[SRX] "show chassis fpc" output shows CPU less FPC

On SRX series branch devices, if interface cards are inserted into an FPC slot, users may observe CPU less FPC message in the output of the show chassis fpc command.

This article clarifies that this is expected behavior on these devices because the interface cards do not have a CPU.

If we have an interface card inserted into the FPC slot on an SRX branch device (say SRX340), the output of show chassis fpc displays CPU less FPC.

This behavior is observed with built-in cards and PIMs (some examples listed below):

1-Port small form-factor pluggable (SFP) Mini-PIM - SRX-MP-1SFP
1-Port Gigabit Ethernet small form-factor pluggable (SFP) - SRX-MP-1SFP-GE
Serial Mini-PIM - SRX-MP-1Serial
T1/E1 Mini-PIM - SRX-MP-1T1E1

Example 1

user@lab> show version
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hostname: Node-1
Model: srx340
Junos: 19.3R1.8
JUNOS Software Release [19.3R1.8]

user@lab> show chassis hardware
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hardware inventory:
Item             Version  Part number  Serial number     Description
Chassis                                XYYZZ3AF6310      SRX340
Routing Engine   REV 0x07 650-065043   GGXGH3AF6310      RE-SRX340
FPC 0                                                    FPC
  PIC 0                                                  8xGE,8xGE SFP Base PIC
Power Supply 0  

user@lab> show chassis fpc
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Temp  CPU Utilization (%)   CPU Utilization (%)  Memory    Utilization (%)
Slot State            (C)  Total  Interrupt      1min   5min   15min  DRAM (MB) Heap     Buffer
  0  Online          -------------------- CPU less FPC --------------------
  1  Empty          
  2  Empty          
  3  Empty          
  4  Empty

Example 2

user@lab> show version 
Hostname: srx650
Model: srx650
JUNOS Software Release [12.3X48-D75.4]

user@lab> show chassis hardware detail 
Hardware inventory:
Item             Version  Part number  Serial number     Description
Chassis                                AJ0000AA0016      SRX650
FPC 0                                                    FPC
  PIC 0                                                  4x GE Base PIC
FPC 2            REV 07   750-023873   AAAA0101          FPC
  PIC 0                                                  24x GE gPIM
FPC 5            REV 13   750-030454   ABAB0202          FPC
  PIC 0                                                  2x 10G xPIM

user@lab> show chassis fpc 
                     Temp  CPU Utilization (%)   Memory    Utilization (%)
Slot State            (C)  Total  Interrupt      DRAM (MB) Heap     Buffer
  0  Online          -------------------- CPU less FPC --------------------
  1  Empty           --------------------  Not Usable  --------------------
  2  Online          -------------------- CPU less FPC --------------------
  3  Empty           --------------------  Not Usable  --------------------
  4  Empty           --------------------  Not Usable  --------------------
  5  Online          -------------------- CPU less FPC --------------------

These messages are observed on SRX Series branch devices, when interface cards that do not have a CPU are inserted into the FPC slot.

This is expected behavior on SRX Series branch devices because the show chassis fpc command is designed for generic Junos.

In this case, we can use the show chassis fpc pic-status command to check the status of the FPC/PIC.

user@lab> show chassis fpc pic-status  >>> Use this command to verify the status of the interface card.
node1:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Slot 0   Online       FPC                                           
  PIC 0  Online       8xGE,8xGE SFP Base PIC  >>> Displays the status of interface card

Knowledge Base