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The Helper Scripts

The helper scripts are a collection of python scripts that read data that the config_pull.py created and turn that raw data into useful reports.

What files are created

After the config_pull.py script finishes, you can use the hostname-CR-data.txt files to get started planning. The script also creates JSON files for:

  • Port Maps
  • cdp neighbors
  • lldp neighbors
  • system data
  • interface statistics
  • interface mac addresses

In the data folder, below the port-maps folder, two text files are created:

  • hostname-mac-address.txt - Output of show mac-address per port
  • hostname-arp.txt - Output of show arp command

In the final folder

  • hostname-ports.txt - The final output of two scripts for creating port maps

In the "Interface" folder

  • hostname-cdp.txt - JSON format of the "show cdp ne det" command
  • hostname-lldp.txt - JSON format of "show lldp info rem det" command
  • hostname-system.txt - JSON format of "show system" command
  • hostname-interface.txt - JSON format of "show interface"
  • hostname-int-br.txt - JSON format of "show interface int br" command

This section will discuss the scripts that convert the JSON into reports.

In addition, there is a script to convert mac addresses between different formats

  • convert-mac.py

Creating Port maps

There are two scripts in the discovery folder:

  • procurve-arp.py - converts the IP and Arp records into "key": "value" pairs

Here is an example:

{
    "04d590-0e77ab": "10.1.0.252",
    "883a30-76ce00": "10.154.1.3",
    "104f58-682100": "10.154.1.4",
    "b8d4e7-4c4900": "10.154.1.5",
}

The Mac Address is used for the key since MACs are unique, the IP Address is used for the value. It saves the data to hostname-Mac2IP.json in the data folder.

  • procurve-macaddr.py - Matches the Mac address in the hostname-Mac2IP.json file to the mac address in the hostname-mac-address.txt file.

The port maps return:

  • Vlan ID
  • IP Address
  • MAC Address
  • Interface
  • Vendor ID

Here is an example of the port map:

Number of Entries: 83

Device Name: Test-Core
Vlan   IP Address       MAC Address       Interface   Vendor
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1   10.154.66.1      7c0507-1f6ee4         C1      Pegatron
----------------------------------------------------------------------
   1   10.154.66.2      7c0507-1b45ea         C2      Pegatron
----------------------------------------------------------------------
   1   10.154.68.25     00c0b7-e4b43a         C4      American
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  75   10.154.23.241    000c29-e97dd1         C5      VMware
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Having this information makes identifying special devices such as HVAC controllers, Door access controllers, Cameras, etc. easier. It also allows you to verify that all devices are patched back into the correct port on the switch.

Running the port map scripts

There are two general categories of switch deployments. The first is a distributed layer 3 deployment where every closet has a layer 3 router. In that case, the procurve-Config-pull has created an arp.txt file and mac-address.txt file for every switch and the script reads the same inventory file and matches the hostname-arp.txt file with the hostname-mac-address.txt file.

The second is a Core/IDF deployment where there is a layer 3 switch in an MDF and the closets are connected at layer 2. In this case, we have to use an argument in the procurve-macaddr.py script to tell it which hostname-arp.txt file to use for each hostname-mac-address.txt file.

Running the procurve-arp.py script

Example of a distributed layer 3 deployment:

python3 procurve-arp.py -s area1

The script will create the hostname-Mac2IP.json and will print some information to the screen. The first information is the file being processed and the number of IPs and the IPs sorted. Here is an example:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading devices from: /home/mhubbard/04_Tools/Discovery/port-maps/data/test-Core-arp.txt
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of IP Addresses: 566
---------------------------
10.1.0.252
10.112.1.3

The next output is IP and MAC Addresses. Here is an example:

Number of IP and MAC Addresses: 566
-----------------------------------
10.1.0.252 04d590-0e77ab
10.112.1.3 883a30-76ce00

And finally, the IP, MAC and Manufacture. Here is an example:

Number of IP, MAC and Manufacture: 566
--------------------------------------
10.1.0.252 04d590-0e77ab Fortinet
10.112.1.3 883a30-76ce00 ArubaaHe

If you have a need for this information great, if not just ignore it.

