Using the fcanalyzer feature in the MDS modules

[carsten.puhl]

Hi all,

i'm trying to use the fcanalyzer command to observe one port on my switch as you can see below. Normally i should see all traffic on the port with the FC-ID 3b.00.00. But i can't see nothing.

Is something wrong with my command ?

fcanalyzer local brief display-filter ((mdshdr.vsan==0x01)&&((fc.d_id==\"3b.00.00\"\|\|fc.s_id==\"3b.00.00\"))) limit-captured-frames 0

Thanks Carsten

[pmescher · Accepted solution]

The fcanalyzer command only works to monitor traffic from the port to the internal addresses on the switch, such as the fabric controller or name server. It does not intercept traffic traveling from one external port to another. (Except in the obscure case of a limited number of Fabric commands when IVR is in use.)

When I use the fcanalyzer command, I just tell it to capture everything, regardless of source, destination, FCID, whatever. Unless you have a fairly unstable fabric, this will not produce an unreadable mess. (It also has the advantage that it will capture both sides of a FLOGI. Filtering by FCID will not.)

If you want to "sniff" all the traffic, you will need to use a SPAN port and a Cisco Port Analyzer Adapter (the cheap option), or if you need to monitor more bandwidth than that box can handle or work on a lower level, you will need a XGig analyzer from Finisar. (the not-so-cheap option)

Peter Mescher

IBM Systems Group, SAN Support