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Table Of Contents
Gathering Information About Your Internetwork
Getting the Data from Your Router
Remote Console Port and Auxiliary Port Access
Auxiliary Port Connected Modem
Providing Data to Your Technical Support Representative
Technical Support Information
When you have a problem that you cannot resolve, the resource of last resort is your Cisco Systems technical support representative. To analyze a problem, your technical support representative will need certain information about the situation and the symptoms that you are experiencing. To speed up the problem isolation and resolution process, collect the necessary data before you contact your representative.
This appendix describes how to collect relevant information about your internetwork and how to present that information to your technical support representative. Refer to the appropriate chapter within this book for specific information that you need to collect for each technology. In addition, some sections describe Cisco Connection Online, Cisco's primary, real-time support channel on the World Wide Web (WWW), and Cisco Connection Documentation, Cisco's library of product information on CD-ROM. Both are valuable resources in troubleshooting network problems. Make sure that you search CCO for documentation regarding your problem before you contact your technical representative.
Gathering Information About Your Internetwork
Before gathering any specific data, compile a list of all relevant symptoms that users have reported on the network (such as connections dropping or slow host response).
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, technology, protocol, or problem.
Information that is always required by technical support engineers includes the following:
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Configuration listing of all routers involved
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To assist you in gathering this required data, the show tech-support exec command has been added in Cisco IOS Release 11.1(4) and later. This command provides general information about the router that you can provide to your technical support representative when you are reporting a problem.
The show tech-support command outputs the equivalent of the show version, show running-config, show controllers, show stacks, show interfaces, show buffers, show process memory, and show process cpu exec commands. In many cases, the show tech-support command outputs can be long and can affect router performance.
Specific requirements that vary depending on the situation include the following:
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show interfaces
show controllers
show processes {cpu | mem}
show buffer
show mem summary
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show protocol route
show protocol traffic
show protocol interfaces
show protocol arp
show appletalk globals (AppleTalk only)
show ipx servers (Novell IPX only)
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Getting the Data from Your Router
You must tailor the way that you obtain information from the router to the platform that you are using to collect the information. Following are some hints for different platforms:
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Remote Console Port and Auxiliary Port Access
You can access a router from a remote location without a router being connected to a network by dialing directly to the console or auxiliary port on a router. In general, the console port is recommended because it displays router startup messages, whereas the auxiliary port does not provide this information. In addition, if a router hangs in the read-only memory monitor, you can reboot the system if you are connected using the console port. However, if you have a local terminal connected to your console, you might have no other choice than to connect to the auxiliary port. The following discussions provide the general requirements for connecting to a Cisco router remotely via the console or auxiliary ports.
Console Port Connected Modem
To connect remotely to the console port on a Cisco router, you need the following:
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When you have your communications software installed, set your PC's comm port (or equivalent) to 9600 baud (a software setting).
The modem attached to your router's console port must be configured as follows:
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Auxiliary Port Connected Modem
To connect remotely to the console port on a Cisco router, you need the following:
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To use the router's auxiliary port for remote access, you must include several configuration commands. The required commands are as follows:
line aux 0
modem inout
If you are using software prior to Cisco IOS 11.1, set the modem options as specified for the console port.
If you are using Cisco IOS 11.1 or later, you do not need to set the modem configuration manually, but you must include the modem autoconfigure discovery line configuration subcommand.
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CCO
CCO, formerly Cisco Information Online (CIO), is Cisco Systems' primary, real-time support channel. Maintenance customers and partners can self-register on CCO to obtain additional content and services.
Available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, CCO provides a wealth of standard and value-added services to Cisco's customers and business partners. CCO services include product information, software updates, release notes, technical tips, the Bug Navigator, the Troubleshooting Engine, configuration notes, brochures, descriptions of service offerings, and download access to public and authorized files.
CCO serves a wide variety of users through two interfaces that are updated and enhanced simultaneously: a multimedia version that resides on the WWW, and a character-based version. The WWW version of CCO provides richly formatted documents with photographs, figures, graphics, and video, as well as hyperlinks to related information, official documentation, and technical tips. The character-based CCO supports Zmodem, Kermit, Xmodem, FTP, Internet e-mail, and fax download options, and it is excellent for quick access to information over lower bandwidths.
You can access CCO in the following ways:
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For a copy of CCO's frequently asked questions (FAQ), send e-mail to cco—help@cisco.com. For additional information, send e-mail to cco—team@cisco.com.
CCO Troubleshooting Services
Registered CCO users can take advantage of a number of WWW-based support services offered by Cisco's Customer Support Engineering organization. These services are offered to help you diagnose and resolve problems in your network. These tools are accessible to registered CCO users through the Technical Assistance Center (TAC) page within CCO. WWW-based troubleshooting services/tools include the following:
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All CCO users—registered users and guests alike—can obtain answers to frequently asked questions, implementation case studies, technical tips, implementation procedures, sample configurations, and more at CCO's public site (www.cisco.com/public/Support_root.shtml).
You can sign up as a registered CCO user at www.cisco.com/public/registration.shtml.
Providing Data to Your Technical Support Representative
If you need technical assistance with a Cisco product that is under warranty or covered by a maintenance contract, contact Cisco's Technical Assistance Center (TAC) to open a case. Contact the TAC with a phone call or an e-mail message:
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Refer to the TAC web page on CCO for more information about contacting the TAC center nearest you.
When submitting information to your technical support representative, electronic data is preferred. Electronic data significantly eases the transfer of information between technical support personnel and development staff. Common electronic formats include data sent via electronic mail and files sent using FTP.
If you are submitting data to your technical support representative, use the following list to determine the preferred method for submission:
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