Planning for Cisco switches and fabrics

Supported switches and fabrics

You must have NX-OS Release 8.4(x) or 8.5(1), or 9.2(1a) and must enable NX-API on your MDS Cisco switches before you can add them for monitoring in IBM Storage Insights.

For a complete list of the switches that are supported, see https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6465529.

Connection credentials for monitoring Cisco switches and fabrics

Entering configuration mode

To run commands that change switch configuration settings, you must enter configuration mode on the switch. Use the terminal as the source of commands. To enter configuration mode, run the following command:

switch_name# configure terminal

After you run this command, the prompt will include "(config)" to indicate that you are in configuration mode:

switch_name(config)# 

Configuring message severity levels for event processing

For IBM Storage Insights to process events from Cisco switches, you must configure the log message severity levels of the syslog messages for the switches.

Using the Device Manager

To configure the message severity levels of a switch by using the Device Manager, complete the following steps:

1. In Device Manager, click Logs > Syslog > Setup.
2. In the Switch Logging tab, select the following options:
   • TerminalEnable
   • LineCardEnable
3. Select the following message severity levels:

   Table 1.

   Message Severity	Level
   TerminalMsgSeverity	notice(6)
   LinecardMsgSeverity	info(7)
   LogFileMsgSeverity	info(7)

4. Click Apply.

Using the CLI

To configure the message severity levels of a switch by using the CLI, complete the following steps:

1. Access the CLI of the switch through SSH.
2. Run the following command:

   switch_name# show logging

   The output of the command includes the following information:

   Logging logfile:                enabled
   logfile-name: Severity - debugging Size - ######

   Where logfile-name represents the name of the log file.
3. Run the following commands:

   switch# configure terminal
   switch(config)# logging monitor 6
   switch(config)# logging module 7
   switch(config)# logging logfile logfile-name 7
   switch(config)# exit
   switch# copy run start

   Where logfile-name is the name of the log file from step 2.

Enabling NX-API and HTTPS

1. To verify that the switch uses NX-OS Release 8.4(1) or later, run the following command:

   switch_name# show version

   Important: If the NX-OS Release is less than 8.4(1), you must upgrade the NX-OS to Release 8.4(1) or later to add the switch.
2. To verify that NX-API is enabled, run the following command:

   switch_name# show feature | grep nxapi
    

   • If NX-API is enabled, the following text is displayed:

     nxapi 1 enabled
   • If NX-API is disabled, run the following command to enable it:

     switch_name# configure terminal

     switch_name(config)# feature nxapi

3. To view the details of the NX-API configuration, including NX-API status, ports, and the HTTPS certificate, run the following command:

   switch_name# show nxapi

   The output includes the following key information:

   NX-API: Enabled

   You can also confirm the same by running the command in step 2.

   HTTP Port: Disabled

   HTTP is disabled by default. If you must enable HTTP due to internal requirements, run the following command:

   switch_name(config)# nxapi http port 8080

   To disable the HTTP again, run the following command:

   switch_name(config)# no nxapi http

   HTTPS Port: 8443

   When you enable NX-API, HTTPS is enabled automatically with a self-signed certificate that expires after one day. By default, HTTPS is configured to use port 8443.

   If port 8443 is not configured on the switch, run the following command:

   switch_name(config)# nxapi https port 8443

   To use a port other than 8443, substitute a different port number in the command.

   Remember: If the Cisco chassis is configured to run NX-API with HTTPS on port 443, it creates a conflict with the web server that runs on the same port. So, do not use the port 443. Use another unused port number.

   SSH Certificate Information:

   SSH certificate includes an expiration date and the certificate content.

Security

From Cisco NX-OS Release 8.4(x), when NX-API is enabled over HTTPS, a self signed certificate is created that expires after 24 hours. If you use expired certificate, the browser displays a warning about security vulnerabilities. It is recommended to use a valid certificate from a certificate authority to minimize the security threats. For more information on how to get the valid certificate and import on the switch, see the Configuring Certificate Authorities and Digital Certificates section in the Cisco MDS 9000 Series Security Configuration Guide, Release 8.x.

Saving NX-API configuration changes

After you make changes to the running NX-API configuration, you must save the configuration of the switch to the startup configuration so that the changes persist after the switch is rebooted. You can save the configuration from outside the configure terminal.

Run the following command to save the current configuration to be used when the switch is restarted:

switch_name# copy running-config startup-config

Other useful NX-API commands

Other NX-API commands that might be useful are listed in the following table.

switch_name# show nxapi | grep -i https

switch_name(config)# nxapi https port port_number

switch_name (config)# username myoperator password user_password role network-operator

switch_name(config)# no nxapi http