Change Appliance Network Settings

Revised: November 4, 2011

 

This chapter explains how you can use the Appliance Administrative Interface (AAI) to change the network settings or troubleshoot connectivity issues for a Cisco Show and Share or Cisco DMM appliance.

Note • We recommend that you do not change the static IP address that you assign to your Cisco Show and Share and Cisco DMM appliances.

  • If your network uses a DNS server, you must reassociate the resolvable DNS hostname for your Show and Share appliance each time that you change its IP address.

 

This chapter includes the following sections:

View Network Settings

The Network Settings screen displays the hostname, network link status, IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, and primary and secondary DNS server.

Procedure

Step 1 Choose NETWORK_SETTINGS and press Enter.

The Network Settings screen displays the network configuration of the appliance and options for changing the configuration.

 

Step 2 Choose Cancel and press Enter to return to the Main Menu.

 

Change the Appliance Hostname

You can change the appliance hostname from the AAI interface. In failover configurations, changing the appliance hostname causes the appliance to fail over.

Changing the hostname causes the appliance to regenerate a self-signed certificate. If you are using a certificate provided by a certificate authority, you will need to obtain a new certificate and install it on the appliance. See Chapter 7, “Manage Digital Certificates” for more information about obtaining and installing certificates.

If you are using both a Cisco Show and Share and a Cisco DMM appliance, you must re-pair the appliances after changing the hostname on either appliance.

If you change the hostname for a Cisco Show and Share appliance, you must change the hostname setting for any files that are hosted on the appliance.

Procedure

Step 1 Choose NETWORK_SETTINGS and press Enter.

Step 2 Choose HOSTNAME and press Enter .

The current hostname appears on the Hostname Configuration screen.

Step 3 Enter a fully qualified domain name for the appliance, for example server.example.com. Press Enter .

Step 4 Press Enter to confirm the change.

Changing the hostname can take over a minute to complete. When it is finished, a results message appears.

Step 5 Press Enter to return to the Network Settings screen.

Step 6 If you are using Cisco DMM and Cisco Show and Share appliances, go to Chapter 11, “Pair the Cisco DMS Appliances”.

Step 7 If you change the hostname of a Cisco Show and Share appliance, you need to update the hostname for file types that are hosted on the local appliance. See the User Guide for Cisco Show and Share Administration 5.3.x for information about setting the file hosting locations.

 

Change the TCP/IP Settings

You can use AAI to change the IP address of the appliance. If you change the IP address of a Cisco Show and Share appliance or of a Cisco DMM appliance that is paired with a Cisco Show and Share appliance, you will need to pair the appliances after performing this procedure.

Changing the IP address of your appliance causes the appliance to reboot. If you are connected to your appliance using SSH, you will lose your connection.

In failover configurations, changing the TCP/IP settings causes the appliance to fail over.

Procedure

Step 1 Choose NETWORK_SETTINGS and press Enter.

Step 2 Choose TCP_IP and then press Enter.

Step 3 Use the Up/Down arrows to navigate between the fields and provide the following information:

    • IP address and subnet mask of the appliance.
    • IP address of the default gateway for the appliance.

Step 4 Press Tab to highlight the OK button. Press Enter to accept your changes.

A message appears warning you that the appliance will reboot and will need to be paired again.

Step 5 Press Enter .

The Static IP Configuration confirmation screen appears.

Step 6 Review your configuration. Press Enter to accept your configuration changes and reboot the appliance. Press Tab to highlight No and press Enter to change the settings again.

If you accepted the configuration changes, the appliance reboots.

 

What to do Next

If the appliances was part of a paired Cisco DMM/Cisco Show and Share configuration, you must re-pair the appliances. See Chapter 11, “Pair the Cisco DMS Appliances”.

Change the DNS Settings

Procedure

Step 1 Choose NETWORK_SETTINGS and press Enter.

Step 2 Choose DNS and press Enter .

Step 3 Type the primary DNS server IP address in the PRIMARY DNS field.

Step 4 (Optional) Use the Down arrow to move to the SECONDARY DNS field. Type the secondary DNS server IP address, if there is one.

Step 5 Press Tab to highlight the Ok button, and then press Enter .

The DNS Configuration confirmation screen appears.

Step 6 Press Enter to confirm the settings and return to the Network Settings screen.

 

Disable Auto Negotiation on the Network Interface Card

By default, the network interface card is set to auto-negotiate the speed and duplex settings for the network interface. You can turn off auto negotiation and manually configure these properties.

Procedure

Step 1 Choose NETWORK_SETTINGS and press Enter.

Step 2 Choose AUTO_NEGOTIATION and press Enter .

