[rancid] Cisco IOS - "serial number" file changing in flash ?

[heasley]

Wed, Dec 15, 2021 at 09:31:24AM -0500, vom513:
> I have a Cisco IOS AP (i.e. older standalone/autonomous).  Every once in a while (I don’t see a time pattern here), RANCID sees a change of a file in flash.
> 
> The file’s name is the PCB serial number of the AP:
> 
> - !Flash:     8  -rwx           6   Dec 9 2021 17:19:40 -05:00  FOC12345LLK
> + !Flash:     8  -rwx           6  Dec 14 2021 05:31:51 -05:00  FOC12345LLK
> 
> Is this a known issue ?  Perhaps fixed in newer versions of RANCID (I’m running 3.9) ?

I have an 891 w/ an embedded ap802; it does not do this.  Maybe you have not
told us enough, but rancid just reports what it receives.  So, the file is
changing.  That could be a cisco bug (such as DE's debugging left in a
production image) or a file that changes legitimately.  I could not guess
which, from the example.

Can you view the contents of the file (more FOC12345LLK)?  No debugging is
emabled (show debug)?  You're using device type 'ios'?