Running the procurve-macaddr.py script

This script reads the hostname-Mac2IP.json and hostname-mac-address.txt files and creates the port maps. The port maps are saved in the final folder under port-maps.

python3 procurve-macaddr.py -s area1

Core/IDF deployment

In this case only the core switch has the arp records. The argument "-c coreswitch" is used to tell the switch to use the core-arp.txt file for all switches.

python3 procurve-macaddr.py -s area1 -c coreswitch

CDP Neighbor Reports

The Procurve switches support the Cisco discovery protocol (cdp) even though it's a Cisco proprietary protocol. By default it's not running. If you want to use cdp you have to enable it.

HP-2920-24G-PoEP# config t
HP-2920-24G-PoEP(config)# cdp run

Optionally you can enable cdp on only certain ports. For example,

HP-2920-24G-PoEP(config)# cdp enable ?
[ethernet] PORT-LIST  Enter a port number, a list of ports or 'all' for all ports.

There is an argument that having CDP enabled on all ports is a security risk. You have to decide for yourself if the risk is worth the visibility of running CDP. Personally, my feeing is that if an attacker has unfettered access to your switches the game is already over so I enable it.

The exception is for ports that connect to external entities such as an ISP or extranet partner.

To view the list of ports that have cdp enabled:

sh cdp

 Global CDP information

  Enable CDP [Yes] : Yes
  CDP mode [rxonly] : rxonly


  Port   CDP
  ------ --------
  1      enabled
  2      enabled
  3      enabled

To view all the cdp options, from configuration mode, you can use

cdp ?
 enable                Enable CDP on particular device ports.
 mode                  Set various modes of CDP (Cisco Discovery Protocol) processing.
 run                   Start CDP on the device.
 ```

### The cdp scripts

 There are two scripts for CDP neighbors.

- procurve-cdp-ne-report.py - This script creates a text file for the cdp neighbors
- procurve-cdp-ne-csv.py - This script creates a CSV file for the cdp neighbors

I wrote the script that creates the csv file so that you could use a spreadsheet or the Rainbow csv extension to sort the data.

Each of these scripts uses the same device-inventory file as the procurve-Config-pull.py script so there is no configuration needed. Just use:

- `python3 procurve-cdp-ne-report.py -s sitename`
- `python3 procurve-cdp-ne-csv.py -s sitename`

The reports are saved into the "Interface\neighbors" directory.

### The cdp neighbor text report

The first script creates a nicely formatted text file.

Here is a snippet of the cdp neighbor text report:

```bash
------------------------------
destination_host: 3750x.pu.pri
   management_ip: 192.168.1.1
        platform: cisco WS-C3750X-48P
     remote_port: GigabitEthernet1/1/2
      local_port: 21
software_version: Cisco IOS Software, C3750E Software (C3750E-UNIVERSALK9-...

You can use it as is but since it's text so you can use grep to filter anything you want. For example, to filter on uplink ports on a Cisco switch:

grep -Eir -b4 "GigabitEthernet1/1/" *cdp-report.txt

Here is a snippet of the output:

Procurve-2920-48-cdp-report.txt-824-------------------------------
Procurve-2920-48-cdp-report.txt-855-destination_host: 64 00 f1 01 6f 80
Procurve-2920-48-cdp-report.txt-891-   management_ip: 192.168.1.1
Procurve-2920-48-cdp-report.txt-921-        platform: Cisco IOS Software, C3750E Software (C3750E-UNIVERSALK9-...
Procurve-2920-48-cdp-report.txt:999:     remote_port: GigabitEthernet1/1/2
Procurve-2920-48-cdp-report.txt-1038-      local_port: 21
Procurve-2920-48-cdp-report.txt-1059-software_version: Cisco IOS Software, C3750E Software (C3750E-UNIVERSALK9-...
Procurve-2920-48-cdp-report.txt-1137-
Procurve-2920-48-cdp-report.txt-1138-
Procurve-2920-48-cdp-report.txt-1139-------------------------------
Procurve-2920-48-cdp-report.txt-1170-destination_host: 3750x.pu.pri
Procurve-2920-48-cdp-report.txt-1201-   management_ip: 192.168.1.1
Procurve-2920-48-cdp-report.txt-1231-        platform: cisco WS-C3750X-48P
Procurve-2920-48-cdp-report.txt:1269:     remote_port: GigabitEthernet1/1/4
Procurve-2920-48-cdp-report.txt-1308-      local_port: 22
Procurve-2920-48-cdp-report.txt-1329-software_version: Cisco IOS Software, C3750E Software (C3750E-UNIVERSALK9-...

