BROCADE IP PRIMER

Chapter 6: The Brocade CLIConfiguring by ContextWe talked a little bit about the different modes you can be in when you're usingthe CLI. The first mode we saw was User mode. This mode has very few commands.It's meant to provide access for people who may need to be able toping and traceroute, but should not be allowed to change the configuration ofthe switch.The next mode is called Privileged mode. In this mode, you have all the samecommands as User mode along with a whole bunch of other commands. Thisis the administrator's mode. This mode will allow you to change the switch'sconfiguration, reboot the switch, perform troubleshooting, etc. For those familiarwith UNIX-based systems, this would be very similar to logging into a systemas the root user.You get to Privileged mode by typing the enable command. When you type theenable command, you will most likely be prompted for a password. If this is abrand new switch, it will not ask for a password. Given that this mode will allowyou to fully administer your switch, it is always a very good idea to require apassword to get into Privileged mode (more on this later in the chapter):Switch>enablePassword:Switch#Notice that the prompt has changed. You're no longer seeing the “>” after theswitch's name. It's been replaced by a “#”. The “#” tells you that you are inPrivileged mode. You might also notice that you do not see any characters representingthe password. The switch does receive your password. It just doesn'tdisplay it while you're typing it.The next mode is called the Global config mode. Here, you are telling theswitch that you'd like to change something about its configuration. Maybe youwant to change its hostname. Maybe you want to set up usernames or changepasswords. There are many possibilities. Much of what we will do in theremaining chapters of this book will be in the Global config mode. This mode iswhere the most significant changes are made.To get into the Global config mode, you must first be in Privileged mode. Then,you may issue the command configure terminal:Switch#configure terminalSwitch(config)#Don't think of this command as telling the switch that you want to configurethe terminal. You want to enter the terminal that allows you to configure.Notice that the prompt changed again. Instead of just the “#” character, yousee “(config)#.” This is to tell you that you're in Global config mode.Now, there are very few, if any, experienced Network Engineers that will actuallytake the time to type configure terminal.124 Brocade IP Primer