In my last post I talked about how to enable and disable the Tool command Language (TCL) in a Cisco router or a Cisco Catalyst Switch, suppose if you want to use a ping command for more than 50 hosts,you don’t need to ping each and every single host from the Cisco router or a Cisco Catalyst Switch, in this scenario you can make use of TCL scripts, I will provide you a sample script to ping 10 hosts at a time from a Cisco Catalyst 6506 E Switch, same script is applicable to Cisco routers as well.

Step 1

Enable TCL in your Cisco router or a Cisco Switch by using a “tclsh” command

ITKE-SW01#tclsh

Step 2

Write to script to ping hosts starting from 10.0.0.1 to 10.0.0.10 using the following script, start the script by using “foreach VAR {” followed by the IP Address of the hosts you want to ping and close the script by using following stings “} { puts [exec "ping $VAR"] }” as demonstrated below ( you can use notepad to prepare the script and then execute in your Cisco device)

foreach VAR {

10.0.0.1

10.0.0.2

10.0.0.3

10.0.0.4

10.0.0.5

10.0.0.6

10.0.0.7

10.0.0.8

10.0.0.9

10.0.0.10

} { puts [exec "ping $VAR"] }

Once you enter the script you will the following

TCL scripts are very helpful and really it automates some of our tasks.

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ITKE-SW01#tclsh

If the Cisco Router or a Cisco Ctalyst Switch supports the TCL feature you will see the following prompt in your device

ITKE-SW01(tcl)#

In the above example I just demonstrated how to enable the feature in a Cisco Router or a Cisco Catalyst Switch. In order to quit from the tcl mode you can use the “tclq” command as shown below.

ITKE-SW01(tcl)#tclq

ITKE-SW01#

In my next post I will try to post few examples for usage of TCL scripts.

In today’s World we have many written scripts to automate our common tasks at work, we quite often use scripts in programming language, Linux, UNIX or even windows. But when it comes to networking to be more specific on Cisco devices there was no scripting language. However Cisco Systems realized the importance of automating the things and they come adding the “Tool Command Language in short TCL in Cisco IOS. This feature is enabled in the IOS starting from 12.3(2) T. I know most of us are not aware of this powerful scripting language.

TCL is a very powerful dynamic scripting language and it is based on open programming language developed by John Ousterhout.

Infact Cisco Press come out with a title named TCL Script for Cisco IOS which was released on June 9, 2010.

In upcoming articles I will try to address TCL commands how it can enabled and some sample scripts which can be used in day to day networking activities on Cisco Routers and Cisco Catalyst Switches.

In one of my past posts, I mentioned about the Scrutinizer netflow analyzer, still I am testing some more netflow analyzers . Manage Engine recently released the latest version of its Manage Engine Netflow Analyzer 7.5.

So I though let me try the demo version of Manage Engine Netflow Analyzer 7.5, the new version features a customizable administrator dashboards allows an IT administrator to monitor the critical parts of the network infrastructure.

The new  Manage Engine Netflow Analyzer 7.5 ‘s Site-to-Site traffic monitoring capability helps businesses track network traffic patterns between separate physical locations, ensuring business-critical applications have the right amount of bandwidth allocated for maximum performance. This level of understanding is vital for the day-to-day performance of existing applications, as well as for planning infrastructure growth. It is also key to IT departments that chargeback business units for the volume of network traffic generated, and for service providers who bill customers based on volume and speed.

Some of the features of Manage Engine  Netflow Analyzer 7.5 are as follows

The Manage Engine Netflow Analyzer 7.5 is worth trying the demo version for 30 days.  The good thing about the Manage Engine Netflow Analyzer 7.5 is the enhanced reporting tool, customizable dash board and ease to manage and install.

It’s my habit to always  try something new or some interesting. As we have a huge project coming up, hence  I am in the process of testing many windows supported netflow analyzers.  Since I am aware of Manage Engine Netflow analyzer I thought for a change let me start over with Scrutinizer netflow analyzer.

I just went to the Scrutinizer web site and downloaded the latest Scrutinizer netflow analyzer; there support seems to be good, the moment I downloaded the  Scrutinizer netflow analyzer;  I received an email offering a trial key with few faqs of the Scrutinizer netflow analyzer.

Some of the key features for which I got interested in the Scrutinizer netflow analyzer are

• Captures all the flows, all the records, all the time. It supports Cisco Net Flow, sFlow and other flow technologies and uses that data to monitor the overall network health.
• Identifies which users, applications and protocols are using the most network traffic. It is not limited to the Top 10! All of the flows can be viewed and exported.
• Custom Net Flow Reports help visualization of which routed ports on the network are the most congested.
• Provides long term trending details for overall LAN and WAN bandwidth usage, so bandwidth needs can be accurately gauged.
• Enhances network security by alerting network administrators of suspicious or potentially hazardous network behavior patterns.
• Central Interface offers a distributed solution that scales to enterprise level networks.

 Scrutinizer netflow analyzer is very easy to install and configure. The dash board is customizable and the most attractive part of the Scrutinizer netflow analyzer is the reports, you can generate customized reports which can be based on protocols, IP address and many other parameters. One more advantage of using Scrutinizer netflow analyzer is you can monitor the hosts which are accessing you tube as well. Worth trying the trail full version you can always request for an extension for the license key.

http://www.plixer.com/support/faq.php

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