Managing the System Event Log

This chapter includes the following sections:

System Event Log Policy

Cisco UCS Central supports a global system event log (SEL) policy.

System Event Log

The system event log (SEL) resides on the CIMC in NVRAM. It records most server-related events, such as over and under voltage, temperature events, fan events, and events from BIOS. The SEL is mainly used for troubleshooting purposes.

The SEL file is approximately 40KB in size, and no further events can be recorded when it is full. It must be cleared before additional events can be recorded.

You can use the SEL policy to backup the SEL to a remote server, and optionally clear the SEL after a backup operation occurs. Backup operations can be triggered based on specific actions, or they can occur at regular intervals. You can also manually backup or clear the SEL.

The backup file is automatically generated. The filename format is sel-SystemName-ChassisID-ServerID-ServerSerialNumber-Timestamp; for example, sel-UCS-A-ch01-serv01-QCI12522939-20091121160736.


Tip

For more information about the SEL, including how to view the SEL for each server and configure the SEL policy, see the Cisco UCS Manager configuration guides, which are accessible through the Cisco UCS B-Series Servers Documentation Roadmap.

Configuring the SEL Policy

Procedure
      Command or Action Purpose
    Step 1 UCSC# connect policy-mgr  

    Enters policy manager mode.

     
    Step 2 UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope domain-group domain-group  

    Enters domain group root mode and (optionally) enters a domain group under the domain group root. To enter the domain group root mode, type / as the domain-group.

     
    Step 3 UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group # scope ep-log-policy sel  

    Enters organization endpoint log policy mode and scopes the SEL policy.

     
    Step 4 UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy # set description description   (Optional)

    Provides a description for the policy.

    Note   

    If your description includes spaces, special characters, or punctuation, you must begin and end your description with quotation marks. The quotation marks will not appear in the description field of any show command output.
     
    Step 5 UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy # set backup action [log-full] [on-change-of-association] [on-clear] [timer] [none]  

    Specifies an action or actions that will trigger a backup operation.

     
    Step 6 UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy # set backup clear-on-backup {no | yes}  

    Specifies whether to clear the system event log after a backup operation occurs.

     
    Step 7 UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy # set backup destination URL  

    Specifies the protocol, user, password, remote hostname, and remote path for the backup operation. Depending on the protocol used, specify the URL using one of the following syntax:

    • ftp:// username@hostname / path
    • scp:// username @ hostname / path
    • sftp:// username @ hostname / path
    • tftp:// hostname : port-num / path
    Note   

    You can also specify the backup destination by using the set backup hostname , set backup password , set backup protocol , set backup remote-path , set backup user commands, or by using the set backup destination command. Use either method to specify the backup destination.
     
    Step 8 UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy # set backup format {ascii | binary}  

    Specifies the format for the backup file.

     
    Step 9 UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy # set backup hostname {hostname | ip-addr}  

    Specifies the hostname or IP address of the remote server.

     
    Step 10 UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy # set backup interval {1-hour | 2-hours | 4-hours | 8-hours | 24-hours | never}  

    Specifies the time interval for the automatic backup operation. Specifying the never keyword means that automatic backups will not be made.

     
    Step 11 UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy # set backup password password  

    Specifies the password for the username. This step does not apply if the TFTP protocol is used.

     
    Step 12 UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy # set backup protocol {ftp | scp | sftp | tftp}  

    Specifies the protocol to use when communicating with the remote server.

     
    Step 13 UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy # set backup remote-path path  

    Specifies the path on the remote server where the backup file is to be saved.

     
    Step 14 UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy # set backup user username  

    Specifies the username the system should use to log in to the remote server. This step does not apply if the TFTP protocol is used.

     
    Step 15 UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy # commit-buffer  

    Commits the transaction.

     

    The following example shows how to configure the SEL policy to back up the system event log (in ascii format) every 24 hours or when the log is full and clear the system event log after a backup operation occurs and commit the transaction

    UCSC# connect policy-mgr
UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope domain-group
UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group #scope ep-log-policy sel
UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy # set backup destination scp://user@192.168.1.10/logs
Password:
UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy* # set backup action log-full
UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy* #  set backup clear-on-backup yes
UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy* #  set backup format ascii
UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy* #  set backup interval 24-hours
UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy* #  commit-buffer
UCSC(policy-mgr) /domain-group/ep-log-policy #