How to set up management access for the N4000 switch

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Table of Contents

1.    Setting a management IP address

2.    Setting Login access on the switch

3.    Choosing Telnet, HTTP, SSH, or HTTPS for management

4.    Saving configuration

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Article description: This article explains how to set up different management options for the N series switches, and explains the recommended settings

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Setting a management IP address

A reachable IP address is needed to manage the switch when not using a serial connection. To set an IP address, input the following commands.

This example uses VLAN 1, the default VLAN, and the IP 192.168.0.250 /24.

console>enable

console#configure

console(config)#interface vlan 1

console(config-if)#ip address 192.168.0.250 255.255.255.0

Note: On the N3000 and N4000 switches there is an out of band port that can be used for managing the switch.

Here is the same example but using the out-of-band (OOB) interface.

console(config)#interface out-of-band

console(config-if)#ip address 192.168.0.250 255.255.255.0

It is recommended to use the OOB interface to manage your switch when available. The OOB interface is separate from the switching silicon,

and reaches the CPU directly. If the production network is experiencing issues, you can still reach the switch through the OOB interface.

Note: Plug the OOB interface into a separate management network, and do not plug it back into the inbound ports on the switch.

It is recommended when using a VLAN to manage your network, to make a separate VLAN just for management.

This separates management traffic from your data traffic. This not only helps with performance, but also slightly increases security.

You can manage the switch through any reachable VLAN IP address.

If managing the switch from an external network, you must assign the switch a Default Gateway it can use to reach other networks.

The following command uses 192.168.0.1 as the Default Gateway address.

console(config)#ip default-gateway 192.168.0.1

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Setting login access on the switch.

To manage the switch you will need a username and password. To manage the switch via telnet or SSH, you will require an enable password. Input the following commands to configure login access. This is an example with the username as Dell, and password as P@$$w0rd. The enable password example uses ENP@$$w0rd. These are just examples and you should use more complicated, hard to guess credentials to secure your switch.

console>enable

console#configure

console(config)#username Dell password P@$$w0rd level 15

console(config)#enable password ENP@$$w0rd

Note: You may make multiple users on the switch, as well as different levels/privilege level of access. 0 is no access, 1 in read only, and 15 is read and write.