How to collect console output from the SRA unit

A console connection is a sort of connection that does not depend on the network availability - it's a direct connection to the unit over the console port and sowith helpful to define/investigate all sorts of issues like IP changes, reboots or restarts of the SSLVPN appliance, when the WebGUI is not available, quick setup of the unit from scratch or when you're asked by the Technical Support to provide monitor status of the unit (so called console output).

Procedure:

Step 1: Download a console connection capable software ie. puTTY or TeraTerm Pro.

Link1: http://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest/x86/putty.zip
Link2: http://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest/x86/putty.exe

Step 2: In case of a zip file - extract it to a directory of your choice.

Step 3: Attach the SonicWall console cable (RJ45 connector) to the appliance's port marked CONSOLE.
Attach the other end (DB9 connector) of the serial cable to a serial port on the configuring computer.


Step 3: Launch puTTY. Select Serial, type in COM1 (or COM2) in the Connection Type radio button fieldand fill in the Speed field with the value of 115200.
If you're using different software then "puTTY" then type in the following values when asked, otherwise you can leave the default values:
 

Step 5: Please choose the sub section "Logging" and define, where the console output file should be saved and specify to save "All session output".


Step 4: Once the values from above are set, click on Open. A new windows opens up - at first there will be nothing in there.
At this point press "Enter" on the keyboard. The following prompt appears:

Please login as with your administrator account and a corresponding password.
Once logged in the output will look similar to this:


As for the console output - please go to the location of the console output file from step 5 (in this example C:UsersTEMPDownloads...) and open the file named putty.log.
A new windows comes up. In there you will see exact the same output - in form of a simple text file - that you see on the console connection windows in putty.
As for the setup possibilities from the console connection - the following tasks can be done:

1. Setup Wizard
Initial setup for the network configuration of the unit: X0 IP address, Subnet mask, Default Gateway, Primary DNS, Secondary DNS, Hostname.

2. Reboot
Forces device to restart.

3. Restart SSL VPN Services
Forces SSL VPN Services to restart.

4. Logout
Logs out the current user from the CLI.

5. Save TSR to Flash
Saves the Technical Support Report to flash memory on the SRA appliance.