System Bring-Up of Managed Systems

Warning

The bring-up procedures described in this section do not apply to unmanaged/externally managed systems. Such systems are ready for operation after power-on.

In order to query the system, perform firmware upgrade or other firmware operation. Refer to the latest NVIDIA Firmware tools (MFT) located on https://network.nvidia.com/products/adapter-software/firmware-tools/.

In order to obtain the firmware version of the externally managed system:

  1. Run the following command from a host:

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    # flint -d <device> q

  2. Compare the results of this command with the latest version for your system posted on https://network.nvidia.com/products/adapter-software/firmware-tools/.

  3. If the current version is not the latest version, follow the directions in the MFT User Manual to burn the new firmware.

The procedures described in this chapter assume that you have already installed and powered-on the system according to the instructions in this document. Since the system comes with a pre-configured DHCP, you may find the explanation in Disable Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) sufficient. In case manual configuration is required, please refer to the instructions in Manual Host Configuration.

Disable Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

DHCP is used for automatic retrieval of management IP addresses.

If a user connects through SSH, runs the wizard and turns off DHCP, the connection is immediately terminated, as the management interface loses its IP address. In such a case, the serial connection should be used.

Warning

<localhost># ssh admin@<ip-address>

Mellanox MLNX-OS Switch Management
Password:
Mellanox Switch
Mellanox configuration wizard
Do you want to use the wizard for initial configuration? yes
Step 1: Hostname? [my-switch]
Step 2: Use DHCP on mgmt0 interface? [yes] no
<localhost>#


Manual Host Configuration

To perform initial configuration of the system:

Step 1. Connect a host PC to the Console RJ45 port of the system, using the supplied harness cable (DB9 to RJ45).

Warning

Make sure to connect to the Console RJ45 port, and not to the (Ethernet) MGT port. Pay attention to the icons:

Console RJ45

image2018-11-14_10-2-54-version-1-modificationdate-1704381628253-api-v2.png

Ethernet MGT

image2018-11-13_16-13-1-version-1-modificationdate-1704381627797-api-v2.png

Step 2. Configure a serial terminal program (for example, HyperTerminal, minicom, or Tera Term) on your host PC with the settings described in the table below. Once you perform that, you should get the CLI prompt of the system.

Serial Terminal Program Configuration

Parameter

Setting

Baud Rate

115200

Data bits

8

Stop bits

1

Parity

None

Flow Control

None

Step 3. Login as admin and use admin as password. On the first login, the MLNX-OS configuration wizard will start.

Step 4. To configure network attributes and other initial parameters to the system, follow the configuration wizard as shown in the Configuration Wizard Session table below.

Configuration Wizard Session

Wizard Session Display

Comments

Mellanox configuration wizard

Do you want to use the wizard for initial configuration? yes

You must perform this configuration the first time you operate the system or after resetting the system. Type ‘y’ and then press <Enter>.

Step 1: Hostname? [switch]

If you wish to accept the default hostname, press <Enter>. Otherwise, type a different hostname and press <Enter>.

Step 2: Use DHCP on mgmt0 interface? [no] yes

Perform this step to obtain an IP address for the system. (mgmt0 is the management port of the system).

If you wish the DHCP server to assign the IP address, type ‘yes’ and press <Enter>.

If you type ‘no’ (no DHCP), then you will be asked whether you wish to use the ‘zeroconf’ configuration or not.

If you enter ‘no’ (no Zeroconf), you must enter a static IP, and the session will continue.

Step 3: Enable IPv6? [yes]

The management interface will be able to use IPv6 addresses.

If you enter "no" (no IPv6), you will automatically be referred to Step 6.

Step 4: Enable IPv6 auto-config (SLAAC) on mgmt0 interface? [no]

This turns on auto-configuration of the IPv6 addresses. This is unsuitable for DHCPv6.

Step 5: Enable DHCPv6 on mgmt0 interface? [no]

To enable DHCPv6 on the MGMT0 interface.

