cdnfs lookup on ACNS

[Wilson Davis]

Hello,

Is there a way to do a cdnfs lookup for a specific file via the GUI? I haven't had much luck with the "View Detailed Replication Status" search box under channel replication status. I usually get the following message: "Retrieving content information may take some more time. Please try again later." The search critera help states you can use * as a wildcard, but I've noticed if I search for a filename like video1.wmv the search fails. If I search for *.wmv I get results. If I search for *ideo1.wmv I get results. But all of that is under "View Detailed Replication Status for Channel by Device" which can only search one CE at a time. Seems I get mixed results. In any case it would be nice to be able to make sure a specific file is replicated across all CE. Thanks.

[Christopher Miles]

Hi Wilson,

With regards to using the search criteria feature, it is recommended to use the (*) wildcard as the search will use "the relative cdn-url attribute specified in the tag in the manifest file. It is recommended that you start the search criteria by specifying wildcards such as *.htm or *clip.mpeg."

So specifying just the file name itself will not probably return nothing..  This document (you may have already read it) talks about the difference between querying multiple devices on the channel vs just one device.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/app_ntwk_services/waas/acns/v55_13/configuration/central/guide/9136rep.html#wp1041715

With regards to your error I had a bit of a look but it seems to be a more general error that could have many causes, so if you are continually receiving that error it might mean there is some more investigation needed..

regards,

Chris

[Wilson Davis]

Hi Chris,

After trying some more searches I think our ACNS system has an issue with this particular function.

I found the following interesting about refreshing the replication information:

When you click the Force replication information refreshicon in the taskbar of the Replication Items window for the selected device, the system displays a dialog box asking you to confirm whether you want to refetch the information from Content Engines assigned to this channel. To continue with the refresh process, click OK. You are notified that the request has been queued and asked to check back later.

I haven't tried it yet, but it makes me wonder how the CE works in regards to searching replication status. I tried several file extension searches for which I know we have propagated content (*.xml, *.wmv, *.mpeg, etc.) and no matter how many times I try *.wmv or *.mpeg it comes back with "Retrieving content information may take some more time. Please try again later." *.xml however yields results but from a different amount of "replied CEs" and the number of CEs that reply is only a small fraction of our total number we have. It would seem the CDM goes out and queries the CEs realtime to see if a file is present. Going back to the reference doc (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/app_ntwk_services/waas/acns/v55_13/configuration/central/guide/9136rep.html#wp1041846) they even show a picture of a user searching by the complete URL. If I search by any URL (even the ones that come back in my *.xml search) they all fail. Hopefully one day I'll have some time to figure out why our search feature is broken.

[Christopher Miles]

Wilson,

I agree with you that this probably does require some more looking into as from the search criteria perspective that's working correctly.. Maybe post on the forum when you've got sometime to look further...

cheers,

Chris