LANplex® 2500 Ver 7.0.0 Intelligent Switching Release Notes

Modified: 05/22/98

LANplex 2500
Software Release Notes

LANplex Intelligent Switching Software
Revision 7.0.0
April 27, 1996

Part No. 801-00286-000

Published April 27, 1996

3Com Corporation n 5400 Bayfront Plaza n Santa Clara, California n 95052-8145

© 3Com Corporation, 1996. All rights reserved. No part of this documentation may be reproduced in any form or by any means or used to make any derivative work (such as translation, transformation, or adaptation) without permission from 3Com Corporation.

3Com Corporation reserves the right to revise this documentation and to make changes in content from time to time without obligation on the part of 3Com Corporation to provide notification of such revision or change.

3Com Corporation provides this documentation without warranty of any kind, either implied or expressed, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. 3Com may make improvements or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this documentation at any time.

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT LEGENDS:

If you are a United States government agency, then this documentation and the software described herein are provided to you subject to the following restricted rights:

For units of the Department of Defense:

Restricted Rights Legend: Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c) (1) (ii) for restricted Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at 48 C.F.R. 52.227-7013. 3Com Corporation, 5400 Bayfront Plaza, Santa Clara, California 95052-8145.

For civilian agencies:

Restricted Rights Legend: Use, reproduction, or disclosure is subject to restrictions set forth in subparagraph (a) through (d) of the Commercial Computer Software - Restricted Rights Clause at 48 C.F.R. 52.227-19 and the limitations set forth in 3Coms standard commercial agreement for the software. Unpublished rights reserved under the copyright laws of the United States.

3Com and LANplex are registered trademarks of 3Com Corporation.

3Com registered trademarks are registered in the United States, and may or may not be registered in other countries. Other brand and product names may be registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders.

Contents

LANplex 2500

Overview

Release Highlights

Before You Start

Updating Your System Software

Copying System Software to a Hard Disk

Copying to UNIX

Copying to DOS

Updating Your Diagnostic Software

Copying Diagnostic Software to a Hard Disk

Copying to UNIX

Copying to DOS

Loading Software on the System

User Documentation

Whats New at Revision .0.0?

New Features

Fast Ethernet Module Support

Support for the Unterminated BNC module

Telnet and rlogin Sessions Timeout

Ethernet Ports Configurable as Express Switching Ports

Software Corrections

System Issues

Known Problems

SNMP MIB Files

Supported Versions

Compiler Support

Revision History

LANplex 2500

Intelligent Switching Software

Revision 7.0.0

Overview

These release notes describe revision 7.0.0 of the LANplex 2500 Intelligent Switching software from 3Com Corporation, dated April 27, 1996. This revision supersedes the earlier revision 5.1.0 dated December 20, 1995.

NOTE: Extended Switching Software (Part No. 3C92270) is also available. It supports IP, IPX, and AppleTalk routing. To purchase Extended Switching Software, contact your sales representative.

Release Highlights

This release contains the following items:

o Support for the Fast Ethernet Module

o Support for the unterminated BNC module

o Telnet and rlogin sessions will terminate after a user-specified time interval

o Support for 10 Mbit Ethernet Ports Configurable as Backbone Express Switching Ports

o Ethernet Ports configurable as Express Switching ports

For more information about this release, see the section "What's New at Revision 7.0.0?".

Before You Start

Before you install your new software, read all of these release notes. Carefully read the sections "System Issues" and "Known Problems".

Updating Your System Software

You can install a new software version from any host-running ftp server. The system software is distributed for both UNIX and DOS platforms.

The following media types are used to distribute compressed files for software releases:

o UNIX tar format 31/2-inch, double-sided, high-density 1.44 MB diskettes

o DOS format 31/2-inch, double-sided, high-density 1.44 MB diskettes

To install or upgrade your system software, you must:

o Copy the software from the diskette to your UNIX-based or DOS-based computer's hard disk.

o Decompress the software.

o Load the system software from your computer's hard disk to flash memory.

Details for these procedures are provided in the next section.

Copying System Software to a Hard Disk

You can copy system software to either a UNIX-based or a DOS-based hard disk.

Copying to UNIX

The LANplex software for a UNIX-based system is distributed on three floppy diskettes. Diskettes #1 and #2 contain the LANplex software. Diskette #3 contains the SNMP MIBs.

To copy the software to a UNIX hard disk, follow these instructions.

If the directory "/usr/lp2500" does not exist on your computer, create the directory before proceeding. If your "/usr" directory is full, you can use a different directory. If you use a different directory, substitute the actual directory used for "/usr" in this and subsequent examples.

