Receiving data traces from TX based tasks: ss7trace

Use ss7trace when monitoring or troubleshooting SS7 signaling.

Purpose

Displays any debug data tracing that is turned on (through the layer's manager program or initial configuration) in the MTP, ISUP, M3UA, or SCTP tasks or in the TX operating system [Ethernet tracing]. It does not accept commands; it only displays the tracing.

Using ss7trace

Enter the following command to start ss7trace:

ss7trace

The utility returns the following information:

Trace Monitor SS7 V5.1: Hit Enter to exit
©Copyright 1998-2009, Dialogic Corporation

Enabling packet tracing

Tracing must be enabled to trace all data packets sent and received to the ss7trace utility. Use the following commands to enable and disable tracing:

Utility

Command

Description

mtpmgr

trace on

Enable MTP layer packet tracing on all configured links.

trace off

Disable MTP layer packet tracing on all links.

link <n> tre

Enable MTP layer packet tracing on a specific link.

link <n> trd

Disable MTP layer packet tracing on a specific link.

isupmgr

trace data on

Enable ISUP layer packet tracing on all ISUP packets sent and received.

trace data off

Disable ISUP layer tracing.

sctpmgr

trace ena

Enable packet tracing at the lower interface of SCTP.

trace dis

Disable SCTP layer packet tracing.

m3uamgr

trace ena

Enable packet tracing at the lower interface of M3UA.

trace dis

Disable M3UA layer packet tracing.

txconfig

cpcon

ethtrace <i> on

Enable tracing of Ethernet packets sent and received over Ethernet <i>.

ethtrace <i> off

Disable Ethernet packet tracing over Ethernet interface <i>.


MTP/ISUP sample trace output

The following sample shows the output generated for a single packet received followed by a single packet transmitted when both MTP and ISUP layer tracing is enabled. Note that these are hexadecimal dumps of the actual packets sent and received, so familiarity with the detailed encodings of a given layer's packets is required to decode the trace data. The packets in this example were collected from an ANSI configuration; therefore, the packet contents (for example, the point code length in the routing label) for ITU or Japan protocol variants will be different.

14:46:36.0 MTP3.1 <-- : Link # 1
85 01 00 00 02 00 00 05 06 00 01 00 20 01 0A 03 ............ ...
06 0B 03 C0 90 A2 05 03 10 01 01 01 0A 05 03 10 ................
04 22 04 00 00                                  ."...           
14:46:36.0 ISUP.1 <-- 0.0.2:
06 00 01 00 20 01 0A 03 06 0B 03 C0 90 A2 05 03 .... ...........
10 01 01 01 0A 05 03 10 04 22 04 00             ........."..    
14:46:36.0 ISUP.1 --> 0.0.2:
06 00 06 14 14 00                               ......          
14:46:36.0 MTP3.1 --> : Link # 1
85 02 00 00 01 00 00 09 06 00 06 14 14 00 00    ...............

The heading for each message shows the time the packet is sent or received, the layer generating the trace, and the direction of the message ( --> transmitted packets, <-- received packets). The MTP heading also indicates the link number the packet is sent or received on. The ISUP header indicates the destination point code that the packet is sent to or received from.

The MTP packet trace contains the content of the packet starting with the service information octet (SIO), followed by the routing label (DPC, OPC, and SLS) and packet data.

The ISUP packet trace contains the ISUP portion of the packet being sent or received starting with the circuit identification code (CIC), followed by the message type and parameters.

SCTP/M3UA sample trace output

The following sample shows the trace output generated when SCTP and M3UA are enabled:

16:00:58.0 SCTP.1 <-- Sap ID: 0

0B 59 0B 59 0D A0 03 8A 8E C2 BF 46 03 00 00 10 .Y.Y.......F....
0D A0 03 B2 00 00 7F E7 00 00 00 00             ............

16:01:00.0 M3UA.1 --ASPSM--> : Service User: 0

01 00 03 01 00 00 00 18 00 04 00 0F 03 6B 8C 80 .............k..
03 6C 28 9C 06 AF 2C 00                         .l(...,.

16:01:00.0 SCTP.1 --> Sap ID: 0

0B 59 0B 59 0A D9 33 C9 CE E6 2B 8F 00 03 00 28 .Y.Y..3...+....(
0D A0 03 B3 00 00 00 29 00 00 00 03 01 00 03 01 .......)........
00 00 00 18 00 04 00 0F 03 6B 8C 80 03 6C 28 9C .........k...l(.
06 AF 2C 00                                     ..,.

The heading for each SCTP message shows the:

The hex dump of the message begins with the 12 byte SCTP common header (source port – 2 bytes, destination port – 2 bytes, verification tag – 4 bytes, checksum – 4 bytes). The chunk type is the 13th byte. The chunk type in the received message is 03 (SACK). The chunk type in the sent message is 00 (DATA).

The heading for each M3UA message shows the:

The hex dump of the message starts with the M3UA common header (version – 1 byte, reserved - 1 byte (always 0), message class – 1 byte, and message type – 1 byte). The third and fourth bytes (message class/type) define the M3UA message type. Class = 03 (ASPSM) and type = 01 (ASPUP).

Ethernet sample trace output

The following sample shows the trace output generated when ethtrace is enabled:

14:07:34.0 ETH[1].1 --> (98 bytes):

00 20 22 31 98 12 00 20 22 31 7B BA 08 00 45 00 . "1... "1{...E.
00 54 00 56 00 00 3C 01 F4 4F 42 01 01 01 42 01 .T.V..<..OB...B.
05 01 08 00 BC 04 00 03 00 01 54 58 20 50 49 4E ....+.....TX PIN
47 3A 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 54 58 20 50 49 4E G:@ABCDEFGTX PIN
47 3A 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 54 58 20 50 49 4E G:@ABCDEFGTX PIN
47 3A 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 54 58 20 50 49 4E G:@ABCDEFGTX PIN
47 3A                                           G:

14:07:34.0 ETH[1].1 <-- (98 bytes):

00 20 22 31 7B BA 00 20 22 31 98 12 08 00 45 00 . "1{.. "1....E.
00 54 00 56 00 00 3C 01 F4 4F 42 01 05 01 42 01 .T.V..<..OB...B.
01 01 00 00 C4 04 00 03 00 01 54 58 20 50 49 4E ..........TX PIN
47 3A 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 54 58 20 50 49 4E G:@ABCDEFGTX PIN
47 3A 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 54 58 20 50 49 4E G:@ABCDEFGTX PIN
47 3A 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 54 58 20 50 49 4E G:@ABCDEFGTX PIN
47 3A                                           G:

Each message is a complete Ethernet packet. The heading for each Ethernet message shows the:

The hex dump of the message begins with the Ethernet header and contains the full payload of the message.