System management features are used to monitor and manage a switch using Cisco MDS NX-OS software. These features are described next.
System Messages
System messages are monitored remotely by accessing the switch through Telnet, SSH, or the console port, or by viewing the logs on a system message logging server. The system message logging software saves the messages in a log file or directs the messages to other devices. This feature has the following capabilities:
Provides logging information for monitoring and troubleshooting
Allows the user to select the types of captured logging information
Allows the user to select the destination server to forward the captured logging information
By default, the switch logs normal but significant system messages to a log file and sends these messages to the system console. You can specify which system messages should be saved based on the type of facility and the severity level. Messages are time-stamped to enhance real-time debugging and management.
You can access the logged system messages using the CLI or by saving them to a correctly configured system message logging server. The switch software saves system messages in a file that can save up to 1200 entries.
Log messages are not saved across system reboots. However, a maximum of 100 log messages with a severity level of critical and below (levels 0, 1, and 2) is saved in NVRAM.
Call Home
Call Home provides email-based notification of critical system events. A versatile range of message formats is available for optimal compatibility with pager services, standard email, or XML-based automated parsing applications. Common uses of this feature may include direct paging to a network support engineer, email notification to a Network Operations Center, and utilization of Cisco Smart Call Home services for direct case generation with the Technical Assistance Center.
The Call Home functionality is available directly through the Cisco MDS 9000 Series switches and the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switches. It provides multiple Call Home messages, each with separate potential destinations. You can define your own destination profiles in addition to predefined profiles; you also can configure up to 50 email addresses for each destination profile. Flexible message delivery and format options make it easy to integrate specific support requirements.
The Call Home feature offers the following advantages:
A fixed set of predefined alerts for trigger events on the switch.
Automatic execution and attachment of relevant command output.
Multiple message format options:
Short Text: Suitable for pagers or printed reports.
Plain Text: Full formatted message information suitable for human reading.
XML: Matching readable format using Extensible Markup Language (XML) and document type definitions (DTDs) named Messaging Markup Language (MML). The XML format enables communication with the Cisco Systems Technical Assistance Center.
Multiple concurrent message destinations. You can configure up to 50 email destination addresses for each destination profile.
Multiple message categories including system, environment, switching module hardware, supervisor module, hardware, inventory, syslog, RMON, and test.
Secure messages transport directly from your device or through an HTTP proxy server or a downloadable transport gateway (TG). You can use a TG aggregation point to support multiple devices or in cases where security requires that your devices not be connected directly to the Internet.
Smart Call Home is a component of Cisco SMARTnet Service that offers proactive diagnostics, real-time alerts, and personalized web-based reports on selected Cisco devices. Smart Call Home provides fast resolution of system problems by analyzing Call Home messages sent from your devices and providing a direct notification path to Cisco customer support.
Embedded Event Manager
The Embedded Event Manager (EEM) monitors events that occur on your device and takes action to recover or troubleshoot these events, based on your configuration. EEM consists of three major components:
Event statements: Events to monitor from Cisco NX-OS component that may require some action, workaround, or notification.
Action statements: An action that the EEM can take, such as sending an email or disabling an interface, to recover from an event.
Policies: An event paired with one or more actions to troubleshoot or recover from the event.
To learn more about EEM configuration, refer to Chapter 16, “Automation and Scripting Tools.”