1 Insert diskette #1 into a disk drive. These instructions assume drive rfd0.

2 Extract the first part of the LANplex software file using the following commands:

cd /usr/lp2500
tar xvf /dev/rfd0

3 Remove diskette #1 using the following command:

# eject

4 Insert diskette #2 into a disk drive and extract the second part of the file using the following command:

tar xvf /dev/rfd0

5 Remove diskette #2 using the following command:

# eject

The following files should be in your /usr/lp2500 directory:

o README1

o lp250000

o lp250001

o restore_lpx.2500

6 Use this script to decompress and restore the split file

(lp250000 and lp250001):

# ./restore_lpx.2500

Restoring the split file creates the uncompressed file lp2500. See the README1 file for size and checksum information.

Copying to DOS

The LANplex software for a DOS-based system is distributed on two floppy diskettes. Diskette #1 contains the LANplex software. Diskette #2 contains the SNMP MIBs.

To copy software to a DOS hard disk, follow these instructions:

If the directory "lp2500" does not exist on your computer, create the directory before proceeding.

1 Insert the diskette containing the system software file into a disk drive. These instructions assume drive B.

2 Copy the system software file to the lp2500 directory of your computer using the following commands:

cd lp2500
copy b:lp2500.exe
copy b:README1
The file lp2500.exe is a self-extracting archive. It decompresses and creates the loadable software file lp2500.

3 Decompress the file using the following command:

lp2500

This procedure creates the decompressed file lp2500, which you can then ftp into flash memory. See the README1 file for size information.

Updating Your Diagnostic Software

The diagnostic software, revision 3.02, runs internal tests on the system and option modules at system power up. Diagnostic software revision 3.0.2 supports the LANplex 2500 Fast Ethernet module.

You can install a new diagnostic software version from any host-running ftp. The LANplex diagnostic software is distributed for both UNIX and DOS platforms. The following media types are used to distribute compressed files for software releases:

o UNIX tar format 31/2-inch, double-sided, high-density 1.44 MB diskettes

o DOS format 31/2-inch, double-sided, high-density 1.44 MB diskette

To update your diagnostic software, you must:

o Copy the diagnostic software from the diskette to your UNIX-based or DOS-based computer's hard disk.

o Load the diagnostic software from your computer's hard disk to flash memory; see "Loading Software on the System".

Copying Diagnostic Software to a Hard Disk

You can copy diagnostic software to either a UNIX-based or a DOS-based hard disk.

Copying to UNIX

To copy diagnostic software to a UNIX hard disk, follow these instructions:

1 Insert the diskette containing the LANplex diagnostic software file into a disk drive. These instructions assume drive rfd0.

2 Copy the LANplex diagnostic software file to the lp2000 subdirectory of your computer using the following commands:

cd /usr/lp2000
tar xvf /dev/rfd0

This procedure creates a file called lpx2000S which you can then load into flash memory.

Copying to DOS

To copy software to a DOS hard disk, follow these instructions:

1 Insert the diskette containing the LANplex diagnostic software file into a disk drive. These instructions assume drive B.

2 Copy the LANplex diagnostic software file to the lp2000 directory of your computer using the following commands:

cd lp2000
copy b:lpx2000s.exe
copy b:README1

The file lpx2000s.exe is a self-extracting archive. It decompresses and creates the loadable lpx2000s file.

3 Decompress the file using the following command:

lpx2000s

This procedure creates the decompressed file lpx2000s, which you can then load into flash memory. See the README1 file for file size information.

Loading Software on the System

Before loading the system software, verify that the host machine, which has a copy of the updated system software, is connected to the system.

You can load the system software into flash memory while the system is operating. You do not need to bring the system down.

If you are loading software from a PC, the ftp server must be running on the PC before you begin this procedure.

Loading software into flash memory takes approximately 3 minutes to complete, depending on your network load.

To load the new software:

1 From the top level of the Administration Console, enter:

system softwareUpdate

You are prompted for the Host IP address, Install file name, User name, and Password. The current values are displayed in brackets [ ]. The password field does not display what you enter.

2 Next to Host IP address, enter the IP address of the host machine (such as a Sun workstation or PC) from which you are installing the software. If the current value is already set to the correct host IP address, press [Return].

In the example page -9, the IP address of the host is 192.9.200.96.

3 Next to Install file name, enter the complete path and file name. If the current value is already set to that file name, press [Return].

