Last updated: 2020-03-02

Dell Networking OS Commands

This page contains commands on setting up, configuring, and debugging a Dell switch running Dell Networking OS firmware.

The commands here have been tested with the Dell S3048-ON (48x1GE) and S4048-ON (48x10GE) switches. Full configuration manual for the S3048 can be found online.

Note: First time configuration of switch requires connecting serial to the console port
From Ubuntu, can access serial using screen, e.g.:

sudo screen /dev/ttyS0 115200

Note: When entering enable mode, you will need to provide a password (configured during first setup).

Configuring Dell Networking OS Switch

This section contains commands on setting up and configuring a Dell switch running Dell Networking OS firmware.

SAVING CONFIGURATION CHANGES: Remember to copy the current configuration to the flash to ensure the changes you make persist across power outages. This is achieved as follows:

enable
copy running-config startup-config

Configuring management interface IP address

Requires CONFIGURATION mode.

enable
configure
interface managementethernet 1/1
ip address <ip address>/<cidr>
no shutdown

Configuring host name

Requires CONFIGURATION mode.

enable
configure
hostname <host name>

Enabling Remote Administration

Remote administration requires SSH access and the enable password to gain privileged access once SSH’d in. It’s assumed the following steps will be done over serial console access.

Enabling SSH server

Requires CONFIGURATION mode.

enable
configure
ip ssh server enable

Create an account

Requires CONFIGURATION mode. If continuing from the previous section, can skip the enable and configure commands below.

enable
configure
username <username> password 0 <password>

Create enable secret

Requires CONFIGURATION mode. If continuing from the previous section, can skip the enable and configure commands below.

enable
configure
enable password 0 <password>

Enabling Simple L2 Switching

Requires INTERFACE mode.

enable
configure
interface gigabitethernet 1/<port number>
no shutdown
switchport

Configuring a range of interfaces

Replace interface gigabitethernet 1/<port number> above with:

interface range gigabitethernet 1/<start port number>-1/<end port number>

Checking which ports in switching mode

Requires EXEC mode (i.e. enable)

enable
show interfaces switchport

Creating Port-Based VLANs

By default the switch comes with a single VLAN with ID 1. The previous section on enabling L2 switcing, where we set ports to switchport, was essentially adding them into VLAN 1.

Listing VLANs

Requires EXEC mode (i.e. enable)

enable
show vlan

Creating Port-Based VLANs

Requires CONFIGURATION mode Now we want to create a different VLAN and add ports to that.

enable
configure
interface vlan <new VLAN ID>

Adding Ports to VLANs

Requires INTERFACE VLAN mode

Note: Ports can only be added to VLANs if they’re already enabled for L2 switching (i.e. switchport was set)

enable
configure
interface vlan <VLAN ID>
untagged gigabitethernet 1/<port number>

Can also specify a range of interfaces, e.g. for ports 45 to 48:

untagged gigabitethernet 1/45-1/48

Removing Ports from VLANs

Removing ports is similar to adding ports, just add a no to the beginning of the command; e.g.:

no untagged gigabitethernet 1/<port number>

Creating Tagged VLANs

The procedure to create tagged is very similar to the port-based VLANs. If you know the VLAN ID you need, create a VLAN with that ID.

Creating Port-Based VLANs

Requires CONFIGURATION mode Now we want to create a different VLAN and add ports to that.

enable
configure
interface vlan <new VLAN ID>

Configuring Trunked VLAN Ports

Trunk ports allow inter-switch tagged VLAN links. Configuring the interface to be a trunk port requires INTERFACE mode.

enable
configure
interface gigabitethernet 1/<port number>
no shutdown
no switchport
switchport mode private-vlan trunk

Adding Ports to VLANs

Ports can be added to the VLAN in untagged or tagged mode. Tagged ports will tag the packets as they exit the switch, and untag the packets as they come in. Requires INTERFACE VLAN mode.

