Serial Number on ASA5555X do not match SHOW VERSION

[kbyrd]

This is the second one of the new ASA 55.5X series appliances where I have seen this issue:

When I SHOW VERSION, I can see the serial number displayed.

However, this does not match the serial number from the sticker affixed to the outside of the chassis.

This makes it confusing on opening TAC cases and for updating licenses.

Is this a known issue with manufacturing? Thanks.

[Julio Carvajal]

CSCtz56314

ASA5500-X Chassis Serial Number Not Visible from CLI

Regards,

[kconero62]

I have the same issue with an ASA 5512-x. The smart net contract is linked to the chassis serial number. I hope someone can clarify this, as Cisco customer service has no idea what I am talking about.

Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPad App

[Marvin Rhoads]

Kevin,

Sorry to hear Cisco TAC is giving you an issue with this. As Julio mentioned it is a documented bug.

In the meantime you need to know to use the physical chassis serial number when opening cases. If you need to stay on 8.6(1) software you can either keep a record of this offline or, optionally, you can also keep it somewhere like in the SNMP contact information string that can be stored on the device. You can also create a text file on the device with the information recorded so that a remote operator can retrieve it if necessary.

The upgrade to 9.0 is quite simple and also fixes the bug.

[kbyrd]

Marvin, could you please described how v9.0 fixes the issue? I showed my Services Account Manager the bug and she offered to change the S/N in our SmartNet contract from the external S/N to that found internally (SHO VER). Does v9.0 match the internal serial number to the external? Is there a command I need to enter to match it?

Thanks in advance for your reply.

[kconero62]

Thanks Marvin -

I will look into upgrading to the 9.0 platform.

[jj27]

FYI I have a customer running 9.1(1) and the license serial number still differs from the physical serial number.  I'm not sure if upgrading to 9.x fixes the issue, at least it didn't in this case.  I do agree that as a temporary fix, keeping it somewhere in the configuration either via SNMP, a dummy ACL, etc. is a good practice.

[domindiag1]

I am seeing same problem and I am at 9.0(2).   I am dealing with a licensing issue that is not being accepted and it may be because I used the show version serial number which is the Lic.  Serial number instead of the actual serial number on the back of unit.  I have a 5515-X.  Any actual fix for this?

[kbyrd]

Mathew, there does not appear to be a firmware fix. I also upgraded to 9.0(2) and the problem still exists. The specific probem I had was that I purchased the IPS license and the IPS license uses the software (sho ver) serial number to attempt to register, but the chassis serial number (show inventory) is what was actually registered to license the IPS. Then if you try to change registeration from the chassis serial number to the software serial number, hardware replacement would be difficult.

I opened a case, and they referred me to a special licensing group. This group just would not understand the issue. They wanted a Letter of Authority, kept challenging my ability to request the change (and the contract is registered to my profile), requested screen shots and pictures, etc.

After a week, they decided they could "chain" the software serial number to the chassis serial number. The software serial number is not registered to any of their databases - so after me badgering them, involving the account team, and threatening to only buy Juniper product in the future, they acquiesced and chained the software serial number to the contract.

Good luck. I hope no one else has the problem I had with this process.

[Michael Gehrmann]

I'm pretty sure you should be able to use 'show inventory' to get all the module serial numbers. This should help for licensing and for support contracts.

Cheers

Mike

[bmabmabma]

show inventory does the trick, shows the "real" serial number. I have version 9.6(1) and still strange issue. 

This thread is so dead but I'm just now having the issue.

[Grant-Security/Network Analyst]

yes show inventory has always shown the correct chassis serial number, but what is crazy is that the show run or show version doesn't match.  The real question is why is this the case?

[techjp]

Here in 2022, almost 2023, and this same problem persists. sh ver and sh inv display different serial numbers, with only the sh inv version matching the chassis serial that is on the box and on the bottom of the device. Discovered today on a new Firepower 1150 running ASA 9.16.

[wayfaring]

Observed in ASA5525 and FPR-3110: the board serial# presented in show ver is also presented for each unit in show failover.  Failover exec standby show inv can be used in place of show failover when the intent is to get chassis serial# from the secondary.