Command Reference Guide

Administering Ethernet Ports

Before you configure your system, become familiar with the physical port numbering scheme on the system. Understanding the port numbering scheme enables you to:

Manage your bridge ports (especially if you use trunking), as described in the Implementation Guide for your system
Accurately define your virtual LANs (VLANs), as described in the Implementation Guide for your system

This chapter provides guidelines and other key information about how to configure Ethernet ports in your system.

For more information about configuring Ethernet ports, see the Implementation Guide for your system.

The commands that you can use depend on your system, your level of access, and the modules and other hardware options that are configured for your system. The following diagram shows the list of commands for all systems. The checklist at the beginning of each command description in this chapter shows whether your system supports the command.

ethernet summary

Displays a summary of Ethernet port information. The summary shows the port's label and status, as well as the most pertinent statistics about general port activity and port errors.

Valid Minimum Abbreviation

: e s

Important Considerations

Port numbering is consecutive, regardless of module type (if you are using a system that has modules).
Depending on the system, numbering may or may not skip an empty slot and continue with the ports that are associated with the next occupied slot. (See the Implementation Guide for your system for specific information about port numbering.)
Numbering includes unused ports.
Only one port number is assigned to a Gigabit Ethernet module in switches that use Gigabit Ethernet modules.
The system no longer assigns port number 1 to the out-of-band management port, which does not receive a port number.
At some prompts, you can specify the ? option to list Ethernet ports and port numbers. The ? option displays Selection, Port, and Port Label columns. The Selection column and Port column contain the same port numbers because they represent your physical ports.

Fields in the Ethernet Summary Display

Field	Description
actualFlowControl	Actual flow control setting (for Gigabit Ethernet ports). When autonegotiation is completed, the value is the autonegotiated setting. When autonegotiation is disabled, the value is the user-selected flow control value.
actualPortMode	Actual operating port mode. When autonegotiation is completed, the values shown are the autonegotiated settings. When autonegotiation is disabled, the value is the user-selected port mode.
autoNegMode	Autonegotiation mode configured for port. Possible values are `enable` or `disable`.
autoNegState	Current negotiation state. Possible values are `disabled`, `configuring`, `completed`, and `failed`.
linkStatus	Boolean value that indicates the current state of the physical link for this port (either `enabled` or `disabled`).
macAddress	MAC address of this port.
noRxBuffers	Number of frames that were discarded because no buffer space was available.
portLabel	User-defined label name. The maximum length of the string is 32 characters, including the null terminator.
portState	Current software operational state of this port. Possible values are `on-line` and `off-line`.
portType	Specific description of this port's type. Values for each port type: `10/100BASE-TX (RJ-45)`, `100BASE-FX (SC)`, `1000BASE-SX (SC)`, `1000BASE-LX (GBIC)`, `1000BASE-SX (GBIC)`, `Backplane` (9000).
reqFlowControl	Configurable parameter that sets the flow control option on Gigabit Ethernet ports (when autonegotiation is disabled). When autonegotiation is enabled, flow control values are ignored.
reqPortMode	Configurable parameter that sets the port mode on Ethernet ports that have port mode options (when autonegotiation is disabled). When autonegotiation is enabled, port mode values are ignored.
rxBytes	Number of bytes received by this port, including framing characters.
rxErrs	Sum of all receive errors that are associated with this port (summary report only).
rxFrames	Number of frames that were copied into receive buffers by this port.
slot:channel (9000 switch fabric module)	Maps a CoreBuilder 9000 switch fabric module port to an interface module backplane link. The "channel" designation is just a backplane trace number. For example, to troubleshoot a problem with switch fabric module port 5 (`slot:channel 3:1)`, look at the first backplane link for slot 3.
slot:port (9000)	Module slot and port number in the CoreBuilder 9000 system.
txBytes	Number of bytes that were transmitted by this port, including framing characters.
txErrs	Sum of all transmit errors that are associated with this port (summary report only).
txFrames	Number of frames that were transmitted by this port.
txQOverflows	Number of frames that were lost because transmit queue was full.
vendorName (3500)	Vendor name for a GBIC module. Other modules display `n/a`.

To display Ethernet port statistics relative to a baseline, see the Implementation Guide for your system.

Procedure

1 . To display summary information about Ethernet ports, enter:

: ethernet summary

2 . At the prompt (for example, (1-24|all|?)), select the ports for which you want to display information, or to display a port summary, specify ?. Indicate a range of ports with a hyphen (-). Separate nonconsecutive ports with a comma.