Here is a screenshot of the csv report in Libre Office Calc:

CSV format

LLDP neighbor Report

The Procurve switches support the Link Layer discovery protocol (lldp). LLDP is an open standard protocol so it will be found on most non-Cisco devices. If you are using Mac/Linux you can install the LLDP daemon and participate. I recommend doing that because it's very useful to be able to see what you are connected to. Also, if you run show lldp on a switch, you will see your device.

Here is my Ubuntu laptop as seen by the 2920:

  LocalPort | ChassisId          PortId             PortDescr SysName
  --------- + ------------------ ------------------ --------- ------------------
  24        | 54 bf 64 3b 9c 68  28 d0 ea 93 2a 42  wlp61s0   1S1K-G5-5587

Explanation of output:

  • 24 - The port the lldp neighbor is connected to
  • 54 bf 64 3b 9c 68 - The Chassis ID. In this case, it's the mac address of my laptop's ethernet interface
  • 28 d0 ea 93 2a 42 - The port ID. This mac address of the wireless interface That is the interface that is connected to the network.
  • wlp61s0 - The name of the wireless interface that is connected to the network.
  • 1S1K-G5-5587 - The hostname of my laptop

Installing LLDP on Ubuntu

This blog is a good starting point for installing LLDP on Ubuntu. There are many public blogs on how to do it and a quick Google search or asking chatGPT will get you started.

Installing LLDP on macOS

I use homebrew to install applications on the Mac and lldp is just brew install lldp.

Enabling LLDP on the switch

By default lldp is not running. If you want to use lldp you have to enable it using:

config t
lldp run

Then you can use the following command to see the lldp configuration:

show lldp config

 LLDP Global Configuration

  LLDP Enabled [Yes] : Yes
  LLDP Transmit Interval    [30] : 30
  LLDP Hold time Multiplier  [4] : 4
  LLDP Reinit Interval       [2] : 2
  LLDP Notification Interval [5] : 5
  LLDP Fast Start Count      [5] : 5


 LLDP Port Configuration

  Port  | AdminStatus NotificationEnabled Med Topology Trap Enabled
  ----- + ----------- ------------------- -------------------------
  1     | Tx_Rx       False               False
  2     | Tx_Rx       False               False

You can customize LLDP using the following:

HP-2920-24G-PoEP(config)# lldp
 admin-status          Set the port operational mode.
 auto-provision        Configure radio port automatic provisioning.
 config                Set the TLV parameters to advertise on the specified ports.
 enable-notification   Enable notification on the specified ports.
 fast-start-count      Set the MED fast-start count in seconds.
 holdtime-multiplier   Set the holdtime multipler.
 refresh-interval      Set refresh interval/transmit interval in seconds.
 run                   Start LLDP on the device.
 top-change-notify     Enable LLDP MED topology change notification.

As you can see there are a lot of options available. Setting these options is beyond the scope of this article.

But it is interesting to note that you can change the basic Type, Length, Value (TLV) parameters that are advertised.

HP-2920-24G-PoEP(config)# lldp config
 [ethernet] PORT-LIST  Enter a port number, a list of ports or 'all' for all ports.
HP-2920-24G-PoEP(config)# lldp config 1
 basicTlvEnable        Specify the basic TLV List to advertise.
 dot1TlvEnable         Specify the 802.1 TLV list to advertise.
 dot3TlvEnable         Specify the 802.3 TLV list to advertise.
 ipAddrEnable          Specify the IP address to enable.
 medPortLocation       Configure the location ID information to advertise.
 medTlvEnable          Specify the MED TLV list to advertise.

HP-2920-24G-PoEP(config)# lldp config 1 basicTlvEnable
 port_descr            Port Description TLV
 system_name           System Name TLV
 system_descr          System Description TLV
 system_cap            System Capability TLV
 management_addr       Management Address TLV

Running the script

The script uses the same device-inventory file as the procurve-Config-pull.py script so there is no configuration needed. Just use:

  • python3 procurve-lldp-ne-report.py -s sitename

The report is saved into the "Interface\neighbors" directory.

