Step 7: Document the Events Prior to the Failure

Action

To document events that occurred prior to a Routing Engine failure, follow these steps:

1. Write down any events such as an abrupt router shutdown because of a power outage, a software upgrade, a configuration commit, or a system snapshot request.
2. Write down any recovery procedures attempted. If the Routing Engine reported some errors on the hard drive but appeared to be working fine or a backup Routing Engine is available, it may not be necessary to recover.
3. Turn on logging to your console to start capturing screen output. This is especially useful if a terminal server is connected to the Routing Engine console port.
4. While you have screen capturing enabled, boot the Routing Engine and look at the router boot messages.