Brocade VDX 6740

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tblackburn

New Member
Apr 4, 2022
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Hey guys, picked up one of the 6740b (emc branded) but can not seem to get it to pass traffic.

when I got the switch, I could get it to pass traffic, kind of selectively only a couple things worked. so I did a factory default reset following the Fujitsu guides : pg 98


now it does not seem to pass any traffic at all.

I was able to update it to 7.4.0a with the awesome posts already in this thread. but that also didn't help.

Switch comes up, the port im using for uplink is flashing ( connected to a dell 6448p w/ both 2x10g sfp+ uplink cards)

Code:
root@pv1:~# ip a
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: ens1f0np0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq master vmbr1 state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:0f:53:36:d0:c0 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    altname enp1s0f0np0
3: ens1f1np1: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq master vmbr1 state DOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:0f:53:36:d0:c1 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    altname enp1s0f1np1
4: eno1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq master vmbr0 state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 0c:c4:7a:a8:b8:fa brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    altname enp7s0f0
5: eno2: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 0c:c4:7a:a8:b8:fb brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    altname enp7s0f1
6: vmbr0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 0c:c4:7a:a8:b8:fa brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.0.8/24 scope global vmbr0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 fe80::ec4:7aff:fea8:b8fa/64 scope link
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
7: vmbr1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:0f:53:36:d0:c0 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet6 fe80::20f:53ff:fe36:d0c0/64 scope link
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
8: veth101i0@if2: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue master fwbr101i0 state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether fe:09:13:b5:b3:fa brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff link-netnsid 0
9: fwbr101i0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether f6:20:8c:24:20:0f brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
10: fwpr101p0@fwln101i0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue master vmbr1 state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether f2:48:e3:0e:44:4b brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
11: fwln101i0@fwpr101p0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue master fwbr101i0 state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 7e:91:d7:28:4b:28 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

Code:
root@NetTest:~# ip a
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: eth0@if12: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 7a:52:0a:c7:50:21 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff link-netnsid 0
    inet6 fe80::7852:aff:fec7:5021/64 scope link
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
root@NetTest:~# ping 8.8.8.8
ping: connect: Network is unreachable
root@NetTest:~# ping 192.168.0.1
ping: connect: Network is unreachable
root@NetTest:~#

so it seems like its linking, but not assigning or passing dhcp ? and Im at a loss, rather new to this level of networking.

all the sfp+ are Brocade 10GB 57-0000075-01 10G-SFP-SR
 

thefloyd

New Member
Dec 21, 2020
29
7
3
By default the switch ports aren’t in switching mode after a config wipe.

you need to conf t then interface blah and then issue ‘switchport’ (or the inverse to undo; ‘no switchport’) each interface you want to put into l2/switching mode.
 
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tblackburn

New Member
Apr 4, 2022
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By default the switch ports aren’t in switching mode after a config wipe.

you need to conf t then interface blah and then issue ‘switchport’ (or the inverse to undo; ‘no switchport’) each interface you want to put into l2/switching mode.
thank you for the super fast reply, and that was the issue !
 

charles3ct

New Member
Aug 16, 2021
11
1
3
Okay
I now have two working 6740 s and I connected them together with the 40Gb link. It showed up as an ISL link - running at 40GB and is connected.
show vcs showed both the switches had joined together. However, it is as though there is no network traffic moving between them. IN just using VLAN1 as default - I cannot get out of each individual switch to a port on the other switch that is all on vlan 1. Does not appear that any traffic moves across these ISL links ?
 

thefloyd

New Member
Dec 21, 2020
29
7
3
Okay
I now have two working 6740 s and I connected them together with the 40Gb link. It showed up as an ISL link - running at 40GB and is connected.
show vcs showed both the switches had joined together. However, it is as though there is no network traffic moving between them. IN just using VLAN1 as default - I cannot get out of each individual switch to a port on the other switch that is all on vlan 1. Does not appear that any traffic moves across these ISL links ?
ISL ports need the ‘switchport’ directive, too, IIRC. Did you set them to switching mode?
 

charles3ct

New Member
Aug 16, 2021
11
1
3
ISL ports need the ‘switchport’ directive, too, IIRC. Did you set them to switching mode?