: The system displays port information based on the ports that you specified.
ethernet detail

Displays detailed Ethernet port information including the information in the summary and additional Ethernet port statistics, such as collision counters.

Valid Minimum Abbreviation

: e d

Fields in the Ethernet Detail Display

Field	Description
actualFlowControl	Actual flow control setting (for Gigabit Ethernet ports). When autonegotiation is completed, the value is the autonegotiated setting. When autonegotiation is disabled, the value is the user-selected flow control value.
actualPortMode	Actual operating port mode. When autonegotiation is completed, the value shown is the autonegotiated setting. When autonegotiation is disabled, the value is the port mode.
alignmentErrs (3500, 3900 and 9000)	Number of frames received by this port that are not an integral number of octets in length and do not pass the FCS check.
autoNegMode	Autonegotiation mode configured for port. Possible values are `enable` or `disable`.
autoNegState	Current negotiation state. Possible values are `disabled`, `configuring`, `completed`, and `failed`.
carrierSenseErr (3500, 3900 and 9000)	Number of frames that were discarded because the carrier sense condition was lost while transmitting a frame from this port.
excessCollision (3500, 3900 and 9000)	Number of frames that have been dropped because they experienced 15 consecutive collisions when sent from this port. This value is incremented by 1 each time that a frame experiences 15 consecutive collisions.
excessDeferrals (3500 and 9000 Layer 3)	Number of frames that were not transmitted on this port because the maximum allowed deferral time was exceeded.
fcsErrs	Number of frames received by this port that are an integral number of octets in length but do not pass the frame check sequence (FCS) test.
fragments (3900, 9000 Layer 2, 9300 and 9400)	Number of frames received by this port that were shorter than 64 bytes and had CRC or alignment errors.
jabbers (3900, 9000 Layer 2, 9300 and 9400)	Number of frames received by this port that were longer than 1518 bytes and had CRC or alignment errors.
lateCollisions (3500, 3900 and 9000)	Number of times that a collision was detected on this port later than 512 bit-times into the transmission of a frame.
lengthErrs (3500 and 9000 Layer 3)	Number of frames received by this port that are longer than 1518 bytes or shorter than 64 bytes.
linkStatus	Boolean value that indicates the current state of the physical link for this port (either `enabled` or `disabled`).
macAddress	MAC address of this port.
multiCollisions (3500, 3900 and 9000 Layer 3)	Number of frames that have experienced from 2 to 15 consecutive collisions before successful transmission from this port. If a frame also experiences a collision on the 15th attempt, it is dropped and the excessCollision count is increased by 1.
noRxBuffers	Number of frames that were discarded because no buffer space was available.
oversized (3900, 9000 Layer 2, 9300 and 9400)	Number of frames received by this port that were longer than 1518 bytes.
paceAccess (3900 and 9000 Layer 2)	Whether PACE® Interactive Access is `enabled` or `disabled` for this port (CoreBuilder 9000).
portLabel	User-defined label name. The maximum length of the string is 32 characters, including the null terminator.
portState	Current software operational state of this port. Possible values are `on-line`, `off-line`, `tx-fault`, and `config-error`.
portType	Specific description of this port's type. Values for each port type: `10/100BASE-TX (RJ-45)`, `100BASE-FX (SC)`, `1000BASE-SX (SC)`, `1000BASE-LX (GBIC)`, `1000BASE-SX (GBIC)`, `Backplane`.
reqFlowControl	Configurable parameter that sets the flow control option on Gigabit Ethernet ports (when autonegotiation is disabled). When autonegotiation is enabled, flow control values are ignored.
reqPortMode	Port mode on Ethernet ports that have port mode options (when autonegotiation is disabled). When autonegotiation is enabled, port mode values are ignored.
requestedState	Configurable parameter that is used to enable and disable this port. The default is `enabled`.
runts (3900, 9000 Layer 2, 9300 and 9400)	Number of frames received by this port that were shorter than 64 bytes.
rxBroadcast (3900, 9000 Layer 2, 9300 and 9400)	Number of broadcasts received by this port.
rxByteRate	Average number of bytes received per second by this port during the most recent sampling period.
rxBytes	Number of bytes received by this port, including framing characters.
rxDiscards (3500 and 9000 Layer 3)	Number of received frames that were discarded because there was no higher layer to receive them or because the port was disabled.
rxFrameRate	Average number of frames that were received per second by this port during the most recent sampling period. Sampling periods are 1 second long and not configurable.
rxFrames	Number of frames that were copied into receive buffers by this port.
rxInternalErrs	Number of frames that were discarded because of an internal error during reception.
rxMcastsOnly (3900, 9000 Layer 2, 9300 and 9400)	Number of multicast frames received by this port.
rxMulticasts	Number of multicast frames that were delivered to a higher-level protocol or application by this port.
rxPeakByteRate	Peak value of ethernetPortByteReceiveRate for this port since the station was last initialized.
rxPeakFrameRate	Peak value of ethernetPortFrameReceiveRate for this port since the station was last initialized.
rxUnicasts	Number of unicast (nonmulticast) frames that were delivered by this port to a higher-level protocol or application.
singleCollision (3500, 3900 and 9000)	Number of frames that have experienced only one collision before successful transmission from this port on the second attempt.
slot:port (9000)	Module slot and port number.
txBroadcasts (3900, 9000 Layer 2, 9300 and 9400)	Number of frames that were queued for transmission from this port by a higher-level protocol or application, including frames not transmitted successfully.
txByteRate	Average number of bytes that were transmitted per second by this port during the most recent sampling period.
txBytes	Number of bytes that were transmitted by this port, including framing characters.
txDiscards	Number of transmitted frames that were discarded because the port was disabled.
txFrameRate	Average number of frames that were transmitted per second by this port during the most recent sampling period. Sampling periods are 1 second long and not configurable.
txFrames	Number of frames that were transmitted by this port.
txInternalErrs	Number of frames that were discarded because of an internal error during transmission.
txMcastsOnly (3900, 9000 Layer 2, 9300 and 9400)	Number of multicast frames transmitted by this port.
txMulticasts	Number of multicast frames that were queued for transmission from this port by a higher-level protocol or application, including frames not transmitted successfully.
txPeakByteRate	Peak value of ethernetPortByteTransmitRate for this port since the station was last initialized.
txPeakFrameRate	Peak value of ethernetPortFrameTransmitRate for this port since the station was last initialized.
txQOverflows	Number of frames lost because transmit queue was full.
txUnicasts	Number of unicast (nonmulticast) frames that are queued for transmission by a higher-level protocol or application, including frames not transmitted successfully.
vendorName (3500)	Vendor name for a GBIC module. Other modules display `n/a`.

