Interface Checker Guide

Check interface status on your network devices. Find what's down, what has errors.

What It Does

• Connects to a device
• Runs show ip interface brief (Cisco) or show port (Nokia)
• Parses the output into a clean, readable summary
• Optionally shows only down interfaces

Quick Start

Check all interfaces on a device

python -m netops.check.interfaces \
  --host 10.0.0.1 \
  --vendor cisco_ios \
  --user admin \
  --password 'secret'

Output:

📊 10.0.0.1: 24/28 interfaces up, 4 down
  ✅ GigabitEthernet0/0 (10.0.0.1) — up/up
  ✅ GigabitEthernet0/1 (10.0.0.2) — up/up
  ❌ GigabitEthernet0/2 — administratively down/down
  ❌ GigabitEthernet0/3 — down/down
  ...

Show only down interfaces

python -m netops.check.interfaces \
  --host 10.0.0.1 \
  --vendor cisco_ios \
  --user admin \
  --down-only

Output:

📊 10.0.0.1: 24/28 interfaces up, 4 down
  ❌ GigabitEthernet0/2 — administratively down/down
  ❌ GigabitEthernet0/3 — down/down
  ❌ Serial0/0/0 — down/down
  ❌ Tunnel0 — up/down

Step-by-Step: Morning Health Check

Step 1: Check your core routers

python -m netops.check.interfaces --host 10.0.0.1 --vendor cisco_ios -u admin --down-only
python -m netops.check.interfaces --host 10.0.0.2 --vendor nokia_sros -u admin --down-only

Step 2: Get JSON for a report or ticket

python -m netops.check.interfaces \
  --host 10.0.0.1 \
  --vendor cisco_ios \
  -u admin \
  --down-only \
  --json

Output:

{
  "host": "10.0.0.1",
  "success": true,
  "interfaces": [
    {
      "name": "GigabitEthernet0/3",
      "ip": null,
      "status": "down",
      "protocol": "down",
      "up": false
    }
  ],
  "summary": {
    "total": 28,
    "up": 24,
    "down": 4
  }
}

Step 3: Quick script to check multiple devices

#!/bin/bash
# check-all-core.sh
echo "=== Core Router Health Check ==="
echo ""

for host in 10.0.0.1 10.0.0.2 10.0.0.3; do
  python -m netops.check.interfaces \
    --host $host \
    --vendor cisco_ios \
    -u admin \
    --down-only
  echo ""
done

Make it executable:

chmod +x check-all-core.sh
./check-all-core.sh

All Options

Option	Short	What It Does
--host		Device IP or hostname (required)
--vendor		Device type (default: cisco_ios)
--user	-u	Username
--password	-p	Password (or use NETOPS_PASSWORD env var)
--down-only		Only show down interfaces
--json		JSON output to stdout

What the Status Means

Status	Protocol	What It Means
up	up	✅ Working normally
up	down	⚠️ Layer 1 OK but Layer 2 problem (protocol issue)
down	down	❌ Interface is down (cable? remote end?)
admin down	down	🔒 Intentionally shut down (shutdown command)

Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
No interfaces shown	Wrong vendor type — check --vendor matches your device
Parse error	Device output format may differ. Open an issue with the raw output.
Timeout	Device is slow to respond; this single-host CLI does not expose a timeout flag. Use a programmatic caller when connection tuning is required.