Reference Guide

Brocade Fabric OS Command Reference 1
53-1004112-02
Using Fabric OS Commands
• Using the command line interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
• Understanding Role-Based Access Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
• Understanding Virtual Fabric restrictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
• Determining RBAC permissions for a specific command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Using the command line interface
The Fabric OS command line interface (CLI), accessed via Telnet, SSH, or serial console, provides full management capability on a
Brocade switch. The Fabric OS CLI enables an administrator to monitor and manage individual switches, ports, and entire fabrics from a
standard workstation. Selected commands must be issued from a secure Telnet or SSH session.
Access is controlled by a switch-level password for each access level. The commands available through the CLI are based on the user’s
login role and the license keys used to unlock certain features.
The Fabric OS CLI provides the following capabilities:
• Access to the full range of Fabric OS features, given the license keys installed.
• Assistance with configuration, monitoring, dynamic provisioning, and daily management of every aspect of storage area
networks (SANs).
• A deeper view of the tasks involved in managing a Brocade SAN.
• Identification, isolation, and management of SAN events across every switch in the fabric.
• Management of Brocade licenses.
The documentation for each command includes a synopsis of its syntax, a description of command use, and a set of examples. The same
information can be accessed by issuing the help command followed by the command name on a Brocade switch or director. This
command displays the help page for the specified command. For example, to display the help page for portCfg, enter:
switch:admin> help portCfg
Understanding Role-Based Access Control
Fabric OS implements Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to control access to all Fabric OS operations.
Eight predefined roles are supported, as described in Table 1. These predefined role definitions are guided by perceived common
operational situations and the operations and effects a role is permitted to have on a fabric and individual fabric elements.
TABLE 1 Role definitions
Role name Definition
User Non-administrative use, such as monitoring system activity. In Fabric OS v6.2.0 and later, the
user account gains access to Fabric ID 128. This is the default logical fabric after a firmware
upgrade.
Operator A subset of administrative tasks typically required for routine maintenance operations.
SwitchAdmin Administrative use excluding security, user management, and zoning.
ZoneAdmin Zone management only.