For DOS system syntax, you must precede the full pathname with a forward slash (/). For example, if you are loading software from a DOS host, enter the following command at the Install Filename prompt:

/c:\lp2500\lp2500

4 Next to User name, enter your user name.

5 Next to Password, enter your password. You must enter a value for this field.

CAUTION: If for any reason the flash installation stops (that is, if you see no activity for more than two minutes), do not reboot the system. Instead, press CTRL-C. After the system displays some trace information, it will prompt you for a login ID and password. Log in and try the installation again.

Here is an example of a successful software installation:

Host IP address [192.9.200.14]:192.9.200.96
Install file name [/usr/lp2500/lp2500]:
User name: ronnyk
Password :

Programming flash memory block 1...
Programming flash memory block 2...
Programming flash memory block 3...
.
.
.
Programming flash memory block 19...

Installation complete.

The system menu reappears.

If the LANplex executable software image stored in FLASH is corrupted (for example, when a power failure occurs while you are updating software), contact 3Com Technical Support.

6 To reboot the system to use the newly loaded software, enter:

system reboot

You are prompted with the following message:

Are you sure you want to reboot the system (n,y) [y]:

7 At the prompt, enter y for (yes).

You are now ready to configure management access for your system. For information on configuring management access for the LANplex, see the LANplex 2500 Getting Started guide.

User Documentation

This version of software is compatible with the documentation revisions listed here. These release notes describe only the changes and additions to this documentation.

The Getting Started and Planning Your Site documents comprise the LANplex 2500 documentation set, which ships with each system. The Operation Guide and the Administration Console User Guide comprise the LANplex 2500 Advanced Documentation Kit (3C92000). The Extended Switching User Guide ships with Extended Switching Software (3C92270).

o LANplex 2500 Getting Started

(Rev. 02, Part No. 801-00244-000)

o LANplex 2500 Planning Your Site

(Rev. 02, Part No. 801-00243-000)

o LANplex 2500 Operation Guide

(Rev. 02, Part No. 801-00245-000)

o LANplex 2500 Administration Console User Guide

(Rev. 02, Part No. 801-00246-000)

o LANplex 2500 Extended Switching User Guide

(Rev. 01, Part No. 801-00249-000)

o LANplex 2500 Command Quick Reference

(Rev. 01, Part No. 801-00250-000)

Modules are shipped with the appropriate module installation guide:

o Ethernet RJ-21 Module Installation, 2500/2016

(Rev. 02, Part No. 801-00118-000)

o Ethernet RJ-45 Module Installation, 2500/2016

(Rev. 02, Part No. 801-00094-000)

o Ethernet 10BASE-FL Module Installation, 2500/2016

(Rev. 02, Part No. 801-00095-000)

o Ethernet 10BASE-2 (BNC) Module Installation, 2500/2016

(Rev. 01, Part No. 801-00217-000)

o Ethernet 10BASE-5 (AUI) Module Installation, 2500/2016

(Rev. 01, Part No. 801-00218-000)

o FDDI DAS MIC (MMF) Module Installation Guide, 2500

(Rev. 01, Part No. 801-00096-000)

o FDDI DAS MIC (SMF) Module Installation Guide, 2500

(Rev. 01, Part No. 801-00153-000)

o TP-DDI DAS Module Installation Guide, 2500

(Rev. 01, Part No. 801-00265-000)

o 100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet Module Installation Guide

(Rev. 01, Part No. 801-00294-000)

o 100BASE-FX Fast Ethernet Module Installation Guide

(Rev. 01, Part No. 801-00304-000)

What's New at Revision 7.0.0?

This section describes any new features, software enhancements, or corrections implemented at this release.

New Features

The following features are added at this release:

Fast Ethernet Module Support

The LANplex 2500 Fast Ethernet Module supports two 100Mbps Fast Ethernet Half-Duplex connections using 100BASE-TX or 100BASE-FX interfaces. In addition, the LANplex 2500 supports two high-speed ports consisting of a single 100BASE-TX or 100BASE-FX connection and one FDDI DAS interface. The Fast Ethernet module supports Fast Ethernet connections for local server attachments while providing scalability to FDDI collapsed backbones with centralized servers.

Full-duplex mode

The LANplex 2500 Fast Ethernet 100BASE-TX and 100BASE-FX port is capable of operating in full-duplex mode. Full-duplex can enhance the throughput of the LANplex Fast Ethernet connection by allowing data to be transmitted and received simultaneously.

The new menu and procedures for enabling full-duplex mode are provided here.

CAUTION: When configuring full-duplex mode, you must configure both the sending and the receiving devices.

To enable or disable full-duplex mode:

1 From the top level of the Administration Console, enter:

ethernet duplexMode

You are prompted for the port number(s).