The Auto Negotiation Configuration screen appears. If auto negotiation is enabled, the system asks if you want to disable it.

Step 3 Press Enter to disable auto negotiation.

The NIC Speed screen appears.

Step 4 Use the Up / Down arrows to highlight the desired NIC speed. Press the Spacebar to select the speed.

Step 5 Press Enter .

The NIC Duplex screen appears.

Step 6 Use the Up / Down arrows to highlight the desired duplex setting. Press the Spacebar to select the setting.

Step 7 Press Enter .

The Auto Negotiation Configuration screen displays your chosen settings.

Step 8 Press Enter to accept your changes and return to the Network Settings screen.

 

Enable Auto Negotiation on the Network Interface Card

Procedure

Step 1 Choose NETWORK_SETTINGS and press Enter.

Step 2 Choose AUTO_NEGOTIATION and press Enter .

The Auto Negotiation Configuration screen appears. If auto negotiation is disabled, the system asks if you want to enable it.

Step 3 Press Enter to enable auto negotiation and return to the Network Settings screen.

 

Troubleshoot Network Issues

This section contains the following topics:

Start or Stop the Network Interface Card

You can stop and start the network interface card from the AAI interface. If you are using SSH to access the AAI interface, you will lose connectivity to the appliance. You need to start the network interface card from a terminal connected to the appliance. In failover configurations, this causes the appliance to fail over.

Procedure

Step 1 Choose NETWORK_SETTINGS and press Enter.

Step 2 Choose NETWORK_TOOLS and press Enter .

Step 3 Choose START/STOP and press Enter .

Step 4 Choose Yes and press Enter .

The NIC will start up or stop, depending upon its previous state.

 

Restart the Network Interface Card

You can restart the network interface card (NIC) on the appliance through the AAI interface. If you are logged-in to the appliance through an SSH session, your connection will be dropped when you restart the NIC. You will need to log back in. In failover configurations, this causes the appliance to fail over.

Procedure

Step 1 Choose NETWORK_SETTINGS and press Enter.

Step 2 Choose NETWORK_TOOLS and press Enter .

Step 3 Choose RESTART and press Enter .

You are asked to confirm that you want to restart the NIC.

Step 4 Choose Yes and press Enter .

If you are connected to the appliance through an SSH session, your session is dropped.

 

Use ping to Troubleshoot Connectivity

The AAI interface contains a front end to the ping utility. Use the ping utility to troubleshoot connectivity issues to other devices, for example to ensure the appliance can reach your FTP server for backup or system log.

Procedure

Step 1 Choose NETWORK_SETTINGS and press Enter.

Step 2 Choose NETWORK_TOOLS and press Enter .

Step 3 Choose PING and press Enter .

Step 4 Type the IP address or hostname of the target device and press Enter .

Step 5 Press Enter to close the results screen.

You are returned to the Network Settings screen.

 

Use netstat to View Active Network Connections

Procedure

Step 1 Choose NETWORK_SETTINGS and press Enter.

Step 2 Choose NETWORK_TOOLS and press Enter .

Step 3 Choose NETSTAT and press Enter .

 

Step 4 Use the UP / DOWN arrows to scroll through the results.

Step 5 Press Enter to return to the Network Settings screen.

 

Use dig to Retrieve DNS Server Information

Domain information groper (dig) is a utility for querying DNS servers for DNS records.

Procedure

Step 1 Choose NETWORK_SETTINGS and press Enter.

Step 2 Choose NETWORK_TOOLS and press Enter .

Step 3 Choose DIG and press Enter .

Step 4 Enter a hostname or IP address to query the DNS server with and press Enter .

Tip Enter -h and press Enter to see advanced information about using the dig utility.

The results screen appears with the DNS information for the IP address or hostname.

Step 5 Press Enter to return to the Network Settings screen.

 

Use nslookup to Retrieve DNS Server Information

nslookup is a utility for querying DNS servers for DNS details for a particular host.

Procedure

Step 1 Choose NETWORK_SETTINGS and press Enter.

Step 2 Choose NETWORK_TOOLS and press Enter .

Step 3 Choose NSLOOKUP and press Enter .

Step 4 Enter a hostname or IP address to query the DNS server with and press Enter .

The results screen appears with the DNS information for the IP address or hostname.

Step 5 Press Enter to return to the Network Settings screen.

 

View Network Interface Traffic Statistics

Procedure

Step 1 Choose NETWORK_SETTINGS and press Enter.

Step 2 Choose NETWORK_TOOLS and press Enter .

Step 3 Choose NIC_STATS and press Enter .

 

Step 4 Use the UP / DOWN arrows to scroll through the results.

Step 5 Press Enter to return to the Network Settings screen.