
SwitchBlade x8106 Chassis Switch Installation Guide
Monitoring the Initialization Process
Using the LEDs
to Monitor the
Initialization
Process
Using the Console
Port to Monitor
the Initialization
Process
The line and controller cards perform an initialization process when you power or reset the chassis. The initialization process takes approximately two minutes to complete. The line cards do not begin to forward traffic from their ports until the process is finished.
The process has two phases. In the first phase, which takes approximately one minute, the controller card loads and initializes its AlliedWare Plus Operating System and, if there are two controller cards in the chassis, sets its active or standby state. In the second phase, the Ethernet line cards receive their management software from the active controller card, initialize the software, and configure their parameter settings according to the configurations provided by the active controller card. This phase also takes one minute, after which, the line cards begin to forward traffic.
You may monitor the initialization process by viewing either the LEDs on the cards or the messages on the Console port, as explained in the following sections.
To monitor the first phase of the initialization process in which the controller card initializes its AlliedWare Plus Operating System and establishes its active master or standby master state, examine the CFC LED in the System Status LEDs on the card. The LED flashes green while the card initializes its management software. When this phase is finished, the card changes the LED to solid green if it is the active master or solid amber if it is the standby master.
To monitor phase 2 in which the line cards initialize and configure their management software, watch the SBx Linecard Status LEDs. There are twelve LEDs (numbered 1 to 12), one for each slot. The LED for a slot flashes green while the corresponding line card initializes its management software and configures its settings in accordance with the settings from the active controller card. The LED changes to solid green when the line card completes the initialization process and begins forwarding traffic.
Another way to monitor the initialization process of the chassis is to connect a terminal or PC with a terminal emulator program to the Console port on the controller card and watch the status messages. If the chassis has two controller cards, you should use the Console port on the controller card in slot 5. (The settings for the terminal or terminal emulator program are found in “Using Local Management to Verify the Chassis” on
page 184.) Figure 132 on page 178 and Figure 133 on page 179 illustrate the messages. The controller and line cards are fully initialized and forwarding network traffic when the Console port displays the “awplus login” prompt.
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