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{ "lLangCode": "en", "lName": "English", "lCountryCode": "us", "transcode": "en_US" }
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Collecting Traffic Sampling Output in a File

date_range 24-Nov-23

You configure traffic sampling results to a file in the /var/tmp directory. To collect the sampled packets in a file, include the file statement at the [edit forwarding-options sampling output] hierarchy level:

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[edit forwarding-options sampling family family-name output]
file <disable> filename filename <files number> <size bytes> <stamp | no-stamp > <world-readable | no-world-readable>;

To configure the period of time before an active flow is exported, include the flow-active-timeout statement at the [edit forwarding-options sampling output family (inet | inet6 | mpls)] hierarchy level:

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[edit forwarding-options sampling family (inet | inet6 | mpls) output]
flow-active-timeout seconds;

To configure the period of time before a flow is considered inactive, include the flow-inactive-timeout statement at the [edit forwarding-options sampling output] hierarchy level:

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[edit forwarding-options sampling family (inet | inet6 | mpls) output]
flow-inactive-timeout seconds;

To configure the interface that sends out monitored information, include the interface statement at the [edit forwarding-options sampling output] hierarchy level:

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[edit forwarding-options sampling family (inet | inet6 | mpls) output]
interface interface-name {
    engine-id number;
    engine-type number;
    source-address address;
}
Note:

This feature is not supported with the version 9 template format. You must send traffic flows collected using version 9 to a server. For more information see Collecting Traffic Sampling Output in the Cisco Systems NetFlow Services Export Version 9 Format.

Traffic Sampling Output Format

Traffic sampling output is saved to an ASCII text file. The following is an example of the traffic sampling output that is saved to a file in the /var/tmp directory. Each line in the output file contains information for one sampled packet. You can optionally display a timestamp for each line.

The column headers are repeated after each group of 1000 packets.

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# Apr  7 15:48:50  
Time                    Dest           Src Dest Src Proto TOS Pkt Intf  IP   TCP
                        addr          addr port port          len num frag flags
Apr 7 15:48:54 192.168.9.194 192.168.9.195   0    0   1   0x0  84  8   0x0   0x0
Apr 7 15:48:55 192.168.9.194 192.168.9.195   0    0   1   0x0  84  8   0x0   0x0
Apr 7 15:48:56 192.168.9.194 192.168.9.195   0    0   1   0x0  84  8   0x0   0x0
Apr 7 15:48:57 192.168.9.194 192.168.9.195   0    0   1   0x0  84  8   0x0   0x0
Apr 7 15:48:58 192.168.9.194 192.168.9.195   0    0   1   0x0  84  8   0x0   0x0

The output contains the following fields:

  • Time—Time at which the packet was received (displayed only if you include the stamp statement in the configuration)

  • Dest addr—Destination IP address in the packet

  • Src addr—Source IP address in the packet

  • Dest port—Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) port for the destination address

  • Src port—TCP or UDP port for the source address

  • Proto—Packet’s protocol type

  • TOS—Contents of the type-of-service (ToS) field in the IP header

  • Pkt len—Length of the sampled packet, in bytes

  • Intf num—Unique number that identifies the sampled logical interface

  • IP frag—IP fragment number, if applicable

  • TCP flags—Any TCP flags found in the IP header

To set the timestamp option for the file my-sample, enter the following:

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[edit forwarding-options sampling family (inet | inet6 | mpls) output file]
user@host# set filename my-sample files 5 size 2m world-readable stamp;

Whenever you toggle the timestamp option, a new header is included in the file. If you set the stamp option, the Time field is displayed.

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# Apr  7 15:48:50
# Time            Dest        Src  Dest   Src Proto  TOS   Pkt  Intf    IP   TCP
#                 addr       addr  port  port              len   num  frag flags
# Feb  1 20:31:21
#                 Dest        Src  Dest   Src Proto  TOS   Pkt  Intf    IP   TCP
#                 addr       addr  port  port              len   num  frag flags
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