VxBlock: How to use Ethanalyzer packet capture tool.

Summary: How to use Ethanalyzer packet capture tool.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.

Instructions

Ethanalyzer is a useful tool to troubleshoot control plane and traffic destined to switch CPU. Mgmt is the interface to troubleshoot packets that hit the mgmt0 interface. Inbound-low (eth3) is for low priority (ping, telnet, SSH) CPU-bound traffic, and inbound-hi (eth4) is for high priority (Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), Bridge Protocol Data Units, FIP) CPU-bound traffic.

Note: You can use the Display Filter or the Capture Filter as an option.
The Display filter option is preferred on the Nexus 5000, and the Capture Filter is preferred on the Nexus 3000 and Nexus 7000.

Commonly used Display Filters can be found at Wireshark 

Commonly used Capture Filters can be found at Wireshark 

Note: Since the Nexus 5000 uses internal VLANs to forward frames, Ethanlyzer has internal VLANs.
Nexus 5000 forwards frames based on internal VLANs and Ethanalyzer displays the internal VLAN.
When you troubleshoot with Ethanalyzer, the VLAN ID can cause difficulties.
However, you can use the command show system internal fcfwd fwcvidmap cvid in order to determine the mapping. Here is an example.

 

Further examples are shown at: Nexus 3000/5000/7000 Use of the Ethanalyzer Tool

Additional Information

Refer to this video:

Affected Products

Converged Infrastructure, VxBlock and Vblock Systems, VxBlock and vBlock Systems Series
Article Properties
Article Number: 000195906
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 19 Nov 2025
Version:  3
Find answers to your questions from other Dell users
Support Services
Check if your device is covered by Support Services.