Here is a snippet of the report:

           neighbor_sysname: 3750x.pu.pri
  remote_management_address: 10.254.34.17
      neighbor_chassis_type: mac-address
        neighbor_chassis_id: 64 00 f1 01 6f 80
               system_descr: Cisco IOS Software, C3750E Software (C3750E-UNIVERSALK9-M...
            neighbor_portid: Gi1/0/1
                 local_port: 1
               system_descr: Cisco IOS Software, C3750E Software (C3750E-UNIVERSALK9-M...
                       PVID: 850
                 port_descr: GigabitEthernet1/0/1
system_capabilities_enabled: bridge, router

I left the labels just as they are in the show command. If you want to change them it's fairly obvious in the script. For example, to change "remote_management_address" to "remote IP address" look for this line:

remote_management_address = f'{"remote_management_address: " :>29}{data[counter]["remote_management_address"]}'

and change "remote_management_address: " to "remote IP address: "

The System Report

The system report will be useful for filling out the Change request form or a transmittal. Again, being a plain text file you will be able to use grep to filter. For example:

grep -Eir -b4 "serial number" *system-report.txt

To pull a list of serial numbers from the system reports.

Here is a snippet of the system report:

        Hostname: HP-2920-24G-PoEP
   snmp location: Home Lab
    snmp contact: Michael Hubbard
 MAC address age: 300
        timezone: -480
   daylight_rule: Continental-US-and-Canada
software_version: WB.16.10.0023
     rom_version: WB.16.03
     mac address: 98f2b3-fe8880
   serial number: SG78FLXH0B
   system_uptime: 3 hours
 cpu_utilization: 47
        mem_free: 40,344,656

The Interface scripts

There are two scripts for interfaces:

  • procurve-10Mb.py - Creates a list of interfaces that are running at 10Mbps full or half duplex.
  • procurve-interface-in-use.py - Creates a list of interfaces that have a "total_byte" count not equal to 0.

I wrote the script that creates the 10Mbps list because smartrate and mGig ports don't support 10Mbps rates. From personal experience I can tell you that it's better to find out in the discovery phase than the deployment phase.

Devices running at 10Mbps full or half are usually door access controllers or Building Automation controllers. You will not have any success getting them replaced before the deployment phase begins. To verify you can use the port maps and look up the manufacturer.

The interface report for "in use" was requested so that decisions about consolidating interfaces could be made. It has the "uptime" of the switch as the first line in the file so that there is some context about the zero bytes. For example, if the switch has an uptime of a few days then the ports not in use could be employees on vacation for devices that are used infrequently.

Each of these scripts uses the same device-inventory file as the procurve-Config-pull.py script so there is no configuration needed. Just use:

  • python3 procurve-10Mb.py -s sitename
  • python3 procurve-interface-in-use.py -s sitename

The reports are saved into the "CR-data" directory.

The 10Mbps interfaces report

This script creates a simple text file with the filename format of "hostname-10Mb-Ports.txt". For example:

Procurve-2930-48-10Mb-Ports.txt

Here is a snippet of the cdp neighbor text report:

Interface 2 - 10FDx
Interface 3 - 10HDx

The ports in use report

This script creates a simple text file with the filename format of hostname-Port-data.txt. For example:

Procurve-2920-48-Port-data.txt

Here is a snippet of the cdp neighbor text report:

System Uptime: 3 hours

Number of Interfaces with traffic: 5
Interface 1 - total_bytes 1,510,198
Interface 2 - total_bytes 0
Interface 3 - total_bytes 0
Interface 4 - total_bytes 0
Interface 5 - total_bytes 0
Interface 6 - total_bytes 0
Interface 7 - total_bytes 1,054,112

Convert MAC addresses

This simple script takes 1 argument, a MAC address in any of the following formats and returns it in all of the formats.

  • 64:e8:81:43:cc:4e
  • 64e881-43cc4e
  • 64e8.8143.cc4e
  • 64-e8-81-43-cc-4e
  • 64e88143cc4e
python3 convert-mac.py --mac 64:e8:81:43:cc:4e
64:e8:81:43:cc:4e
64e881-43cc4e
64e8.8143.cc4e
64-e8-81-43-cc-4e
64e88143cc4e