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Switch management considerations

Before managing a switch, review the following important considerations.

For information about port requirements, see Port availability.

RackSwitch devices can be managed using either a management port or one of the data ports. Rackswitch devices running CNOS can be managed only on interfaces that belong to either management or default VRF.

Note
Managing RackSwitch devices using IPv6 link local through a data port or management port is not supported.

XClarity events and SNMP trap configuration​

When a RackSwitch device running ENOS (any version) is managed, the SNMP trap source is set to the interface that has the IP address that is used for management.

When a RackSwitch device running CNOS v10.8.1 or later is managed, the SNMP trap source VRF is checked and changed to match the port that is used for management.

For RackSwitch devices running CNOS earlier than v10.8.1, XClarity Administrator requires the SNMP trap source to be the VRF that is connected to the port that is used for management. The default value all allows either management or data ports to be used. If the switch configuration does not use the default value, it must be changed to match the port that is used for management.

  • If the management port is used for management, set the SNMP trap source VRF to all or management.

  • If one of the data ports is used for management, set the SNMP trap source VRF to all or default.

RackSwitch switches running CNOS​

HTTPS must be enabled for management, and SLP must be enabled for discovery.

Note
HTTPS is enabled by default on CNOS. If you changed the default configuration of restApi (using the feature restApi http command), you can change it back to HTTPS using the feature restApi command.

To check the current status, use the display restApi server command. The output reflects the current status. If the port number is followed by (HTTP), it means HTTPS is disabled. Otherwise, the port should be 443.

When a RackSwitch device is unmanaged, XClarity Administrator might not restore the prefer option to the value that it was before the device was managed depending on the CNOS firmware version.

RackSwitch switches running ENOS​

  • If RackSwitch switches are on a different network than XClarity Administrator, the network must be configured to allow inbound UDP through ports 161 and 162 so that XClarity Administrator can receive events and manage those devices.

  • SSH must be enabled for management, and SLP must be enabled for discovery. HTTPS is optional; however, must be enabled to launch the switch web interface
  • Depending on the firmware version of the RackSwitch switch, you might need to enable multicast SLP forwarding and SSH on each RackSwitch switch manually using the following commands before the switch can be discovered and managed by XClarity Administrator. For more information, see the Rack switches in the System x online documentation.

    • ip slp enable

    • ssh enable

  • When a RackSwitch switch is managed, XClarity Administrator modifies the following configuration settings. Changing these settings on a managed switch might disrupt connectivity and prevent management actions from performing correctly. When a RackSwitch switch is unmanaged, the configuration settings are restored to their original values (before management).

    • snmp-server access 32

    • snmp-server group 16

    • snmp-server notify 16

    • snmp-server target-parameters 16

    • snmp-server target-address 16

    • snmp-server trap-source <IP interface>

    • snmp-server user 16

    • snmp-server vesrion <v3only or v1v2v3>

    • ntp enable

    • ntp primary-server <hostname or IP address> MGT

    • ntp secondary-server <hostname or IP address> MGT

    • ntp interval 1500

    • ntp offset 500

    • access https enable

    You can use XClarity Administrator to modify the following configuration settings by modifying the support contact information, name, or location properties for the switch. The location is modified when adding the switch to a rack.

    • hostname "<device_name>"

    • snmp-server location "Location:<location>,Room:<room>,Rack:<rack>,LRU:<lru>”

    • snmp-server contact "<contact_name>"