Command output redirect question

[Liam Devine]

Hi guys,

I am putting in a kron function to transfer the command output from all the switches and routers on our network to a tftp server.

I have the kron occurence and policy lists set up the way I want them and have tested the redirection of the command line output to the server.

The problem I have is that I want to back up the switches 3 or 4 times once a week to compare the configs to make sure that no unwanted changes are being made over the course of the month.

Is there a way to use a variable to change the file name when it redirects? Currently when the occurence runs the file modified time on the tftp server changes but the output doesnt append as I had hoped it would, i.e one file having the config copy in to the file over and over.

Thanks for your help

[rkaluzinski]

Hi,

I can imagine few ways to do it...

First and very simple way is to use some TCL/expect script from some unix machine and log it(log_file -noappend yourfilename.txt) to text file.

For example You can send to remote box:

send "show platform info inventory full pa-shelf pa 0 assembly-id \n"
expect "assembly-id : $"

After script execution You can rename it to for ex. "date".

Finally for comparing config text files You can use unix DIFF command.

It can be something like this:

#!/usr/bin/expect -f

spawn ssh remote-user@192.168.1.1
                        expect "*password: $"
                        send -- "mypassword\n"
                        log_file -noappend myloglie.txt
                        expect "*> $"
                        send "show platform info inventory full chassis assembly-id \n"
                        expect "assembly-id : $"

send "exit\n"

SSH You can change to TELNET or what ever You want :-)

[Joe Clarke]

You might want to consider the built-in Config Archive feature instead of kron.  With Config Archive, you can periodically take backups of your config (even to a network server), and you can adjust the filenames using either date or hostname (or both).  Check out the documentation at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios/12_3t/12_3t7/feature/guide/gtrollbk.html#wp1100253 for more details.

In addition to Config Archive, you also have the option of going with the Embedded Event Manager.  EEM also has a cron feature which will allow you to run CLI commands periodically.  Depending on your IOS version, it may be possible to do what you want using a simple EEM applet, or you might have to use a Tcl script policy.  More on EEM can be found at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios/netmgmt/configuration/guide/nm_eem_overview_ps10592_TSD_Products_Configuration_Guide_Chapter.html .

All that said, most TFTP servers have a security requirement that a file must exist on the server before one can write to it.  Therefore, if you try and create new files (i.e. a new file each day), the TFTP server may reject the WRITE REQUEST unless a file with that name already exists.  In light of that, you may need to use something like SCP or FTP instead.