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M4300: Any way to check for divergence between startup-config and running-config?
Hi
I've tried to find a away to identify if the running-config has actually - and if possible what exactly - has diverged compared to the startup-config. It can also be useful to quickly learn if the last person forgot to write the running-config the the NVRAM.
ArubaOS for exampe comes with has a rather 'show startup-config status' command which tells if both configs are identical or if they have differences. IOS-XE has commands to show the actual difference. Something similar to ArubaOS would already be enough, but so far I've not found a way to do something similar on the M4300 CLI. Any pointer is appreciated, maybe I'm just looking for the wrong term?
Thank you for your message, you are right we don't have this command, as of yet. Good input, and (coincidence) we are working on such a new way of comparing a running config with the startup config (and also the backup config saved elsewhere in the flash). There is no ETA yet, still experiment as I speak, we may use other forms of commands/interface for it.
For now, the solution would be the following:
Copy out ‘startup.cfg’ to your PC
Copy ‘running.cfg’ to ‘backup.cfg’ on the switch
Copy out ‘backup.cfg’ to your PC as ‘running.cfg’
Then use Notepad++ to compare startup.cgf and backup.cfg on your PC
Notepad++ is a great tool that allows just that
(copy from the internet below)
Compare Two Files Using Notepad++
Begin by opening the Plugin Manager from the Plugins menu: Next select the Compare plugin and click Install: Now open both of the files you would like to compare as two separate tabs in Notepad++. Then from the Plugins menu select Compare -> Compare (or use the shortcut Alt+D)
Thank you for your message, you are right we don't have this command, as of yet. Good input, and (coincidence) we are working on such a new way of comparing a running config with the startup config (and also the backup config saved elsewhere in the flash). There is no ETA yet, still experiment as I speak, we may use other forms of commands/interface for it.
For now, the solution would be the following:
Copy out ‘startup.cfg’ to your PC
Copy ‘running.cfg’ to ‘backup.cfg’ on the switch
Copy out ‘backup.cfg’ to your PC as ‘running.cfg’
Then use Notepad++ to compare startup.cgf and backup.cfg on your PC
Notepad++ is a great tool that allows just that
(copy from the internet below)
Compare Two Files Using Notepad++
Begin by opening the Plugin Manager from the Plugins menu: Next select the Compare plugin and click Install: Now open both of the files you would like to compare as two separate tabs in Notepad++. Then from the Plugins menu select Compare -> Compare (or use the shortcut Alt+D)
These are interesting news from inside Netgear. It wouldn't need to be full diff/comparison command (though a full diff can be even more useful), a simple "running-config matches startup-config" or "running-config has been modified but not yet saved" would already be sufficient.
Since I'm coming from a Linux background I'd probably use something like 'diff -u startup.cfg backup.cfg' after copying the config off the switch to compare the files. The timestamp in the files would need to be cut or replaced out in order to get zero differences though. (Same applies to Notepad++ apprach)
The current somewhat cosmetic "problem" - but one I that I can easily live with, until the new command arrives - is that by saving the system:running-config to nvram:backup-config the operation isn't an entirely idempotent process. (Ssince you overwrite the backup-config. But at least you don't overwrite nvram:startup-config.)
