Troubleshooting

CLI Transition guide for Dell PowerConnect 5500 Series Switches
Page 2
Introduction
The Dell™ PowerConnect™ 5500 Series Systems CLI Transition Guide White Paper outlines the changes in
the CLI commands from the PowerConnect 54XX and 35XX software to the 4.x software release on the
5500 Series switches. Changes include syntax and functional updates as specified in the following
sections.
Changes to the Interface Naming Conventions
On the Dell PowerConnect 5500, the interface naming convention is the industry standard format of
interface type (gigabitethernet or tengigabitethernet), unit ID, Slot number and port number. The user
can also use the short form of the interface type (gi or te). For example, the name of first
gigabitethernet port of unit ID 2 is: gi2/0/1 or gigabitethernet2/0/1.
VLAN Enhancements
The configuration of VLANs in this software release is much more flexible than previous releases:
Shadow VLAN Configuration
In previous products, the user could configure interface level VLAN commands only if they matched
current port’s VLAN mode. For example, if port is in access mode, user could not configure commands
related to general mode.
On the Dell PowerConnect 5500, the user can configure any VLAN command, even if not related to the
current port VLAN mode. Configuration of inactive VLAN modes are kept as “shadow configuration”
until the relevant mode is applied. The user can view shadow and active configurations via the “show
interface switchport” command.
Adding a port which is a VLAN member to a LAG
In previous products, the user could not add a port to a LAG if the port was a member in any VLAN
besides the default VLAN.
On the Dell PowerConnect 5500, the user can add a port to a LAG even if it is a member of one or more
VLANs. The VLAN configuration on the port becomes inactive until the port is removed from LAG, since
the Port acquires the VLAN configuration of the LAG. The user can view this information via the “show
interface switchport” command.
Configuring IP Address on a port which is a member of VLANs
In previous products, the user could configure an IP Address on a port only if the port was not a
member of any VLAN besides the default VLAN. IP configuration would become active immediately
after command execution.
On the Dell PowerConnect 5500, the user can define an IP Address on a port even if it is a member of
one or more VLANs. To activate IP Interface on a port, the user must apply the CLI command “no
switchport”, which enables L3 capabilities on a port. The user can view this information via “show
interface switchport” command.