# Cisco Switch Port Status Monitor (Telnet)

A Python-based monitoring tool that connects to a **Cisco switch via Telnet**, collects **interface status and PoE information**, and displays **active (connected) ports** in a clean **GUI dashboard**.

This project is designed for **homelab, lab, and operational environments** where SSH may not be available and Telnet is still in use.

---

## ✨ Features

- ✅ Telnet connection using `pexpect`
- ✅ **Supports login without username**
- ✅ Handles:
  - Password-only login
  - Username + password login
  - Direct `>` or `#` prompt
  - Enable (`enable`) password
- ✅ Automatically disables terminal paging
- ✅ Collects:
  - Interface link status
  - VLAN
  - Speed (human readable)
  - Duplex
  - PoE admin/oper state
  - PoE power usage (Watts)
- ✅ GUI table with:
  - Auto refresh
  - Manual refresh
  - Sortable columns
- ✅ Designed to recover from connection failures gracefully

---

## 🖥️ GUI Overview

The GUI displays **only active (connected) ports** in a sortable table:

| Column | Description |
|------|------------|
| Port | Cisco interface converted to Port number |
| VLAN | Access VLAN |
| Speed | Human-readable link speed |
| Duplex | Full / Half |
| PoE Admin | PoE enabled/disabled |
| PoE Oper | PoE operational state |
| Power (W) | Power drawn by the device |

A status bar at the bottom shows:
- Connection state
- Errors
- Last refresh time

---

## 📦 Requirements

### Python
- Python **3.8+** recommended

### System packages
Tkinter is required for the GUI.

#### Debian / Ubuntu / Raspberry Pi OS
```bash
sudo apt install python3-tk
```

#### RedHat / Rocky / Alma / CentOS
```bash
sudo dnf install python3-tkinter
```

#### Arch / Manjaro
```bash
sudo pacman -S tk
```

### Python modules
```bash
pip install pexpect
```

---

## ⚙️ Configuration

Edit these variables at the top of `status.py`:

```python
SWITCH_IP = "10.183.100.11"
TELNET_PORT = 23

USERNAME = ""            # optional
PASSWORD = "telnetpass"
ENABLE_PASSWORD = "enablepass"
```

### 🔐 Login without username
If your switch does **not** require a username:
```python
USERNAME = ""
```

This is fully supported.

---

## 🌱 Environment Variables (Recommended)

Instead of hardcoding credentials:

```bash
export SWITCH_USER=""
export SWITCH_PASS="telnetpass"
export SWITCH_ENABLE="enablepass"
python3 status.py
```

This keeps secrets out of source code.

---

## 🚀 Running the Program

```bash
python3 status.py
```

If running on a **headless server**, ensure:
- X11 / Wayland forwarding is available, **or**
- Use a desktop environment

For pure server usage, consider converting this to a **web dashboard**.

---

## 🔁 Refresh Behavior

- Auto refresh every **10 seconds** (configurable in GUI)
- Manual refresh button
- Auto refresh can be paused/resumed

The program safely:
- Reconnects on failure
- Retries after timeouts
- Never blocks the GUI

---

## 🛠️ How It Works (Internals)

1. Connects via Telnet using `pexpect`
2. Detects login prompt type
3. Enters enable mode if required
4. Runs:
   - `show interfaces status`
   - `show power inline`
5. Parses CLI output with regex
6. Merges interface + PoE data
7. Displays connected ports in GUI

---

## ⚠️ Notes & Limitations

- Telnet must be enabled on the switch
- Tested primarily on Cisco IOS-style output
- Parsing may need adjustment for NX-OS / IOS-XE variants
- GUI requires a graphical environment

---

## 🔮 Possible Extensions

- Web-based dashboard (Flask / FastAPI)
- Port search & filtering
- Historical PoE graphs
- Alerts for power spikes or link changes
- SSH support

---

## 📜 License

MIT License — use, modify, and share freely.

---

## 👤 Author

Created for homelab and operational monitoring of Cisco switches.

Feel free to extend and adapt.