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Catalyst 3550 Multilayer Switch Software Configuration Guide
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Chapter 27 Troubleshooting
Using the crashinfo File
Using the crashinfo File
The crashinfo file saves information that helps Cisco technical support representatives to debug
problems that caused the IOS image to fail (crash). The switch writes the crash information to the
console at the time of the failure, and the file is created the next time you boot the IOS image after the
failure (instead of while the system is failing).
The information in the file includes the IOS image name and version that failed, a dump of the processor
registers, and a stack trace. You can provide this information to the Cisco technical support
representative by using the show tech-support privileged EXEC command.
All crashinfo files are kept in this directory on the Flash file system:
flash:/crashinfo/crashinfo_n where n is a sequence number.
Each new crashinfo file that is created uses a sequence number that is larger than any previously-existing
sequence number, so the file with the largest sequence number describes the most recent failure. Version
numbers are used instead of a timestamp because the Catalyst 3550 switches do not include a real-time
clock. You cannot change the name of the file that the system will use when it creates the file. However,
after the file is created, you can use the rename privileged EXEC command to rename it, but the contents
of the renamed file will not be displayed by the show stacks or the show tech-support privileged EXEC
command.
You can display the most recent crashinfo file (that is, the file with the highest sequence number at the
end of its filename) by entering the show stacks or the show tech-support privileged EXEC command.
You also can access the file by using any command that can copy or display files, such as the more or
the copy privileged EXEC command.
