Cisco MDS Fabric Switches data collector

10/16/2024 Contributors

Data Infrastructure Insights uses the Cisco MDS Fabric Switches data collector to discover inventory for Cisco MDS Fabric Switches as well as a variety of Cisco Nexus FCoE switches on which the FC service is enabled.

Additionally, you can discover many models of Cisco devices running in NPV mode with this data collector.

Terminology

Data Infrastructure Insights acquires the following inventory information from the Cisco FC Switch data collector. For each asset type acquired by Data Infrastructure Insights, the most common terminology used for this asset is shown. When viewing or troubleshooting this data collector, keep the following terminology in mind:

Vendor/Model Term	Data Infrastructure Insights Term
Switch	Switch
Port	Port
VSAN	Fabric
Zone	Zone
Logical Switch	Logical Switch
Name Server Entry	Name Server Entry
Inter-VSAN Routing (IVR) Zone	IVR Zone

Vendor/Model Term

Data Infrastructure Insights Term

Switch

Port

VSAN

Fabric

Zone

Logical Switch

Name Server Entry

Inter-VSAN Routing (IVR) Zone

IVR Zone

Note: These are common terminology mappings only and might not represent every case for this data collector.

Requirements

An IP address of one switch in the fabric or individual switches
Chassis discovery, to enable fabric discovery
If using SNMP V2, read-only community string
Port 161 is used to access the device

Configuration

Field	Description
Cisco Switch IP	IP address or fully-qualified domain name of the switch
SNMP Version	Select V1, V2, or V3. V2 or later is required for performance acquisition.
SNMP Community String	SNMP read-only community string used to access the switch (not applicable for SNMP v3)
User Name	User name for the switch (SNMP v3 only)
Password	Password used for the switch (SNMPv3 only)

Field

Description

Cisco Switch IP

IP address or fully-qualified domain name of the switch

SNMP Version

Select V1, V2, or V3. V2 or later is required for performance acquisition.

SNMP Community String

SNMP read-only community string used to access the switch (not applicable for SNMP v3)

User Name

User name for the switch (SNMP v3 only)

Password

Password used for the switch (SNMPv3 only)

Advanced configuration

Field	Description
Inventory Poll Interval (min)	Interval between inventory polls (default 40 minutes)
SNMP Auth Protocol	SNMP authentication protocol (SNMPv3 only)
SNMP Privacy Protocol	SNMP privacy protocol (SNMPv3 only)
SNMP Privacy Password	SNMP Privacy Password
SNMP Retries	Number of SNMP retry attempts
SNMP Timeout (ms)	SNMP timeout (default 5000 ms)
Enable Trapping	Select to enable trapping. If you enable trapping, you must also activate SNMP notifications.
Minimum Time Between Traps (sec)	Minimum time between acquisition attempts triggered by traps (default 10 seconds)
Discover All Fabric Switches	Select to discover all switches in the fabric
Excluded Devices	Comma-separated list of device IPs to exclude from polling
Included Devices	Comma-separated list of device IPs to include in polling
Check Device Type	Select to accept only those devices that explicitly advertise themselves as Cisco devices
First Alias Type	Provide a first preference for resolution of the alias. Choose from the following: Device Alais This is a user-friendly name for a port WWN (pWWN) that can be used in all configuration commands, as required. All switches in the Cisco MDS 9000 Family support Distributed Device Alias Services (device aliases). None Do not report any alias. Port Description A description to help identify the port in a list of ports. Zone Alias (all) A user-friendly name for a port that can be used only for the active configuration. This is the default.
Second Alias Type	Provide a second preference for resolution of the alias
Third Alias Type	Provide a third preference for resolution of the alias
Enable SANTap Proxy Mode Support	Select if your Cisco switch is using SANTap in proxy mode. If you are using EMC RecoverPoint, then you are probably using SANTap.
Performance Poll Interval (sec)	Interval between performance polls (default 300 seconds)

Field

Description

Inventory Poll Interval (min)

Interval between inventory polls (default 40 minutes)

SNMP Auth Protocol

SNMP authentication protocol (SNMPv3 only)

SNMP Privacy Protocol

SNMP privacy protocol (SNMPv3 only)

SNMP Privacy Password

SNMP Retries

Number of SNMP retry attempts

SNMP Timeout (ms)

SNMP timeout (default 5000 ms)

Enable Trapping

Select to enable trapping. If you enable trapping, you must also activate SNMP notifications.

