Table Of Contents
Managing Cisco FabricWare
Fibre Channel Support
Zone Configuration
Security
Events
Managing Cisco FabricWare with Fabric Manager
Managing Cisco FabricWare
The Cisco FabricWare software running on the MDS 9020 switch offers Fibre Channel switching services that realize maximum performance. Cisco FabricWare provides networking features such as zoning, advanced security, non-disruptive software upgrades, diagnostics, a CLI with Cisco IOS like syntax, and standard interfaces for management applications.
This appendix contains the following sections:
•Fibre Channel Support
•Zone Configuration
•Security
•Events
Fibre Channel Support
Cisco FabricWare supports autoconfigured Fibre Channel ports capable of up to 4-Gbps bandwidth. Cisco FabricWare supports the following port types:
•E
•F
•FL
•Fx
•Auto
See the "About Interface Modes" section on page 18-1.
Cisco FabricWare supports Fabric Shortest Path First (FSPF) as the standard path selection protocol used by Fibre Channel fabrics. The FSPF feature is enabled by default on all Fibre Channel switches. Except in configurations that require special consideration, you do not need to configure any FSPF services. FSPF automatically calculates the best path between any two switches in a fabric.
Zone Configuration
Zoning enables you to set up access control between storage devices or user groups. If you have administrator privileges in your fabric, you can create zones to increase network security and to prevent data loss or corruption. Zoning is enforced by examining the source-destination ID field. Cisco FabricWare does not support QoS, broadcast, LUN, or read-only zones.
You can use the Fabric Manager zone configuration tool to manage zone sets, zones, and zone membership for switches running Cisco FabricWare. Cisco FabricWare supports zone membership by pWWN. See the "Configuring a Zone" section on page 15-5.
Security
Cisco FabricWare supports the following security features:
•RADIUS
•SSH
•User-based roles
•IP access control lists
Cisco FabricWare can use the RADIUS protocol to communicate with remote AAA servers. RADIUS is a distributed client/server protocol that secures networks against unauthorized access. In the Cisco implementation, RADIUS clients run on Cisco MDS 9000 Family switches and send authentication requests to a central RADIUS server that contains all user authentication and network service access information.
You can access the CLI using the console (serial connection), Telnet, or Secure Shell (SSH). For each management path (console or Telnet and SSH), you can configure one or more of the following security control options: local, remote (RADIUS), or none.
If you are using SSH, you need to remove "-h $host -u $user" from the SSH path.
To modify the SSH preferences, follow these steps:
Step 1 In Fabric Manager, choose File > Preferences. In Device Manager, choose Device > Preferences. You see the preferences dialog box.
Step 2 Check the Use Secure Shell instead of Telnet check box.
Step 3 Remove the following text from the SSH path:
Step 4 Click Apply to save this change.
Using local or RADIUS authentication, you can configure the roles that each authenticated user receives when they access the switch. Cisco FabricWare supports two fixed roles: network administrator and network operator.
IP access lists (IP-ACLs) control management traffic over IP by regulating the traffic types that are allowed or denied to the switch. IP-ACLs can only be configured for the mgmt0 port.
Fabric Manager server uses SNMPv1 and SNMPv2 to communicate with Cisco FabricWare.
Events
You can monitor fabric and switch status for Cisco FabricWare switches through either a syslog server or an SNMP trap receiver.
The syslog, or system message logging software, saves messages in a log file or directs the messages to other devices. This feature provides you with the following capabilities:
•Provides logging information for monitoring and troubleshooting
•Allows you to select the types of captured logging information
•Allows you to select the destination server to forward the captured logging information
By default, the switch logs normal but significant system messages to a log file and sends these messages to the system console. You can specify which system messages should be saved based on the type of facility and the severity level. You can access logged system messages using the CLI or by saving them to a properly configured system message logging server.
You can configure the Cisco MDS 9020 switch using the CLI to send notifications to SNMP managers when particular events occur. You can send these notifications as traps.
Managing Cisco FabricWare with Fabric Manager
Fabric Manager Release 2.1(2) or later supports switches running Cisco FabricWare.
Note If you have a mixed fabric of Cisco SAN-OS and Cisco FabricWare switches, we recommend that you securely open the fabric with a Cisco SAN-OS switch using SNMPv3. The SNMPv1/v2c communities for the Cisco FabricWare switches should be entered in the communities.properties file. See the"Setting the Seed Switch" section on page 2-4 and the "Adding A Community String to the communities.properties File" section on page 26-4.
Table C-1 shows the supported features and where to access more information on that feature.
Table C-1
FabricWare Features in Fabric Manager