Brocade FastIron Ethernet Switch Stacking Configuration Guide - Manual (Page 50)

Logging in through the CLI
You can access the traditional stack and the CLI in two ways:
• Through a direct serial connection to the console port
• Through a local or remote Telnet session using the stack IP address
You can initiate a local Telnet or SNMP connection by attaching a cable to a port and specifying the
assigned management station IP address.
The stacking commands in the CLI are organized into the following levels:
• Global - Commands issued in the global mode are applied to the entire stack.
• Configuration Mode - This is where you make configuration changes to the entire stack. To save
changes across reloads, you need to save them to the active controller startup-config file. The
configuration mode contains sub-levels for individual units and ports, for VLANs, for routing
protocols, and other configuration areas.
• Stack Unit Configuration Mode - Commands issued in this mode apply to the specified stack
unit. Configuration information resides in the active controller.
NOTE
By default, any user who can open a serial or Telnet connection to the traditional stack can access all
of these CLI levels. To secure access, you can configure Enable passwords or local user accounts, or
you can configure the active controller to use a RADIUS or TACACS/TACACS+ server for
authentication. Refer to the FastIron Ethernet Switch Security Configuration Guide .
Logging in through the console port
When a device becomes a stack member in the traditional stack, it establishes a remote connection to
a virtual console port on the active controller. Input and output are relayed between the physical
console port on the stack member and the virtual console port on the active controller. Since each
stack member connects to an independent virtual console port on the active controller, the console
ports on multiple stack units may be used simultaneously. However, messages displayed on the active
controller physical console port during a reload will not be visible on the console ports of the stack
members because the remote connections are not established until the software loading process is
complete. It is preferable to connect a cable to the console port on the stack unit that will normally be
the active controller, rather than to the console port of one of the other stack units.
When a stack unit establishes communication with the active controller, it also establishes a remote
console session to the active controller. In a normally functioning traditional stack, a console cable
may be connected to any of the stack units and provide access to the same commands on the active
controller.
You can terminate a session by entering Ctrl+O followed by x or X , or by entering the exit command
from the User EXEC level, or by entering the logout command at any level.
NOTE
For the rconsole connections from the stack units to the active controller, the escape sequence and
other methods of terminating the session are not available.
Logging in through the CLI
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