Aruba CX Interface Monitoring

Monitor HPE Aruba CX switch interface status, LLDP neighbor relationships, and optical transceiver health (DOM diagnostics). Essential for troubleshooting connectivity issues and monitoring link quality.

When to Use

• Checking interface admin/operational status
• Troubleshooting port connectivity issues
• Discovering LLDP neighbors for topology mapping
• Monitoring optical transceiver health (TX/RX power, temperature)
• Identifying threshold violations on optics
• Verifying interface descriptions and speeds

MCP Server

• Server: aruba-cx-mcp (community MCP from slientnight)
• Command: python3 -u mcp-servers/aruba-cx-mcp/aruba_cx_mcp_server.py (stdio transport)
• Auth: REST API via ARUBA_CX_TARGETS (JSON array) or ARUBA_CX_CONFIG (file path)
• Timeout: ARUBA_CX_TIMEOUT (default: 30 seconds)

Available Tools

| Tool | Parameters | What It Does | |------|------------|--------------| | get_interfaces | target, interface? | Get interface status (admin, oper, speed, description) | | get_lldp_neighbors | target, interface? | Get LLDP neighbor information (device, port, capabilities) | | get_dom_diagnostics | target, interface? | Get optical transceiver health with threshold alerts |

Workflow Examples

Interface Status Monitoring

bash
# View all interfaces
"Show all interfaces on core-sw-1"

# Check specific interface
"What's the status of interface 1/1/1 on core-sw-1?"

# Find down interfaces
"Which interfaces are down on core-sw-1?"

# Check interface speeds
"Show me the interface speeds on core-sw-1"

# View interface descriptions
"What are the interface descriptions on core-sw-1?"

LLDP Neighbor Discovery

bash
# View all LLDP neighbors
"Show LLDP neighbors on core-sw-1"

# Check specific port neighbors
"What device is connected to port 1/1/49 on core-sw-1?"

# Discover upstream devices
"What are the LLDP neighbors for the uplink ports?"

# Map topology
"Show me all connected devices on core-sw-1"

Optical Transceiver Health

bash
# View all optics health
"Show optical transceiver health for core-sw-1"

# Check specific port DOM
"What are the DOM readings for port 1/1/49?"

# Find threshold violations
"Are there any optical threshold warnings on core-sw-1?"

# Monitor TX/RX power
"Show the TX and RX power levels for all optics on core-sw-1"

# Check transceiver temperature
"What's the temperature of the transceivers on core-sw-1?"

Integration with Other Skills

• aruba-cx-system: First discover switches, then check their interfaces
• aruba-cx-switching: View VLANs assigned to interfaces
• aruba-cx-config: Review interface configuration details

Response Examples

Interface List Response

json
[
  {
    "name": "1/1/1",
    "admin_state": "up",
    "oper_state": "up",
    "speed": "10G",
    "description": "Uplink to spine-1",
    "mtu": 9198,
    "type": "ethernet"
  },
  {
    "name": "1/1/2",
    "admin_state": "up",
    "oper_state": "down",
    "speed": "10G",
    "description": "Server port",
    "mtu": 9198,
    "type": "ethernet"
  }
]

LLDP Neighbors Response

json
[
  {
    "local_port": "1/1/49",
    "remote_chassis_id": "aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff",
    "remote_port_id": "Ethernet1",
    "remote_system_name": "spine-1",
    "remote_system_description": "Aruba 8325",
    "remote_capabilities": ["bridge", "router"]
  }
]

DOM Diagnostics Response

json
[
  {
    "interface": "1/1/49",
    "temperature": 35.5,
    "temperature_status": "normal",
    "tx_power": -2.5,
    "tx_power_status": "normal",
    "rx_power": -3.1,
    "rx_power_status": "normal",
    "voltage": 3.3,
    "vendor": "Aruba",
    "part_number": "JL484A"
  },
  {
    "interface": "1/1/50",
    "temperature": 42.1,
    "temperature_status": "warning",
    "tx_power": -2.8,
    "tx_power_status": "normal",
    "rx_power": -15.2,
    "rx_power_status": "alarm",
    "voltage": 3.3,
    "vendor": "Aruba",
    "part_number": "JL484A"
  }
]

Error Handling

| Error Code | Meaning | Resolution | |------------|---------|------------| | AUTH_FAILED | Invalid credentials | Verify username/password in ARUBA_CX_TARGETS | | CONN_TIMEOUT | Switch unreachable | Check network connectivity and ARUBA_CX_TIMEOUT | | INTERFACE_NOT_FOUND | Unknown interface | Verify interface name format (e.g., 1/1/1) | | NO_DOM_SUPPORT | Port not optical | DOM diagnostics only available on optical transceiver ports | | NO_LLDP_NEIGHBORS | No LLDP data | Verify LLDP is enabled and neighbors support LLDP |

Notes

• Read-only operations - no ServiceNow CR gating required
• All operations logged to GAIT audit trail
• DOM diagnostics only available on optical transceiver ports
• Threshold status values: normal, warning, alarm
• LLDP must be enabled on both local and remote devices
• Interface names follow format: member/module/port (e.g., 1/1/1)