This chapter describes specific procedures for:
For background information about configuring Network Utility, see Chapter 3, "Performing the Initial Configuration" and Chapter 6, "Configuration Concepts and Methods".
For details about the individual commands introduced in this chapter, see the following chapters in the MAS Software User's Guide:
All the commands to list and manage configuration files on the Network Utility hard disk are located in the boot Config subprocess. The following example shows how to reach this subprocess and list the available commands:
*t 6
<Enter>
Config>boot
Boot configuration
Boot config>?
ADD description
COPY software
DESCRIBE software VPD
DISABLE boot choices
ENABLE boot choices
ERASE software
LIST software status
LOCK Config File
SET boot information
TFTP software
TIMEDLOAD software
UNLOCK Config File
UPDATE Firmware
EXIT
Boot config>
The list command is the starting point for viewing what configuration files are present in the four positions of each of the two code load banks. This same display is integrated into a number of the commands on the menu.
Boot config>li
+------ BankA -----------+--------- Description ----------+------ Date -------+
| IMAGE - ACTIVE | | 03 Aug 1998 10:04 |
| CONFIG 1 - AVAIL | | 04 Aug 1998 13:50 |
| CONFIG 2 - ACTIVE * | example config 1 | 04 Aug 1998 13:52 |
| CONFIG 3 - AVAIL | | 04 Aug 1998 06:41 |
| CONFIG 4 - AVAIL | | 04 Aug 1998 09:43 |
+------ BankB -----------+--------- Description ----------+------ Date -------+
| IMAGE - PENDING | | 05 Aug 1998 03:41 |
| CONFIG 1 - PENDING * | | 31 Jul 1998 12:59 |
| CONFIG 2 - AVAIL | | 31 Jul 1998 09:50 |
| CONFIG 3 - AVAIL | | 31 Jul 1998 09:52 |
| CONFIG 4 - AVAIL | | 31 Jul 1998 12:50 |
+------------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------+
* - Last Used Config L - Config File is Locked
Auto-boot mode is enabled. Fast-boot mode is enabled.
Time Activated Load Schedule Information...
The load timer is not currently activated.
Boot config>
Image (code load) and configuration states are defined as follows:
To remind yourself of what is in a particular configuration file, use the add command to enter a brief description.
To make a particular configuration file active, you make it the PENDING configuration file in the bank with the ACTIVE or PENDING code load, and then reboot Network Utility. You do this either when the file already exists or when you create it, as follows:
You can specify whether the new setting of source bank and configuration is just for the next boot (the state becomes LOCAL) or for all future boots (the state becomes PENDING).
You normally use the set command after transferring a file to the disk using TFTP or Xmodem.
When you do a write, the system writes the configuration in active memory to the next unlocked position in the ACTIVE bank, rotating in sequence. You do not pick the file position. If you want to prevent a particular file from being overwritten, use the lock command.
Because the new file becomes PENDING, you can do a write followed by a reload without paying attention to the particular position used, and without having to issue the set command.
The following sequence works the same way as issuing the write command:
*rel y
The configuration has been changed, save it? (Yes or [No] or Abort):yes
This also works the same way as issuing the write command. If you request a reboot from the Configuration Program, this configuration becomes active when the reboot occurs.
There are two ways to cause a timed, presumably unattended, activation of a configuration:
If you choose the current code load and configuration, this function simply becomes a scheduled reboot operation.
The boot Config subprocess provides a number of utility commands for managing configuration files (and code loads) on disk:
Most of the configuration management functions in the boot Config subprocess are also available from Network Utility firmware menus. To access them, select the following sequence starting from the firmware main menu:
Table 7-1 summarizes the ways you can transfer a configuration from outside the Network Utility to its hard disk. SNMP involves a direct transfer from the Configuration Program to the Network Utility, while TFTP and Xmodem require the configuration file to be on a workstation that acts as a file server to the Network Utility.
Which method you choose to transfer it into the Network Utility depends on
how you can attach to the Network Utility, whether you are using the
Configuration Program, what software you have on your workstation, and your
own preferences. Network Utility configuration files are typically
small enough that transfer times over low-speed modems are reasonable.
Table 7-1. Loading Configurations
|
Physical Attachment | Line
Protocol | Transfer
Protocol |
Tool |
Default IP Addresses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service port + null modem
Service port + ext modem PCMCIA modem | Async
terminal |
Xmodem |
Firmware |
Not applicable |
| SLIP | TFTP | Op-code | Network Utility=10.1.1.2
Workstation=10.1.1.3 | |
| SNMP | Cfg pgm | |||
| PCMCIA EtherJet
Ethernet LIC (10 Mbps) Token-Ring LIC | IP |
TFTP | Op-code
Firmware | Network Utility=10.1.0.2
Workstation=10.1.0.3 |
| SNMP | Cfg pgm | |||
| Any IP network interface | IP | TFTP | Op-code | No defaults |
| SNMP | Cfg pgm |
The following sections summarize each of the possible configuration transfer procedures, grouping them by the tool from which you start the transfer.
