In this packet tracer lab, you need to configure both syslog and NTP or network time protocol.
This lab consists of a Cisco router and a Cisco switch, as well as a syslog server, NTP server
and PC. Syslog allows us to centralize log messages, as well as store a historical backup of various
log messages, rather than just logging messages to the console of a router or switch or logging it
to a limited buffer
we can centralize log messages on a syslog server.
Hard drive capacities in servers are much greater than the memory or flash available in routers and
switches so we can collate, centralize and store log messages on a syslog server.
So that's what you're going to configure in this lab.
You're also going to make sure that your log messages have the correct time by setting up an NTP server.
Network
time protocol allows us to ensure that the devices throughout our network have the correct time, which
is important when you're logging messages.
If you have a log message that says that an interface went down, that it doesn't really help you if
you don't know when that event occurred.
Did it happen yesterday?
Did it happen a year ago?
Did it happen five years ago?
It's important that you have timestamps on your log messages, and that's why you need to configure
a network time protocol server or NTP server.
What you need to firstly do is configure the syslog server to accept syslog messages and then configure
router 1 and switch 1 to log messages to the syslog server to test this, create a loopback interface on
router 1 and verify that syslog messages are displayed on the syslog server.
Do various tests, such as shutting down the loopback interface on the router and then re enabling
the loopback interface and make sure that the syslog messages are displayed on the syslog
server. Shut this interface on the switch and then re-enable it and once again verify that the
syslog messages are shown on the syslog server.
Setting up a syslog server is very easy in packet tracer
select users log server, go to services syslog and enable the syslog server.
Once you've configured your syslog server, you need to configure the NTP server. So ensure that
NTP is enabled on your server, go to services
NTP and enable the NTP service.
Before you configure your devices to get time from the NTP server, check what the time is on your
devices. As an example
on the router show clock shows us that this router believes that it's the 1st of March, 1993.
That's obviously incorrect.
Also, configure router 1 and switch 1 to set timestamps in the syslog messages sent to the syslog server and then
configure router 1 and switch 1 to get to that time from the NTP server.
Once you've done that, verify that the clocks are properly set and then shut down the loopback interface
and re-enable it on router 1 and verify that your syslog server is receiving the syslog messages
but in addition verify that the timestamps on the syslog messages are set to correctly do the
same on the switch, shutdown
and no shut the interface and verify that the syslog messages have the correct timestamp applied.
It's important for you to know both syslog and NTP for the CCNA exam, as well as for the real world.
So make sure that you know how to configure both syslog and NTP by downloading the packet tracer
file and configuring this network.
So can you complete this lab? Download the packet tracer file and see if you can complete the lab
yourself.
Otherwise, watch the next video where I complete the lab.