ethernet autoNegotiation

Enables or disables autonegotiation of port attributes such as duplex mode and port speed on ports that support autonegotiation.

Prompt	Description	Possible Values	[Default]
Port	Port numbers for which you want to enable or disable autonegotiation	1-xx ports available on your system all ? (to display a port summary)	-
Autonegotiation setting	Whether to enable or disable autonegotiation on each of the ports that you selected	enable disable	enable

Ethernet Autonegotiation Example

ethernet portMode

Sets a 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps port speed and the duplex mode (full-duplex or half-duplex) on individual ports.

Valid Minimum Abbreviation

: e portm

Important Considerations

When you configure full-duplex mode, configure both the sending and the receiving devices.
Gigabit Ethernet ports do not support mode options. The value all refers only to ports that support port mode options.
If you change to full-duplex mode on the port, a message indicates that collision detection will be disabled unless you configure the connected device to the same duplex mode.
Disable autonegotiation on any port on which you are setting a specific port mode.
10/100BASE-TX supports the following modes and speeds:
100BASE-FX supports the following modes and speeds:
- 100 Mbps, full-duplex mode
- 100 Mbps, half-duplex mode

Options

Prompt

Description

Possible Values

[Default]

Port

Ports for which you want to change the portMode values

A single port
A range of ports
all
? (to display a port summary)

-

Port mode setting

Speed and duplex mode for each of the ports that you selected

See the section "Important Considerations," earlier in this section

10half (10/100BASE-TX)
100half (100BASE-FX)

Prompt	Description	Possible Values	[Default]
Port	Ports for which you want to change the portMode values	A single port A range of ports all ? (to display a port summary)	-
Port mode setting	Speed and duplex mode for each of the ports that you selected	See the section "Important Considerations," earlier in this section	10half (10/100BASE-TX) 100half (100BASE-FX)

Procedure

1 . To change the port speed or duplex mode for 10/100BASE-TX ports or the duplex mode for 100BASE-FX ports, enter:

: ethernet portMode

2 . At the prompt (for example, (1-24|all|?)), select the ports for which you want to change the portMode values, or to display a port summary, specify ?.

