Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide 31
53-1001763-02
Chassis names 2

Chassis names

Brocade recommends that you customize the chassis name for each platform. Some system logs
identify devices by platform names; if you assign meaningful platform names, logs are more useful.
All chassis names have a limit of 15 characters, except for the Brocade 300, 5100, 5300, and
VA-40FC switches, and the 5410, 5424, 5450, and 5480 embedded switches, which allow 31
characters. Chassis names must begin with a letter, and can contain letters, numbers, or the
underscore character.

Customizing chassis names

1. Connect to the switch and log in as admin.
2. Enter the chassisName command.
ecp:admin> chassisname newname
3. Record the new chassis name for future reference.

Switch activation and deactivation

By default, the switch is enabled after power is applied and diagnostics and switch initialization
routines have finished. You can disable and re-enable it as necessary.

Disabling a switch

1. Connect to the switch and log in using an account assigned to the admin role.
2. Enter the switchDisable command.
All Fibre Channel ports on the switch are taken offline. If the switch was part of a fabric, the
fabric is reconfigured.

Enabling a switch

1. Connect to the switch and log in using an account assigned to the admin role.
2. Enter the switchEnable command.
All Fibre Channel ports that passed POST are enabled. If the switch has interswitch links (ISLs)
to a fabric, it joins the fabric.

Switch and enterprise-class platform shutdown

To avoid corrupting your file system, Brocade recommends that you perform graceful shutdowns of
Brocade switches and enterprise-class platforms.
Warm reboot refers to shutting down the appliance per the instructions below, also known as a
graceful shutdown. Cold boot refers to shutting down the appliance by suddenly shutting down
power and then turning it back on, also known as a hard boot.