This is the settings on the port
sw0# show run int fo 1/0/49
interface FortyGigabitEthernet 1/0/49
no fabric isl enable
no fabric trunk enable
switchport
switchport mode trunk
switchport trunk allowed vlan all
switchport trunk tag native-vlan
spanning-tree shutdown
no shutdown
 

thefloyd

New Member
Dec 21, 2020
29
7
3
This is the settings on the port
sw0# show run int fo 1/0/49
interface FortyGigabitEthernet 1/0/49
no fabric isl enable
no fabric trunk enable
switchport
switchport mode trunk
switchport trunk allowed vlan all
switchport trunk tag native-vlan
spanning-tree shutdown
no shutdown
do you tag your native VLAN? (vlan1?). If not you shouldn’t have that directive on the ports.
 

thefloyd

New Member
Dec 21, 2020
29
7
3
This is the settings on the port
sw0# show run int fo 1/0/49
interface FortyGigabitEthernet 1/0/49
no fabric isl enable
no fabric trunk enable
switchport
switchport mode trunk
switchport trunk allowed vlan all
switchport trunk tag native-vlan
spanning-tree shutdown
no shutdown
also you have ISL disabled? (“no fabric isl enable”)
 

Kartoff

New Member
Feb 17, 2017
26
5
3
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This is the settings on the port
sw0# show run int fo 1/0/49
interface FortyGigabitEthernet 1/0/49
no fabric isl enable
no fabric trunk enable
switchport
switchport mode trunk
switchport trunk allowed vlan all
switchport trunk tag native-vlan
spanning-tree shutdown
no shutdown
You said switches are connected through ISL, but what I see now ISL is disabled on the port. So they are not using ISL seems. Also you don't need switchport on ISL ports on my opinion.
 

charles3ct

New Member
Aug 16, 2021
11
1
3
also you have ISL disabled? (“no fabric isl enable”)
A little more background - because the first time I tried to disable ISL I ended up in a split brain VCS fabric where each side saw the other as offline and themselves online - So I connected a 10GB for the fabric ISL so I could shutdown the port and reconfigure to the settings it has -

I will take the tagged default out -

So if I do a show fabric isl

sw0# show fabric isl

Rbridge-id: 2 #ISLs: 1

Src Src Nbr Nbr
Index Interface Index Interface Nbr-WWN BW Trunk Nbr-Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16 Te 2/0/13 16 Te 1/0/13 10:00:50:EB:1A:76:CC:5C 20G Yes "sw0"
 

charles3ct

New Member
Aug 16, 2021
11
1
3
You said switches are connected through ISL, but what I see now ISL is disabled on the port. So they are not using ISL seems. Also you don't need switchport on ISL ports on my opinion.
I agree - the reason I said ISL is that the Mode still shows as ISL for the port.

sw0# show int stat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Port Status Mode Speed Type Description
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fo 2/0/49 connected ISL -- 40G-QSFP
Fo 2/0/50 sfpAbsent -- -- --
 

charles3ct

New Member
Aug 16, 2021
11
1
3
I moved the 40GB to port51 and left everything default. Now I show two fabric ISL links - I still cannot get out of the switch.



show fabric isl

Rbridge-id: 2 #ISLs: 2

Src Src Nbr Nbr
Index Interface Index Interface Nbr-WWN BW Trunk Nbr-Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Fo 2/0/51 2 Fo 1/0/51 10:00:50:EB:1A:76:CC:5C 40G Yes "sw0"
16 Te 2/0/13 16 Te 1/0/13 10:00:50:EB:1A:76:CC:5C 20G Yes "sw0"

Current port settings (left as default)

sw0# show run int Fo 2/0/51
interface FortyGigabitEthernet 2/0/51
fabric isl enable
fabric trunk enable
no shutdown
!

Question is

1. Do ISLs actual expand the switch from a network perspective ?

So If I take a port on switch1 and try to ping a port on switch2 with same non-tagged vlan as an access port does that traffic go over these ISLs? or is there something else that needs to be done ?

Perhaps I am making this more difficult ? or missing another step (or 3)
 

thefloyd

New Member
Dec 21, 2020
29
7
3
I moved the 40GB to port51 and left everything default. Now I show two fabric ISL links - I still cannot get out of the switch.



show fabric isl

Rbridge-id: 2 #ISLs: 2

Src Src Nbr Nbr
Index Interface Index Interface Nbr-WWN BW Trunk Nbr-Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Fo 2/0/51 2 Fo 1/0/51 10:00:50:EB:1A:76:CC:5C 40G Yes "sw0"
16 Te 2/0/13 16 Te 1/0/13 10:00:50:EB:1A:76:CC:5C 20G Yes "sw0"

Current port settings (left as default)

sw0# show run int Fo 2/0/51
interface FortyGigabitEthernet 2/0/51
fabric isl enable
fabric trunk enable
no shutdown
!

Question is

1. Do ISLs actual expand the switch from a network perspective ?

So If I take a port on switch1 and try to ping a port on switch2 with same non-tagged vlan as an access port does that traffic go over these ISLs? or is there something else that needs to be done ?

Perhaps I am making this more difficult ? or missing another step (or 3)
I think ISLs still require the ‘switchport’ directive but I’m not 100% sure and I’m nowhere one of my switches right now. Try it. Can’t hurt.
 

charles3ct

New Member
Aug 16, 2021
11
1
3
I think ISLs still require the ‘switchport’ directive but I’m not 100% sure and I’m nowhere one of my switches right now. Try it. Can’t hurt.
Thanks everyone for their input.......

