Troubleshooting guide

3-2
Cisco Broadband Local Integrated Services Solution Troubleshooting Guide
OL-5169-01
Chapter 3 Trouble Isolation Procedures
Finding System Information
Determining the Source of the Problem
The first step in troubleshooting your system is determining the source of your problem. There are
several network elements connected to the Cisco BTS 10200 Softswitch and to the IP managment
network centered on the Catalyst 6509 switch.
You will usually be notified of system problems by events and alarms. Use the CLI commands described
in this chapter to pull event and alarm logs for the Cisco BTS 10200 Softswitch.
If the same alarm originates from the Cisco BTS 10200 and another network element, there is a strong
chance that the problem is not with the softswitch. If the alarm originates only on the Cisco BTS 10200,
then the problem is probably in the softswitch.
Always begin your investigation by checking all physical connections and indicator lights (wherever
physically possible). You can frequently save yourself hours of troubleshooting time by checking the
indicator lights and the physical connections of the system.
Checking Events and Alarms
A wide variety of events and alarms provide vital information about the status of links and components.
You can use event and alarm logs to help isolate problems within the system. Each event or alarm on the
Cisco BTS 10200, for example, belongs to one of the following eleven categories that describe the type
of failure the event or alarm indicates:
Audit—Event or alarm messages generated by the audit subsystem
Billing—Event or alarm messages generated by the billing subsystem
Callp—Event or alarm messages generated by call processing
Config—Event or alarm messages that provide information about system configuration
Database—Event or alarm messages generated by the database
Maintenance—Event or alarm messages that provide information about maintenance
OSS—Event or alarm messages generated by the Operations Support System (OSS)
Security—Event or alarm messages generated by the billing subsystem
Signaling—Event or alarm messages generated by signaling protocols or interfaces
Statistics—Event or alarm messages that provide information about system statistics
System—Event or alarm messages that convey information about system status or trouble
In addition to event and alarm types, events and alarms can have one of the following serverity levels:
Critical: Indicates a fundamental problem with the system. This is an alarm.
Major: Inidicates a problem with a significant impact on call handling. This is an alarm.
Minor: Indicates a problem with a minor impact on call handling. This is an alarm.
Warning: Indicates a situation with little or no impact to call handling that might become a problem
if it persists. This is an event; it does not generate an alarm.
Info: Indicates an autonomous system event with little or no impact to call handling. While they do
not necessarily indicate trouble and do not generate an alarm, informational events can aid in
pinpointing sources of failure.