC-1 destination profile.
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Step 1 |
switch# configuration terminal |
Enters configuration mode. |
Step 2 |
switch(config)# callhome |
Enters callhome configuration mode. |
Step 3 |
switch(config-callhome)# alert-group { Configuration | Diagnostic | Environmental | Inventory | License | Linecard-Hardware | Supervisor-Hardware | Syslog-group-port | System | Test } user-def-cmd show-cmd |
Adds the show command output to any Call Home messages sent for this alert group. You must enclose the show command in double quotes. Only valid show commands are accepted. |
Step 4 |
switch(config-callhome)# show callhome user-def-cmds |
(Optional) Displays information about all user-defined show commands added to alert groups. |
Step 5 |
switch(config)# copy running-config startup-config |
(Optional) Saves this configuration change. |
This example shows how to add the show ip routing command o the Cisco-TAC alert group:
switch# configuration terminal
switch(config)# callhome
switch(config-callhome)# alert-group Configuration user-def-cmd “show ip routing”
Configuring E-Mail
You must configure the SMTP server address for the Call Home functionality to work. You can also configure the from and reply-to e-mail addresses.
To configure e-mail, perform this task:
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Step 1 |
switch# configuration terminal |
Enters configuration mode. |
Step 2 |
switch(config)# callhome |
Enters callhome configuration mode. |
Step 3 |
switch(config-callhome)# transport email smtp-server ip-address [ port number] [ use-vrf vrf-name ] |
Configures the SMTP server as either the domain name server (DNS) name, IPv4 address, or IPv6 address). Optionally configures the port number. The port ranges is from 1 to 65535. The default port number is 25. Also optionally configures the VRF to use when communicating with this SMTP server. |
Step 4 |
switch(config-callhome)# transport email from email-address |
(Optional) Configures the e-mail from field for Call Home messages. |
Step 5 |
switch(config-callhome)# transport email reply-to email-address |
(Optional) Configures the e-mail reply-to field for Call Home messages. |
Step 6 |
switch(config-callhome)# show callhome transport-email |
(Optional) Displays information about the e-mail configuration for Call Home. |
Step 7 |
switch(config)# copy running-config startup-config |
(Optional) Saves this configuration change. |
This example shows how to configure the e-mail options for Call Home messages:
switch# configuration terminal
switch(config)# callhome
switch(config-callhome)# transport email smtp-server 192.0.2.10 use-vrf Red
switch(config-callhome)# transport email from person@company.com
switch(config-callhome)# transport email reply-to person@company.com
Configuring Periodic Inventory Notification
You can configure the switch to periodically send a message with an inventory of all software services currently enabled and running on the device along with hardware inventory information. The switch generates two Call Home notifications, periodic configuration messages and periodic inventory messages.
To configure periodic inventory notification, perform this task:
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Step 1 |
switch# configuration terminal |
Enters configuration mode. |
Step 2 |
switch(config)# callhome E |
Enters callhome configuration mode. |
Step 3 |
switch(config-callhome)# periodic-inventory notification [ interval days ][ timeofday time ] |
Configures the periodic inventory messages. The interval range is from 1 to 30 days. The default is 7. The timeofday value is in HH:MM format. |
Step 4 |
switch(config-callhome)# show callhome |
(Optional) Displays information about Call Home. |
Step 5 |
switch(config)# copy running-config startup-config |
(Optional) Saves this configuration change. |
This example shows how to configure the periodic inventory messages to generate every 20 days:
switch# configuration terminal
switch(config)# callhome
switch(config-callhome)# periodic-inventory notification interval 20
Disabling Duplicate Message Throttle
You can limit the number of duplicate messages received for the same event. By default, the switch limits the number of duplicate messages received for the same event. If the number of duplicate messages sent exceeds 30 messages within a 2-hour time frame, then the switch discards further messages for that alert type.
To disable duplicate message throttling in Call Home configuration mode, perform this task:
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switch(config-callhome)# no duplicate-message throttle |
Disables duplicate message throttling for Call Home. Enabled by default. |
Enabling or Disabling Call Home
Once you have configured the contact information, you can enable the Call Home function.
To enable Call Home in Call Home configuration mode, perform this task:
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switch(config-callhome)# enable |
Enables Call Home. Disabled by default. |
To disable Call Home in the Call Home configuration mode, perform this task:
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switch(config-callhome)# no enable |
Disables Call Home. Disabled by default |
Testing Call Home Communications
You can generate a test message to test your Call Home communications.
To generate a test Call Home message, perform this task:
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switch# callhome send diagnostic |
Sends the specified Call Home test message to all configured destinations. |
switch# callhome test |
Sends a test message to all configured destinations. callhome test and callhome test inventory commands are supported. |
switch# callhome test inventory |
[Optional] |
Call Home Example Configuration
The following example uses CFS to create a destination profile called Noc101, associate the Cisco-TAC alert group to that profile, and configure contact and e-mail information to all CFS-enabled devices.
configure terminal
snmp-server contact person@company.com
callhome
email-contact admin@Mycompany.com
phone-contact +1-800-123-4567
street-address 123 Anystreet st. Anytown,AnyWhere
destination-profile Noc101 full-text
destination-profile full-text-destination email-addr person@company.com
destination-profile full-text-destination message-level 5
destination-profile Noc101 alert-group Configuration
alert-group Configuration user-def-cmd “show ip routing”
transport email smtp-server 192.0.2.10 use-vrf Red
enable
commit