Configuration Guide User guide

FastIron Configuration Guide 273
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Brocade IronStack management
Brocade IronStack management
Your Brocade IronStack can be managed through a single IP address. You can manage the stack
using this IP address even if you remove the Active Controller or any member from the stack. You
can also connect to the Active Controller through Telnet or SSH using this address. All management
functions, such as SNMP, use this IP address to acquire MIB information and other management
data.
A Brocade IronStack can be configured and managed using the command line interface (CLI) over a
serial connection to a console port.
Logging in through the CLI
You can access the IronStack and the CLI in two ways:
• Through a direct serial connection to the console port
• Through a local or remote Telnet session using the stack IP address
You can initiate a local Telnet or SNMP connection by attaching a cable to a port and specifying the
assigned management station IP address.
The stacking commands in the CLI are organized into the following levels:
• Global – Commands issued in the global mode are applied to the entire stack.
• Stack Member Configuration Mode – Commands issued in this mode apply to the specified
stack member. Configuration information resides in the Active Controller.
• Configuration Mode – This is where you make configuration changes to the unit. To save
changes across reloads, you need to save them to the Active Controller startup-config file. The
configuration mode contains sub-levels for individual ports, for VLANs, for routing protocols,
and other configuration areas.
NOTE
By default, any user who can open a serial or Telnet connection to the IronStack can access all of
these CLI levels. To secure access, you can configure Enable passwords or local user accounts, or
you can configure the Active Controller to use a RADIUS or TACACS/TACACS+ server for
authentication. Refer to Chapter 4, “Security Access”.
Logging in through the console port
When a device becomes a stack member in the IronStack, it establishes a remote connection to a
virtual console port on the Active Controller. Input and output are relayed between the physical
console port on the stack member and the virtual console port on the Active Controller. Since each
stack member connects to an independent virtual console port on the Active Controller, the
console ports on multiple stack units may be used simultaneously. However, messages displayed
on the Active Controller physical console port during a reload will not be visible on the console ports
of the stack members because the remote connections are not established until the software
loading process is complete. It is preferable to connect a cable to the console port on the stack unit
that will normally be the Active Controller, rather than to the console port of one of the other stack
units.