Backing up and managing configurations on ONS 15454 devices

[Colin Higgins]

We have a large number of ONS 15454s, and CiscoWorks LMS 4 apparently does not support these devices (I can't fetch the ML1000 card configurations or the chassis configs).

Can I back up the configurations of the TCC cards/chassis using CTC? I see a database backup option under maintenance, but I am not sure entirely of what that does. Basically, I want to make sure that if one of these devices suffers a hardware failure, that I have backups of how the circuits are provisioned.

Is there a better tool to use?

Any advice would be great

[Tom Randstrom · Accepted solution]

For backing up the nodes via CTC, the Cisco ONS 15454 Procedure Guides outline the steps to take to backup the nodes (section for latest release is below:

Cisco Transport Manager is an Element Management System available for larger optical networks and has features for backing up the databases of many nodes.

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NTP-A108 Back Up the Database

Purpose	This procedure stores a backup version of the TCC2/TCC2P (software) database on the workstation running Cisco Transport Controller (CTC) or on a network server.
Tools/Equipment	None
Prerequisite Procedures	None
Required/As Needed	Required. Cisco recommends performing a database backup at approximately weekly intervals and prior to and after configuration changes.
Onsite/Remote	Onsite or remote
Security Level	Maintenance or higher

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Note You must back up and restore the database for each node on a circuit path in order to maintain a complete circuit.

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Note The following parameters are not backed up and restored: node name, and Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP) port. If you change the node name and then restore a backed up database with a different node name, the circuits map to the new node name. Cisco recommends keeping a record of the old and new node names.

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Step 1 Complete the "DLP-A60 Log into CTC" task at the node you want to back up. If you are already logged in, continue with Step 2.

Step 2 Click the Maintenance > Database tabs.

Step 3 Click Backup.

Step 4 Save the database on the workstation's hard drive or on network storage. Use an appropriate file name with the .db file extension; for example, database.db.

Step 5 Click Save.

Step 6 Click OK in the confirmation dialog box.

Stop. You have completed this procedure.

[chris-hart]

The Database can also be backed up and restored using the TL1 COPY-RFILE command, I believe some people have used this to automate the process.

I did see somewhere that there were some example PERL scripts but I'm not sure where I found them now.

[Colin Higgins]

So in the even of a hardware failure on a ML1000 card, I would have to:

1. Restore the ONS database to the system

2. Paste the old ML1000 card configuration back into the card after replacing it

does this sound correct?

[chris-hart · Accepted solution]

Have a look at chapter 3 of the Ethernet Card Software Feature and Configuration Guide which explains how and where the configs are stored/loaded::

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/optical/15000r6_2/ethernet/guide/454_327/462intcf.html#wp1043811

The copy running-config startup-config command saves a startup configuration file to the flash memory on the ML-Series card. This operation is confirmed by the appearance of [OK] in the Cisco IOS CLI session. The startup configuration file is also saved to the ONS node's database restoration file after approximately 30 additional seconds.

The TL1 COPY-IOSCFG can also be used and will load a configuration file to/from the network.

Have a look at Chapter 8.1 (Page 67) of this document for more info.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/optical/15000r9_2_1/tl1/sonet/command/guide/454a921_tlcmd.pdf

I've had to use TL1 a few times and it looked quite hard to learn but once you get used to the syntax its not to bad and it looks like it is ideal for automating these backup tasks if you don't have CTM or Prime.

Someone else on here may have done this already so may be able to provide more info.

[rspell · Accepted solution]

Colin,

If you have an ML1000 card that fails, you only need to replace that card with another ML1000 in the same slot. The ML config will be downloaded from the TCC card. If you wanted to move the ML1000 card to another slot, you would need to have a copy of the config somewhere to paste in.