How to configure a Brocade switch as an Access Gateway – step by step

How to configure  a Brocade switch as an Access Gateway – step by step

Configuring a Brocade switch as an access gateway  is a two step process, first enable the NPIV capabilities on the uplink switch ports by executing steps 1 to 4 and then configure Brocade switch in Access Gateway mode.

In the example below, the we have two switches – “core-sw” which is the core switch where the access gateway will be hooked up and “edge-sw” which is actually being reconfigured as access gateway.

1. Login to the uplink switch where the Access Gateway will be connected.

2. Identify the ports for uplink and verify whether the ports are NPIV capable. “NPIV capability” must be set to “ON” for the identified ports. If not proceed to step 3 otherwise step 4.

core-sw# portcfgshow 

3. Enable NPIV capability for the identified ports. For example port 7 and 15

core-sw#  portcfgnpivport 7  1

core-sw#  portcfgnpivport 15 1

core-sw#  portcfgshow

4. Disable these ports temporarily

core-sw#  portdisable 7

core-sw#  portdisable 15

5. Login to the Brocade switch that need to be configured as AG

6. Disable the switch

edge-sw#  switchdisable

7. Clear any configuration that may exist in the switch

edge-sw#   cfgclear; cfgsave

8. Check the firmware version on the switch. If it is lower than 5.3.1a, upgrade before proceeding

edge-sw#   firmwareshow

9. Enable Access Gateway Mode on the switch. The switch will reboot automatically and come back in access gateway mode.

edge-sw#   ag --modeenable

10. Verify the mode of the switch. This will display the configured switch mode, ie, Access gateway mode enabled or disabled.

c-class-gw#   ag --modeshow

c-class-gw#    switchshow

11. Name the Access Gateway. Follow the standard naming convention. Eg: aga00, agb00

c-class-gw#   switchname aga00

12. List the current F port to NPIV mapping. This is required to delete and remap the ports as per BL standards.

c-class-gw#   ag --mapshow  # list the current mapping

13. Delete the current mapping by executing ag --mapdel port each NPIV port -0 and 17 – 23. Replace the port numbers below using the output from the command above.

c-class-gw#    ag --mapdel 0 “1;3”

c-class-gw#    ag --mapdel 17 “2;4”

c-class-gw#    ag --mapdel 18 “5;6” # repeat this for all NPIV ports

14. Verify the mapping list is empty.

c-class-gw#    ag --mapshow

15. Remap as per BL standards. All odd numbered ports to one NPIV port and the even numbered to another

c-class-gw#    ag --mapset 17 “1;3;5;7;9;11;13;15”

c-class-gw#    ag --mapset 18 “2;4;6;8;10;12;14;16”

16. Verify the mapping

c-class-gw#    ag --mapshow

17. Attach port 17 and 18 to the uplink switch, if not done already
18. Enable the ports on the uplink switch, from step 4

core-sw#   portenable 7

core-sw#   portenable 15

19. Verify the AGs are logged in to the fabric. The port will come up as NPIV if there are AGs have configured devices, otherwise the WWN of the port will be displayed.

core-sw#   switchshow

20. To view the WWN of the server switch, execute portshow on the NPIV devices. The WWN of the server switch will come up in the NS as well.

core-sw#   portshow 7

core-sw#  portshow 15

21. Proceed with the zoning operation as per standards

22. Access Gateway configuration complete

How to configure FCIP tunnel between two Brocade 7800 using CLI

How to configure FCIP tunnel between two Brocade 7800 using CLI

 

In the example below, we assume that the TCP/IP network link between site A and site B is already configured and ready to go. The Brocade 7800 comes with multiple (2 or 6) GigE ports, depending on the configuration you purchase. Also, you could use optical connector or RJ45 copper connector (maximum 2) for connecting the Brocade 7800 to the TCP/IP network. Check the hardware reference manual for more details on physical ports and connectivity details.

 

The end result of this exercise will be a single fabric (merged fabric) across site A and site B consisting of 2 Brocade 7800 fibre switches. If you do not want the fabrics to merge, ie maintain two distinct fabrics, but give selective access to devices in the second fabric, then what you need is FC-FC routing. FC-FC routing will be published in the future.

 

In this example, we will be using port 16 (ge0) as the VE port and the physical port on each side. You will need to get the IP address and the net mask details from your network team, for each site. In this example we use

Site A IP address: 192.168.10.14/255.255.255.0

Site B IP address:192.168.10.67/255.255.255.0

 

1.  Login to the Brocade 7800 switch in site A (SiteA_7800)

 

2.  The first step is to disable the VE ports on the Brocade 7800s. This is to control the merging of the fabric, will enable them when the configuration is completed.

 

SiteA_7800> portdisable 16

 

3.  Assign IP address and subnet mask to port ge0

 

SiteA_7800> portcfg ipif ge0 create 192.168.10.14 255.255.255.0 1500

 

4.  Configure the tunnel to site B from site A with a committed rate of 100Mbit/sec. Note the order of the Ips below (site B first)

 

SiteA_7800>portcfg fciptunnel 16 create 192.168.10.67 192.168.10.14 100000

 

5.  Login to the Brocade 7800 switch at site B (SiteB_7800)

 

6.  Disable the VE port 16 on the Brocade 7800

 

SiteB_7800>portdisable 16

 

7.  Configure the IP address for the ge0 at site B

 

portcfg ipif ge0 create 192.168.10.67 255.255.255.0 1500

 

8.  At this stage, you will be able to ping the IP address at Site A, assuming the network link is configured and network cables are plugged in at both sites.

 

SiteB_7800>portcmd –ping ge0 –s 192.168.10.67 –d 192.168.10.14

 

If you see reply from SiteA, your network link is configured and working well, if not, back to the networks team.

 

9.  At SiteB, configure the tunnel for VE port 16 to connect to the Brocade 7800 switch at siteA

 

portcfg fciptunnel 16 create 192.168.10.14 192.168.10.67 100000

 

10.  Now we are ready to enable the VE ports, the fabrics will merge after executing the below commands. At this point, the rules to connect a new switch to an existing fabric applies. For example, if both switches have defined zone configurations that are different, zone conflict error will occur

 

SiteB>portenable 16

SiteA>portenable 16

 

11.  Confirm that the VE port 16 is online and connected to the switch at siteB

 

SiteA>switchshow|grep VE

 

12.  Verify fabric availability

 

SiteA>fabricshow

 

13.  Check the FCIP configuration parameters

 

SiteA>portshow fcipcircuit all

 

At this point, the FCIP configuration is complete. You may choose to configure additional GigE ports or additional circuits as per the design requirements