Note: Ports can only be added to VLANs if they’re already enabled for L2 switching (i.e. switchport was set)

The following snippet adds a port in tagged mode.

enable
configure
interface vlan <VLAN ID>
tagged gigabitethernet 1/<port number>

Configuring OpenFlow

Enabling OpenFlow on the switch requires re-configuring and re-allocating the ACL CAM. The ACL CAM settings have odd requirements, namely:

For more information, see the “Dell OpenFlow Deployment and User Guide 4.0” guide which can be found online.

Suggested CAM Setup for S4048-ON

Requires CONFIGURATION mode

enable
configure
cam-acl l2acl 2 ipv4acl 2 ipv6acl 0 ipv4qos 0 l2qos 1 l2pt 0 ipmacacl 0 vman-qos 0 ecfmacl 0 openflow 8
cam-acl-vlan vlanopenflow 1 vlaniscsi 1 vlanaclopt 0

After applying the above, reload the switch.

Configuring an OpenFlow Instance

Requires CONFIGURATION mode. Switch supports creating up to 8 OpenFlow instances.
Note: Re-configuring an OpenFlow instance can only be done when it is shutdown

Example configuration to:

enable
configure
openflow of-instance 1
controller 1 <ip address> port <port number> tcp
of-version 1.0
dpid-mac-addr <48-bit colon-separated DPID>

The DPID above will automatically be pre-pended by 00:01 to satisfy OpenFlow’s 16-hex digit requirement.

Adding Ports to an OpenFlow Instance

Requires INTERFACE mode. Interface must not be in L2 mode (i.e. run no switchport if need be). Make sure the OpenFlow Instance is disabled. Just follow the steps below for “Enabling an OpenFlow Instance” except do: shutdown

enable
configure
interface range tengigabitethernet 1/<start port number>-1/<end port number>
no switchport
no shutdown
of-instance <OpenFlow instance ID>

Note: If you just want to add one port instead of a range, use the following command:

interface tengigabitethernet 1/<port-number>

Enabling an OpenFlow Instance

Requires CONFIGURATION mode. To enable it, simply return to the instance’s configuration and set no shutdown

enable
configure
openflow of-instance 1
no shutdown

Breakout Ports

Requires CONFIGURATION mode. The ports will be broken into multiple virtual ports.

stack-unit <stack number> port <port number> portmode <mode> speed <speed>

Possible <mode> and <speed> combinations:

Quality of Service (QoS)

There are 2 ways to apply QoS: per-port or per-queue basis. They are mutually exclusive (i.e. if you use per-queue policies, the per-port rate control options disappear.

Per-Port

Requires INTERFACE mode

enable
configure
interface gigabitethernet 1/<port number>

Egress (from the switch) rate shaping:

rate shape <mbps> --OR-- rate shape kbps <kbps> (multiples of 64)

Ingress (into switch) rate policing:

rate police <mbps> --OR-- rate police kbps <kbps> (multiples of 64)

Per-Queue

Requires multiple modes: INTERFACE, POLICY-MAP, QOS-POLICY

To summarize the relationships:

For both QoS Policies and Policy Maps, both Input and Output types exist for both.

Egress (from switch) per-queue rate shaping (i.e. maximum bandwidth) and guaranteed minimum bandwidth:

enable
configure
qos-policy-output <qos policy name>
rate shape <mbps> --OR-- rate shape kbps <kbps> (multiples of 64)
bandwidth-percentage <percentage>
exit
policy-map-output <policy map name>
service-queue <queue number> qos-policy <qos policy name>
exit
interface tengigabitethernet 1/<port number>
service-policy output <policy map name>

NOTE: Setting bandwidth percentages for a queue will influence other queues on the same port. Be sure the Policy Map chosen references QoS Policies that add up to less than or equal to 100. If it adds up to over 100, the behaviour is unknown (I assume lower queue #’s take precedence, but haven’t tested).

Troubleshooting and Debugging

This section contains commands for troubleshooting and debugging a Dell switch running Dell Networking OS firmware.

In-Band Management Issues

Issues with 1 GE Adapters

Displaying OpenFlow Instance Info

Monitoring Interface Stats