Network Management

Netflow data is unavailable on Cisco Nexus devices in NTA

Netflow data is unavailable on some Cisco Nexus devices configured to use Netflow v5. This devices can still be configured but Flexibe Netflow is still recommended for use. Data will not be processed if the values do not match the information in flow data when the device is discovered.

First published date

10/18/2018 2:46 PM

Last published date

2/22/2022 1:18 AM

Overview

Netflow data is not available on some Cisco Nexus devices that are configured to use Netflow v5. Devices can still be configured but the use of Flexible Netflow is recommended. Data is not being processed because the interface index values do not match the values in the flow data and SNMP index values stored in the database when the device is discovered. Changing the Netflow configuration on the Cisco Nexus device to use Flexible Netflow instead of Netflow v5 resolves the issue.

Product section

Netflow Traffic Analyzer

Cause

Flow data contains interface index value fields InputInt and OutputInt. These fields in Netflow v5 are 2 bytes and can only hold a maximum value of 65535. Netflow v9 on the other hand, uses 4 bytes and can hold a maximum value of 4294967295. Since v5 cannot hold the entire value, the InputInt and OutputInt fields are changed and do not match the interface index values in the database. The packets are then dropped since the values exported using v5 are changed and does not represent the matching SNMP interface index values.

This can be verified using a Wireshark capture and an SNMP walk to compare the interface index values.

Wireshark

InputIfIndex

OutputIfIndex

3096

200

3096

253

3096

253

3096

253

3096

151

3096

151

SNMP values when discovered

InterfaceIndex

151060481

151060499

151060628

151060631

151060640

151060641

151060667

151060680

Resolution

Change the Netflow configuration on the Cisco Nexus device to use Flexible Netflow instead of Netflow v5.