Apparently when I refresh the VCS cluster back to default settings I did not redo the uplink on port one of switch one. It got set back to default and I missed that as I was focused on switch2's configuration.

Now I am all good - and all I did was leave everything on the ISLs as default and it now routes out like it should.

So for anyones elses reference

Port1 switch 1 - The route out to the rest of the world -

show run int te 1/0/1
interface TenGigabitEthernet 1/0/1
no fabric isl enable
no fabric trunk enable
switchport
switchport mode access
switchport access vlan 1
spanning-tree shutdown
no shutdown
!


Port 51 on both switches which are the ISL links between the two switches: (These I left with default settings)

sw0# show run int fo 2/0/51
interface FortyGigabitEthernet 2/0/51
fabric isl enable
fabric trunk enable
no shutdown
!
sw0# show run int fo 1/0/51
interface FortyGigabitEthernet 1/0/51
fabric isl enable
fabric trunk enable
no shutdown
!

Interface on Switch2 - which goes to a end device (Desktop)

show run int te 2/0/21
interface TenGigabitEthernet 2/0/21
no fabric isl enable
fabric trunk enable
switchport
switchport mode access
switchport access vlan 1
spanning-tree shutdown
no shutdown
!


Whew - Finally 40Gb from 1st floor to 3rd floor wohhooo!

I do wish I knew more about these switches - I work mostly on arista or cisco - but I got a great deal on these two ....
(AKA - The gift that keeps giving)
 

thefloyd

New Member
Dec 21, 2020
29
7
3
Thanks everyone for their input.......

Apparently when I refresh the VCS cluster back to default settings I did not redo the uplink on port one of switch one. It got set back to default and I missed that as I was focused on switch2's configuration.

Now I am all good - and all I did was leave everything on the ISLs as default and it now routes out like it should.

So for anyones elses reference

Port1 switch 1 - The route out to the rest of the world -

show run int te 1/0/1
interface TenGigabitEthernet 1/0/1
no fabric isl enable
no fabric trunk enable
switchport
switchport mode access
switchport access vlan 1
spanning-tree shutdown
no shutdown
!


Port 51 on both switches which are the ISL links between the two switches: (These I left with default settings)

sw0# show run int fo 2/0/51
interface FortyGigabitEthernet 2/0/51
fabric isl enable
fabric trunk enable
no shutdown
!
sw0# show run int fo 1/0/51
interface FortyGigabitEthernet 1/0/51
fabric isl enable
fabric trunk enable
no shutdown
!

Interface on Switch2 - which goes to a end device (Desktop)

show run int te 2/0/21
interface TenGigabitEthernet 2/0/21
no fabric isl enable
fabric trunk enable
switchport
switchport mode access
switchport access vlan 1
spanning-tree shutdown
no shutdown
!


Whew - Finally 40Gb from 1st floor to 3rd floor wohhooo!

I do wish I knew more about these switches - I work mostly on arista or cisco - but I got a great deal on these two ....
(AKA - The gift that keeps giving)
Thanks for documenting your working config. That makes it so much easier for the next person who comes and asks when the rest of us are nowhere near our switches.

these are amazing and amazingly powerful enterprise kit. I haven’t touched Cisco and juniper in years (my day job has gone a different direction) but these have to be just as good if not better than Cisco etc stuff of the same era. They’re also a huge deal. I acquired one for $200 BNIB a while back and got a second used one for $140.

additionally these 6740s are pretty damn quiet for what they are. A half populated one in my house was only spinning fans around 2500RPM.
 

charles3ct

New Member
Aug 16, 2021
11
1
3
Thanks for documenting your working config. That makes it so much easier for the next person who comes and asks when the rest of us are nowhere near our switches.

these are amazing and amazingly powerful enterprise kit. I haven’t touched Cisco and juniper in years (my day job has gone a different direction) but these have to be just as good if not better than Cisco etc stuff of the same era. They’re also a huge deal. I acquired one for $200 BNIB a while back and got a second used one for $140.

additionally these 6740s are pretty damn quiet for what they are. A half populated one in my house was only spinning fans around 2500RPM.

I got the pair for $300 - so I cannot complain about them. It is just a little different than other switches I have workd on. My background is on the enterprise level server side and these are not nearly as loud as my IBM Power Systems that runs AIX and IBMi - WHen I power those puppies up it sounds like a jet taking off. Once configured they should be great!

I have used brocade for fiber channel only switches in the past - with those things my biggest concern was finding a laptop with a low enough Java version installed. In fact I have an old think pad running Windows XP I keep around just for that purpose.
 

Kartoff

New Member
Feb 17, 2017
26
5
3
46
Hello again,

I bought couple more VDX6740 switches... I managed to reset all except one that has boot prom password. What to do now ?