: After you have selected the ports, the system prompts you to enter the port mode for each port that you selected.

Ethernet Port Mode Example (3500)

Ports 1 through 4 are 10/100BASE-TX ports, which include the port speed and duplex options. Ports 5 and 6 are 100BASE-FX ports, which include the duplex options only:

: Select Ethernet ports (1-6|all|?): all
: Port 1 - Enter new value (10half,10full,100half,100full) [10half]: 100full
: Port 2 - Enter new value (10half,10full,100half,100full) [10half]: 100full
: Port 3 - Enter new value (10half,10full,100half,100full) [10half]: 10full
: Port 4 - Enter new value (10half,10full,100half,100full) [10half]: 100full
: Port 5 - Enter new value (100half,100full) [100half]:
: Port 6 - Enter new value (100half,100full) [100half]: 100full
ethernet flowControl

Controls whether a Gigabit Ethernet port can respond to or generate flow control packets.

Valid Minimum Abbreviation

: e f

Important Considerations

Flow control allows a Gigabit Ethernet port to:
- Decrease the frequency with which it sends packets to a receiving device, if packets are being sent too rapidly.
- Send flow control packets to a sending device, to request that the device slow its speed of transmission to the port.
The system does not count flow control packets in either receive or transmit statistics.

Options

Prompt

Description

Possible Values

[Default]

Port selection

Ports for which you want to set flow control characteristics

A single port
A range of ports
all
? (to display a port summary)

-

Flow control setting

Flow control characteristics for each of the ports that you selected

on
off
rxOn
txOn

off

Prompt	Description	Possible Values	[Default]
Port selection	Ports for which you want to set flow control characteristics	A single port A range of ports all ? (to display a port summary)	-
Flow control setting	Flow control characteristics for each of the ports that you selected	on off rxOn txOn	off

Flow Control Settings

Settings

Description

Available on Port Type

on

Port recognizes flow control packets and responds by pausing transmission. The port can generate flow control packets as necessary to slow incoming traffic.

Gigabit Ethernet

off

Port ignores flow control packets and does not generate them.

Gigabit Ethernet

rxOn

Port recognizes flow control packets and responds by halting transmission. The port does not generate flow control packets.

Gigabit Ethernet

txOn

Port ignores flow control packets, but it can generate them, if necessary.

Gigabit Ethernet

Settings	Description	Available on Port Type
on	Port recognizes flow control packets and responds by pausing transmission. The port can generate flow control packets as necessary to slow incoming traffic.	Gigabit Ethernet
off	Port ignores flow control packets and does not generate them.	Gigabit Ethernet
rxOn	Port recognizes flow control packets and responds by halting transmission. The port does not generate flow control packets.	Gigabit Ethernet
txOn	Port ignores flow control packets, but it can generate them, if necessary.	Gigabit Ethernet

Ethernet Flow Control Example (3500)

Example for four Gigabit Ethernet ports:

: Select menu option (ethernet): flowControl
: Select Ethernet ports (1-4|all|?) [1-4]: 1-4
: Port 1 - Enter new value (on,off,rxOn,txOn) [off]: on
: Port 2 - Enter new value (on,off,rxOn,txOn) [off]: txOn
: Port 3 - Enter new value (on,off,rxOn,txOn) [off]: off
: Port 4 - Enter new value (on,off,rxOn,txOn) [off]: rxOn

Ethernet Flow Control Example (9000)

Example for four Ethernet or Fast Ethernet ports:

: CB9000@slot 10.1 [20-E/FEN-TX-L2] (ethernet): flowControl
: Select Ethernet ports (1-22|all|?): 1-4
: Port 1 - Enter new value (on,off) [off]: on
: Port 2 - Enter new value (on,off) [off]: on
: Port 3 - Enter new value (on,off) [off]:
: Port 4 - Enter new value (on,off) [off]:

(The CoreBuilder 9000 example for Gigabit Ethernet ports is similar to the example for the CoreBuilder 3500.)

ethernet paceAccess

Configures the Ethernet ports on your system to support the PACE® Interactive Access feature, which ensures reliable timing by preventing excessive Ethernet network jitter (the variation in the timing of packet delivery that can cause garbled sound, jerky images, and delays).