Minimum Time Between Traps (sec)

Minimum time between acquisition attempts triggered by traps (default 10 seconds)

Discover All Fabric Switches

Select to discover all switches in the fabric

Excluded Devices

Comma-separated list of device IPs to exclude from polling

Included Devices

Comma-separated list of device IPs to include in polling

Check Device Type

Select to accept only those devices that explicitly advertise themselves as Cisco devices

First Alias Type

Provide a first preference for resolution of the alias. Choose from the following:

Device Alais
This is a user-friendly name for a port WWN (pWWN) that can be used in all configuration commands, as required. All switches in the Cisco MDS 9000 Family support Distributed Device Alias Services (device aliases).

None
Do not report any alias.

Port Description
A description to help identify the port in a list of ports.

Zone Alias (all)
A user-friendly name for a port that can be used only for the active configuration. This is the default.

Second Alias Type

Provide a second preference for resolution of the alias

Third Alias Type

Provide a third preference for resolution of the alias

Enable SANTap Proxy Mode Support

Select if your Cisco switch is using SANTap in proxy mode. If you are using EMC RecoverPoint, then you are probably using SANTap.

Performance Poll Interval (sec)

Interval between performance polls (default 300 seconds)

Troubleshooting

Some things to try if you encounter problems with this data collector:

Inventory

Problem:	Try this:
Error: Failed to discover chassis - no switches have been discovered	• Ping the device with the IP configured • Login to the device using Cisco Device Manager GUI • Login to the device using CLI • Try to run SNMP walk
Error: Device is not a Cisco MDS switch	• Make sure the data source IP configured for the device is correct • Login to the device using Cisco Device Manager GUI • Login to the device using CLI
Error: Data Infrastructure Insights is not able to obtain the switch’s WWN.	This may not be a FC or FCoE switch, and as such may not be supported. Make sure the IP/FQDN configured in the datasource is truly a FC/FCoE switch.
Error: Found more than one nodes logged into NPV switch port	Disable direct acquisition of the NPV switch
Error: Could not connect to the switch	• Make sure the device is UP • Check the IP address and listening port • Ping the device • Login to the device using Cisco Device Manager GUI • Login to the device using CLI • Run SNMP walk

Problem:

Try this:

Error: Failed to discover chassis - no switches have been discovered

• Ping the device with the IP configured
• Login to the device using Cisco Device Manager GUI
• Login to the device using CLI
• Try to run SNMP walk

Error: Device is not a Cisco MDS switch

• Make sure the data source IP configured for the device is correct
• Login to the device using Cisco Device Manager GUI
• Login to the device using CLI

Error: Data Infrastructure Insights is not able to obtain the switch’s WWN.

This may not be a FC or FCoE switch, and as such may not be supported. Make sure the IP/FQDN configured in the datasource is truly a FC/FCoE switch.

Error: Found more than one nodes logged into NPV switch port

Disable direct acquisition of the NPV switch

Error: Could not connect to the switch

• Make sure the device is UP
• Check the IP address and listening port
• Ping the device
• Login to the device using Cisco Device Manager GUI
• Login to the device using CLI
• Run SNMP walk

Performance

Problem:	Try this:
Error: Performance acquisition not supported by SNMP v1	• Edit Data Source and disable Switch Performance • Modify Data Source and switch configuration to use SNMP v2 or higher