Administrator Guide

Conguration Fundamentals

The Dell Networking operating system command line interface (CLI) is a text-based interface you can use to congure interfaces and

protocols.

The CLI is structured in modes for security and management purposes. Dierent sets of commands are available in each mode, and

you can limit user access to modes using privilege levels.

In the Dell Networking OS, after you enable a command, it is entered into the running conguration le. You can view the current

conguration for the whole system or for a particular CLI mode. To save the current conguration, copy the running conguration to

another location. For more information, refer to Save the Running-Conguration.

NOTE: You can use the chassis management controller (CMC) out-of-band management interface to access and manage

an MXL Switch using the CLI. For information about how to access the CMC to congure an MXL Switch, refer to the

Dell Chassis Management Controller (CMC) User's Guide

on the Dell Support website.

Accessing the Command Line

Access the CLI through a serial console port or a Telnet session.

When the system successfully boots, enter the command line in EXEC mode.

telnet 172.31.1.53

Trying 172.31.1.53...

Connected to 172.31.1.53.

Escape character is '^]'.

Password:

Dell>

CLI Modes

Dierent sets of commands are available in each mode.

A command found in one mode cannot be executed from another mode (except for EXEC mode commands with a preceding do

command (refer to The do Command section).

You can set user access rights to commands and command modes using privilege levels; for more information about privilege levels

and security options, refer to the Privilege Levels Overview section in the Security chapter.

The CLI is divided into three major mode levels:

• EXEC mode is the default mode and has a privilege level of 1, which is the most restricted level. Only a limited selection of

commands is available, notably the show commands, which allow you to view system information.

• EXEC Privilege mode has commands to view congurations, clear counters, manage conguration les, run diagnostics, and

enable or disable debug operations. The privilege level is 15, which is unrestricted. You can congure a password for this mode;

refer to the Congure the Enable Password section in the Getting Started chapter.

• CONFIGURATION mode allows you to congure security features, time settings, set logging and SNMP functions, congure

static ARP and MAC addresses, and set line cards on the system.

Beneath CONFIGURATION mode are submodes that apply to interfaces, protocols, and features. The following example shows the

submode command structure. Two sub-CONFIGURATION modes are important when conguring the chassis for the rst time:

Conguration Fundamentals