Step 6: Admin password (Press <Enter> to leave unchanged)? <new_password>

Step 6: Confirm admin password? <new_password>

To avoid illegal access to the machine, please type a password and then press <Enter>. Then confirm the password by re-entering it. Note that password characters are not printed.

You have entered the following information:

<A summary of the configuration is now displayed.>

To change an answer, enter the step number to return to or hit <enter> to save changes and exit.

Choice: <Enter>

Configuration changes saved.

The wizard displays a summary of your choices and then asks you to confirm the choices or to re-edit them.

Either press <Enter> to save changes and exit, or enter the configuration step number that you wish to return to.

Note: To re-run the configuration wizard, run the command “configuration jump-start” in Config mode.

The table below shows an example of static IP configuration for mgmt0 interface.

Configuration Wizard Session - Static IP Configuration

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Mellanox configuration wizard   Do you want to use the wizard for initial configuration? yes   Step 1: Hostname? [] Step 2: Use DHCP on mgmt0 interface? [yes] no Step 3: Use zeroconf on mgmt0 interface? [no] Step 4: Primary IP address? [for example 192.168.10.4] 10.10.10.10 Mask length may not be zero if address is not zero (interface eth0) Step 5: Netmask? [0.0.0.0] 255.255.255.0 Step 6: Default gateway? [for example 192.168.10.1] 10.10.10.255 Step 7: Primary DNS server? Step 8: Domain name? Step 9: Enable IPv6? [yes] Step 10: Enable IPv6 autoconfig (SLAAC) on mgmt0 interface? [no] Step 11: Admin password (Enter to leave unchanged)?   To change an answer, enter the step number to return to. Otherwise hit <enter> to save changes and exit. Choice: Configuration changes saved.   To return to the wizard from the CLI, enter the “configuration jump-start” command from configure mode. Launching CLI...

Step 5. Before attempting a remote (for example, SSH) connection to the system, check the mgmt0 interface configuration. Specifically, verify the existence of an IP address. To check the current mgmt0 configuration, enter the following command:

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switch (config) # show interfaces mgmt0 Interface mgmt0 status: Comment: Admin up: yes Link up: yes DHCP running: yes IP address: 10.209.28.50 Netmask: 255.255.255.0 IPv6 enabled: yes Autoconf enabled: no Autoconf route: yes Autoconf privacy: no DHCPv6 running: no IPv6 addresses: 1 IPv6 address: fe80::202:c9ff:fe63:b55a/64 Speed: 1000Mb/s (auto) Duplex: full (auto) Interface type: ethernet Interface source: physical MTU: 1500 HW address: 00:02:C9:63:B5:5A   RX bytes: 968810197 TX bytes: 1172590194 RX packets: 10982099 TX packets: 10921755 RX mcast packets: 0 TX discards: 0 RX discards: 0 TX errors: 0 RX errors: 0 TX overruns: 0 RX overruns: 0 TX carrier: 0 RX frame: 0 TX collisions: 0 TX queue len: 1000   switch (config) #

Step 6. Check the software version embedded in your system, using the command ‘show version’. Compare this version to the latest version that can be retrieved from Mellanox support site. To upgrade software, please refer to the MLNX-OS User Manual.

Once the network attributes are set, you can access the CLI via SSH or the WebUI via HTTP/ HTTPs.

To access the CLI, perform the following steps:

  1. Set up an Ethernet connection between the system and a local network machine using a standard RJ45 connector.

  2. Start a remote secured shell (SSH) using the command: ssh -l <username> <IP_address>

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    # ssh -l <username> <ip_address> Mellanox MLNX-OS Switch Management   Password:

  3. Login as admin (default username is admin, password is admin).

  4. Once you get the CLI prompt, you are ready to use the system.

For additional information about MLNX-OS, refer to the MLNX-OS User Manual located on https://docs.nvidia.com/networking/category/mlnxos.

© Copyright 2023, NVIDIA. Last updated on Jan 7, 2024.