What are traceback logs?

[Pradeep H A]

I just want to know generally when are traceback logs generated on a router? does it mean the router would crash soon or IOS has hit a bug?

[daniel.dib]

From http://www.cisco.com/networkers/nw01/pres/pr/ps_presos/PS_540_5DUNN_C1.pdf

Stack trace vs.—Traceback

Same thing—a stack of functions that were

executing when we found an error—sh stack

displays stack that was saved at time of crash

Tracebacks routinely used to report stack

trace when a message needs to be reported—

not indicative of crash in this case

And from http://www.cisco.com/web/applicat/errmess/emd_help.html

Traceback Messages

You may also receive traceback messages on a device. These take the following format:

Traceback= 60A6CA64 60A6CBA4 60A6220C 6099C498 605D3CCC 605D3CB8.

Note: These messages may accompany other messages.

The Cisco Output Interpreter tool mentioned above can also assist you with decoding the traceback messages.

The Cisco Output Interpreter can be used to decode them:

https://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/Support/OutputInterpreter/home.pl

Daniel Dib
CCIE #37149

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[David White · Accepted solution]

Hi Pradeep,

Unfortunately, there is no 'easy' or 'consistant' answer here.  Syslog messages which contain Tracebacks are a way of providing additional information to developers about what was on the processes stack at the time the syslog was generated.  This can be printed because an unknown condition was detected, or data corruption was detected, or for many other reasons.  In many cases, this does not mean the device will crash.  However, in some cases, the device may crash sortly after.  You really need to look as the message generated and see what it says.

Ideally, the tracebacks were intented to be printed when a 'problem' was detected, and they provided further information to analyze that problem.  However, as time went on, they have been more widely used for other contexts as a way of just providing more information/context to many syslogs.  Some are completely benign, or just descriptive messages with zero impact to the device.

Hope it helps,

Sincerely,

David.

[Ciscoboyyy9xx]

Heyy David, how do i disable those traceback logs from my switch/router let's say on top of GNS3 tool. They keep flooding my cli and i'm unable to preperly execute the commands. Help me out