There are two ways to transfer a configuration from the Configuration Program to a Network Utility.
After you have started the Configuration Program and created a Network Utility configuration, move to the Navigation Window and:
It is then your responsibility to load the file onto your Network Utility, using either the operational code or firmware to do the loading. You can follow any of the procedures described in Using the Operational Code or Using the Firmware.
If your Configuration Program PC or workstation cannot be the TFTP or Xmodem server for the file transfer in these procedures, you must first move the .cfg file to a workstation that can be the server. You can use any file transfer method, such as FTP, to move the file between the workstations.
In order to use SNMP transfer, you must configure the Network Utility with an IP address and enable SNMP with a read-write community name. Each of the sample configurations in Part 2, Learning About Network Utility shows how to configure an IP address and SNMP for this communication, in both the Configuration Program and from talk 6.
If you want to use SNMP to download a Network Utility's very first configuration, see Procedure B: Configuration Program Initial Configuration.
If this is not the first configuration, make sure there is at least one unlocked configuration file position (other than the active one) in the currently active code bank on the hard disk. (See "Listing Configurations" for more information.)
After you have created a Network Utility configuration at the Configuration Program, use the following procedure to transfer that configuration to Network Utility using SNMP:
You can also enter a date and time for the router to be restarted with this configuration, if you wish. There are two ways to do this:
The router stores the restart time in volatile memory, so if the Network Utility reboots before the scheduled time, the configuration is activated early.
If you enter a date or time in the past, the router activates the new configuration immediately.
The router stores the restart time in nonvolatile memory, so if the Network Utility reboots before the scheduled time it uses its current configuration. The newly downloaded configuration is not activated until the scheduled restart time arrives.
If you enter a date or time in the past, the router stores the new configuration on disk but does not activate it. If a previous "timed config" restart operation is pending, it is cancelled.
When you set the date and time by either of these methods it is not necessary to synchronize this date and time with the Network Utility, or even set a date and time at the Network Utility. The Configuration Program translates the date and time you set to a time interval and sends that value to the Network Utility.
When a router begins to receive a configuration through SNMP, that configuration replaces any talk 6 changes made since the last reboot. When the transfer is complete, the Network Utility writes the received configuration to disk and activates it based on what you selected when you initiated the send operation.
You can use the operational code to pull in a configuration file that was created in one of two ways:
As Table 7-1 shows, the configuration transfer procedures you can initiate from the op-code all use TFTP as the file transfer protocol.
The op-code procedure for using TFTP to transfer a configuration file to the Network Utility hard disk is:
If you are using a standard network interface including an Ethernet or Token-Ring adapter, use the Configuration Program or talk 6 to configure an IP address for the interface in the normal way. (From talk 6, use add address in the IP subprocess.) Activate this configuration change before proceeding.
If you are using the PCMCIA EtherJet card, use system set ip to set the following addresses:
If you are using SLIP, you cannot change the IP addresses but must use those given in Table 7-1.
From the * prompt, follow this sequence:
*t 6
Config>boot
Boot configuration
Boot config>tftp get config
Respond to the prompts as follows:
Based on the server IP address and the configured Network Utility interface IP addresses, the Network Utility selects which of its interfaces to use to reach the server. The Network Utility gives success or failure status messages as appropriate.
To activate the new configuration immediately, use the following procedure from the Boot Config> prompt:
To activate the new configuration later, type timedload activate from the Boot config> prompt to select the bank and new configuration, and to specify the date and time for the Network Utility to reboot. You can answer "no" to the questions about loading, because you already did this step.
See the MAS Software User's Guide chapter "Configuring Change Management" for more information on the commands in the above procedure.
You can use the firmware to pull in a configuration file that was created in one of two ways:
As Table 7-1 shows, the firmware supports both XMODEM and TFTP file transfer protocols.
The firmware procedure for using Xmodem to transfer a configuration file to the Network Utility hard disk is:
The firmware tells you when to start the file transfer.
Use Option 9 "Set Boot Information" to select the current op-code bank and the new configuration. Press Esc to reach the main menu, and then F9 to boot the Network Utility with the new configuration.
The firmware procedure for using TFTP to transfer a configuration file to a Network Utility hard disk is:
Follow the menu sequence:
Set the following addresses:
The firmware transfers the configuration file and gives status messages. On completion, you will be back at the Change Management menu.
Use Option 9 "Set Boot Information" to select the current op-code bank and the new configuration. Press Esc to reach the main menu, and then F9 to boot the Network Utility with the new configuration.
You may want to transfer a configuration file from a Network Utility for any of the following reasons:
For the operational code procedures to transfer a configuration to a Network Utility, there is a reverse procedure for transferring a configuration from a Network Utility. The steps are virtually identical, so the following procedure lists only the essential differences.
Transfer the .CFG file to the Configuration Program workstation. Do a Read router configuration instead of a Create router configuration.
There are no firmware-based procedures to transfer a configuration from a Network Utility.