[rancid] Re: Cisco IOS versus Cisco PIX and term width 80

[Jethro R Binks]

On Fri, 6 Feb 2009, Jason Ellison wrote:

> I have a problem with Cisco c1841 formating the screen differently.
> 
> !VLAN: VLAN Name                             Status    Ports
> !VLAN: ---- -------------------------------- ---------
> -------------------------------
> !VLAN: 1    default                          active    Fa0/0/0, Fa0/0/1, Fa0/0/2
> !VLAN:                                                 Fa0/0/3
> 
> versus
> 
> !VLAN: VLAN Name                             Status    Ports
> !VLAN: ---- -------------------------------- ---------
> -------------------------------
> !VLAN: 1    default                          active    Fa0/0/0,
> Fa0/0/1, Fa0/0/2, Fa0/0/3
> 
> adding "term width 80" after "term len 0" in clogin seems to fix this... 
> but this seems to break the PIX.  Should I create a new class... for the 
> PIX or maybe do some hostname matching.  Are others having this same 
> issue?

"term width 80" certainly isn't a valid command for the PIX, however in 
what way does it "break" it?  All I get if I add that is:

asa1# term width 0
           ^
ERROR: % Invalid input detected at '^' marker.

which is duly ignored.

I think it would be useful if rancid had a clue earlier on what sort of 
device it is going to be talking to, so it could modify its behaviour 
(particularly in clogin) accordingly.  I have often pondered about 
expanding the information per device in router.db.  A hint could be placed 
in there (for example, to distinguish the common case of a traditional IOS 
box vs. the PIX, which has become more similar over time but is still 
somewhat different in some respects).

It may be preferable to do this, rather than write a whole new 
*rancid/*login for a device which is substantially very similar to an 
existing one, which helps avoid duplication and divergence.

Jethro.

-- 
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Jethro R Binks
Computing Officer, IT Services, University Of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK