49-20
Catalyst 6500 Series Switch Software Configuration Guide—Release 8.7
OL-8978-04
Chapter 49 Configuring SPAN, RSPAN and the Mini Protocol Analyzer
Configuring the Mini Protocol Analyzer on the Switch
The Mini Protocol Analyzer does not affect the switching of network traffic on the source port. A copy
of the packets that are received and transmitted by the source port is sent over the backplane where the
copies are stored as a file in the Flash memory of the switch. The file can be stored in the following
places:
• For the Supervisor Engine 720: bootflash (default), disk0, or disk1
• For the Supervisor Engine 32: bootdisk (default) or disk0
When a Mini Protocol Analyzer session starts (when you enter the set packet-capture start command),
the session monitors the source port traffic and stores it on the flash memory until one of the following
conditions occur:
• You enter the set packet-capture stop command to end the Mini Protocol Analyzer session.
• The number of packets as specified by the set packet-capture limit command is reached. A system
message is displayed and the Mini Protocol Analyzer session ends.
• The flash device runs out of memory. A system message is displayed and the Mini Protocol Analyzer
session ends.
Mini Protocol Analyzer Configuration Guidelines
This section describes the guidelines for configuring the Mini Protocol Analyzer:
• Ensure that your flash memory has enough space to store the output file from the Mini Protocol
Analyzer session, or specify filters that limit the size of the output file.
• You use Ethernet 10/100/1000-Mbps ports and 10-Gbps ports as Mini Protocol Analyzer source
ports. You cannot use ATM ports, MSFC ports, or service module ports as Mini Protocol Analyzer
source ports.
• When enabled, the Mini Protocol Analyzer uses any previously entered configuration. If you have
not entered any configuration commands, the Mini Protocol Analyzer uses the default parameters.
• Only one Mini Protocol Analyzer session is allowed on the switch at one time. See the “SPAN,
RSPAN and Mini Protocol Analyzer Session Limits” section on page 49-5 for switch-wide
limitations regarding SPAN, RSPAN, and the Mini Protocol Analyzer. One Mini Protocol Analyzer
session counts as one SPAN session.
• A maximum of 16 filters can be run on the traffic that is being monitored in a Mini Protocol Analyzer
session. The set packet-capture snap-length command, which specifies the length to which
packets are truncated, is not counted against the maximum number of filters. Entering the clear
packet-capture filter or clear packet-capture all command removes all filters.
• If you have saved a file on the flash memory from one Mini Protocol Analyzer session and you start
another Mini Protocol Analyzer session with the same output filename, the existing information
from the previous Mini Protocol Analyzer session is overwritten. Multiple output files can be stored
on the flash memory if the output filenames are different.
• The file system in the flash memory is locked and cannot be modified or accessed while the Mini
Protocol Analyzer session is running.
• Because the Mini Protocol Analyzer sends the copied traffic from the source port over the
backplane, the performance of your switch might be affected if the source port is processing a large
amount of traffic.
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