Valid Minimum Abbreviation

: e pa

Important Considerations

PACE technology is 3Com's method to provide reliable timing, optimal LAN bandwidth utilization, and data prioritization for time-sensitive multimedia and real-time applications, and data-only applications.
PACE Interactive Access employs a "back-off" algorithm that enables your system to control traffic flow on a point-to-point link with an end station. When the network experiences congestion, the switch holds packets. PACE Interactive Access prevents an end station from "monopolizing" the link.

Options

Prompt

Description

Possible Values

[Default]

Port

Ports for which you want to set the PACE® feature

A range of port numbers
all
? (to display a port summary)

-

PACE setting

Whether the PACE feature is on or off for each of the ports that you selected

enable
disable

disable

Prompt	Description	Possible Values	[Default]
Port	Ports for which you want to set the PACE® feature	A range of port numbers all ? (to display a port summary)	-
PACE setting	Whether the PACE feature is on or off for each of the ports that you selected	enable disable	disable

ethernet paceInteractiveAccess

Configures the Ethernet ports on your system to support the PACE Interactive Access feature, which ensures reliable timing by preventing excessive Ethernet network jitter (the variation in the timing of packet delivery that can cause garbled sound, jerky images, and delays).

Valid Minimum Abbreviation

: e pa

Important Considerations

PACE technology is 3Com's method to provide reliable timing, optimal LAN bandwidth utilization, and data prioritization for time-sensitive multimedia and real-time applications, and data-only applications.
PACE Interactive Access employs a "back-off" algorithm that enables your system to control traffic flow on a point-to-point link with an end station. When the network experiences congestion, the switch holds packets. PACE Interactive Access prevents an end station from "monopolizing" the link.

Options

Prompt	Description	Possible Values	[Default]
Port	Ports for which you want to set the PACE® feature	A range of port numbers all ? (to display a port summary)	-
PACE setting	Whether the PACE feature is on or off for each of the ports that you selected	enable disable	disable

ethernet label

Labels the Ethernet ports to help identify the kind of device that is attached to each port (for example, LAN, workstation, or server).

Valid Minimum Abbreviation

: e l

Important Considerations

Label Ethernet ports so that you can easily identify the devices that are attached to them (such as LANs, workstations, or servers). For example: engineeringserver.
A new port label appears in system displays the next time that you display information for that port.

Options

Prompt

Description

Possible Values

[Default]

Port selection

Ports for which you want to define a port label

A range of port numbers
all
? (to display a port summary)

-

Port label

Labels that appear the next time you display information for the ports that you selected

String of up to 32 ASCII characters, including the null terminator

-

Prompt	Description	Possible Values	[Default]
Port selection	Ports for which you want to define a port label	A range of port numbers all ? (to display a port summary)	-
Port label	Labels that appear the next time you display information for the ports that you selected	String of up to 32 ASCII characters, including the null terminator	-

ethernet portState

Enables or disables Ethernet ports, controlling whether the ports send or receive frames.

Valid Minimum Abbreviation

: e ports

Important Consideration

When an Ethernet port is enabled, frames are transmitted normally over that port. When an Ethernet port is disabled, the port neither sends nor receives frames.

Options

Prompt

Description

Possible Values

[Default]

Port

Ports that you want to enable or disable

Individual ports
A range of port numbers
all
? (to display a port summary)

-

Port state

Value shown in the summary and detail displays reports: on-line for all enabled ports displayed and off-line for all disabled ports displayed

enabled
disabled

enabled

Prompt	Description	Possible Values	[Default]
Port	Ports that you want to enable or disable	Individual ports A range of port numbers all ? (to display a port summary)	-
Port state	Value shown in the summary and detail displays reports: `on-line` for all enabled ports displayed and `off-line` for all disabled ports displayed	enabled disabled	enabled

Procedure

1 . To enable or disable an Ethernet port, from the top level of the Administration Console, enter:

: ethernet portState

2 . At the prompt (for example, (1-24|all|?)), select the ports for which you want to set the port state, or to display a port summary, specify ?.

3 . Enter enabled or disabled for each Ethernet port.

: The portState value shown in the summary and detail displays reports on-line for all enabled ports that are displayed and off-line for all disabled ports. The Port Status LED for each disabled port on the module indicates the disabled status.