How to read the serial number of a Huawei device
To read the serial number of a Huawei device, run "display esn" for the equipment serial number, or read the electronic label with "display elabel"; the command differs by product family, so check the documentation for your model. NacTrack sends "display elabel" to Huawei VRP devices at every collection and keeps the chassis serial and the serial of each board.
What you need
- Module required: inventory.
- Permission required: view_inventory.
- Huawei VRP devices collected over SSH.
In NacTrack
- 1
Find the device in the inventory
Open Inventory, then Devices, and search for the device. The Serial column holds the chassis serial number.
Screen: app.nactrack.com/devices
- 2
Read the boards on the device page
Open the device, then the Details tab. Hardware Inventory lists each board read from the electronic label, with its board type as part number and its bar code as serial number.
Screen: app.nactrack.com/devices
By hand, without NacTrack
On Huawei AR access routers, the device management guide gives "display esn" for the equipment serial number (ESN), the unique identifier of the device used for licences, and "display sn" for the serial of each component: card, power module, fan, optic.
On CloudEngine data centre switches, the troubleshooting guide lists "display device elabel" for the electronic label of a board. On some campus switches "display elabel" asks for confirmation before it runs, because it can take a long time: answer Y, or a script will wait and get nothing.
The ESN and the SN are not the same thing. Huawei asks for the ESN for a licence and for the SN of the faulty component for after-sales service.
What this view does not tell you
- NacTrack does not send "display esn". It reads the serial from "display version" when the device prints one there, and otherwise from the bar code in the electronic label. On models whose ESN differs from the chassis bar code, compare with "display esn" before applying for a licence.
- If the electronic label command timed out or was refused, the device shows no serial rather than a wrong one. An empty Serial cell on a Huawei device is the sign to look at.
Further reading
Network device inventory: models, serials, free ports
Models, software versions, serial numbers, used and free ports, across a heterogeneous estate. Collected over SSH, with no agent and no manual entry.
How-to guideHow to record the serial number and version of every network device
Serial number and software version of every network device in one exportable table, plus stack members and modules, and the Cisco commands by hand.
How-to guideHow to find the end-of-support date of a Cisco Catalyst 2960
End-of-support dates for the Catalyst 2960, 2960-S, 2960-Plus, 2960-X and 2960-XR, read from Cisco's notices, and how to check your own models.