Mellanox Switches - Tips & Tricks
- Thread starter NablaSquaredG
- Start date
Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.
Thanks for the reply.
Yeah, that's the last resort that I would use since that would require the SSD physically taken out of switch. I was wondering if there's a live cloning tool available ( similar to few avilable for Linux OS image cloning) or if someone have written a tool that can just do "image create" ?
You may be able to create a full SSD image, but definitely not something you can use with the image commands (like OS updates)
I got onyx loaded onto my s2700, but it appears the web interface is disabled. I looked through the mellanox documentation but it shows as enabled.so i must be missing a step.
If you have a PXE server you should be able to PXE boot into Clonezilla.
I've successfully cloned entire disks from open enterprise switches using Clonezilla. Use an appropriate adapter as I don't have any Mellanox SNnnnn switch. They may have switched to M.2 form factor. The switches I have use mSATA so I use this variety https://www.ebay.com/itm/151466719602--no screws to mess with.
I've successfully cloned entire disks from open enterprise switches using Clonezilla. Use an appropriate adapter as I don't have any Mellanox SNnnnn switch. They may have switched to M.2 form factor. The switches I have use mSATA so I use this variety https://www.ebay.com/itm/151466719602--no screws to mess with.
Ok so i have the s2700 up and running with the onie and X86_64 3.9.3202 . I have the update of X86_64-3.10.4206-installer.bin but it will not install it. It complains that the bios is out of date. Does anyone have the latest bios for it?
currently no updated BIOS for the SN2xxx series
X86_64-3.10.4206-installer.bin is used for the new installation system in onie
If you want to update the system, the required file is onyx-X86_64-3.10.4206.zip
This link explains how to do it: ESPCommunity (replace image fetch scp in the text with http, because scp is too slow)
Clonezilla via PXE boot is a good option if your switch can be configured to PXE boot. But I don't know if Mellanox SNxxxx switch bios can be configured to PXE boot. Does anyone know if it can?
Last edited:
That's a great question. It took a little bit of web searching but while I was not able to find how to PXE boot Mellanox switches I thought about ONIE being the launch pad and found
where it describesrecompiling converting the Clonezilla ISO into an ONIE installer "NOS".
Open switches that have a traditional BIOS from, say AMI, will do PXE no problem but it's an avenue I can't fully recommend because I have bricked some switches during the process. One temporarily and another kinda "permanently"--I think it's because I was messing with a BIOS setting on an unrelated experiment but thought I'd fully disclose that. Since I have multiples of that same SKU I'm thinking of using a cheap Ch341a mini-programmer to attempt to compare potential corrupted SPI chips.
where it describes
Open switches that have a traditional BIOS from, say AMI, will do PXE no problem but it's an avenue I can't fully recommend because I have bricked some switches during the process. One temporarily and another kinda "permanently"--I think it's because I was messing with a BIOS setting on an unrelated experiment but thought I'd fully disclose that. Since I have multiples of that same SKU I'm thinking of using a cheap Ch341a mini-programmer to attempt to compare potential corrupted SPI chips.
Last edited:
That document is a good starting point. Need a cheaper switch with ONIE to experiment that. Won't be able do that with Mellanox SN2xxx at this point as such switch is at premium.
dd over ssh is another way, and it is more simple then clonezilla
Code:
dd if=/dev/sda | gzip -1 - | ssh root@192.168.1.73 dd of=sn2100.gzAnyone know if these can be converted to ethernet? New Mellanox 36-port MSX6790 SX6790 QSFP QDR InfiniBand Switch EMC OEM 2 x PSU | eBay
Edit: No they are unmanaged EMC switches
Edit: No they are unmanaged EMC switches
But I don't know if MSX6790 uses onie or something else to boot the system, or he really only supports up to 3.6.8012 like a device using PPC control plane
Ignoring the above, for these EMC products they do not contain any control plane, that is, they do not have any operating system
Last edited:
Gearmo USB to Serial RS-232 Adapter with LED Indicators
Also had good luck with the GUC232A from IOGear
Last edited:
Mine works at 115200 baud rate even with the older Prolific PL2303HXA chip serial adapter. But it also depends on your switch hardware version I guess.
That's an interesting angle I never even considered.
I'll have to try with my Gearmo.
The IOGear is what I'm currently using.
Messing around with a SN2700 o/s re-install.
I keep getting this error.
Any ideas?
I keep getting this error.
Any ideas?
Code:
Error: Partition doesn’t exist.
== Creating ext3 filesystem on /dev/sda10 for VAR
mke2fs: No such device or address while trying to determine filesystem size
*** Could not make filesystem on /dev/sda10
== Cleanup