2 Enter the number(s) of the port(s) or all.

After you have selected the port(s), the following warning message will be displayed on the screen:

Warning --- Changing mode to full duplex disables collision detection. The device connected to this port must be configured for the same duplex mode.

You are prompted to confirm that you want to change the duplex mode.

3 Enter y (yes) or n (no) at the prompt. The default is y.

If you enter n, you are returned to the main menu. If you enter y, you are prompted for the new duplex mode value.

4 Enter full to enable full-duplex mode. The default is half.

If you have not previously configured connected devices, follow the steps above to enable full-duplex.

Displaying Fast Ethernet Port Statistics

You can display port statistics for each Fast Ethernet module in the system.

To display Fast Ethernet port statistics:

1 From the top level of the Administration Console, enter:

ethernet detail

You are prompted for the Fast Ethernet port number(s).

2 Enter the number(s) of the Fast Ethernet port(s) or all.

Statistics for the selected port(s) are displayed.

Example:

Support for the Unterminated BNC module

This module contains eight (8) unterminated Ethernet 10BASE-2 ports that use BNC connectors. If a port on this module is on one end of a 10BASE-2 (BNC) segment, you must provide an external 50 Ohm terminator.

Telnet and rlogin Sessions Timeout

A LANplex telnet or rlogin session can now be configured to timeout after a user-specified time interval of no activity. The interval range is from 30 minutes to 60 minutes. The new menu and the procedures for setting the telnet timeout and telnet interval are provided next.

Telnet Timeout

You can enable or disable your LANplex system to timeout after a user-specified time interval of no activity.

By default, the telnet timeout is disabled.

To enable or disable the telnet timeout:

1 From the top level of the Administration Console, enter:

system telnet timeOut

2 Enter the telnet timeout state (on or off).

Telnet Interval

You can set the telnet timeout interval to some number from 30 minutes to 60 minutes.

By default the telnet timeout interval is set to 30 minutes.

To set the telnet timeout interval:

1 From the top level of the Administration Console, enter:

system telnet interval

2 Enter the telnet timeout interval (30 minutes to 60 minutes).

Ethernet Ports Configurable as Express Switching Ports

10Mbit Ethernet ports may now be configured as backbone Express Switching ports.

Software Corrections

This section describes software corrections implemented at this release:

o Express mode can now be set when a single FDDI module is placed in the bottom slot of the system.

o The LANplex now detects transmitting IP stations that have been moved to a different port on the same subnet.

o Some previous releases of LANplex software required you to configure an IP interface for each underlying subnet. This is no longer required. You must still configure one IP interface for system management on all ports.

o When you define an interface, you assign IP addresses to ports. This defines the IP broadcast domain for frames sourced from the attached segment. Therefore, it is necessary to include all ports to avoid unintentional filtering of IP broadcasts. Refer to the section "Defining an Interface" in the Administration Console User Guide.

System Issues

The following system issues have been identified at this release:

o Roving analysis frames over a remote Fast Ethernet connection are truncated if greater than 1495 bytes.

o You may not install previous versions of the LANplex system software on a revision 8.0 motherboard after software revision 7.0.0 has been installed. To see if you have a revision 8.0 motherboard in your system:

-- At the top level of the Administration Console, enter: system display The first line of the display shows the product name and, in parentheses, the motherboard's revision number.

o Packet filters can access packet data up to byte 64 in the packet.

Known Problems

The following software problems are identified at this release:

o The FCS error statistics report inaccurate values on the Fast Ethernet port.

o When running large scripts, you may receive the follow message after the script is complete:

Received ftpCommand Quit not completed errno 421

To ensure the script has completed successfully, check to see that the last two commands in the script have been successfully completed.

o Performing a manual NV data restore causes configurations to be restored to slots that have been specified not to restore.

When restoring NV data, the system proposes a method of restoration based on restoration rules. You are prompted to load the proposal. Entering yes will restore the system NV data as proposed. Entering no will display the saved configuration for you to manually load.

SNMP MIB Files

SNMP MIB files are shipped with the LANplex system software as ASN.1 files. Copies of ASN.1 files are provided for each of the supported compilers.

Supported Versions

The SNMP MIB file names and the currently supported version of each MIB are listed here:

o bridge.mib --- Bridge MIB, RFC 1493

o ethernet.mib --- Ethernet MIB, RFC 1398

o fddiSmt7.mib --- FDDI SMT 7.3 MIB, RFC 1512

o lp.mib --- LANplex Systems MIB, version 1.2.0

o lpOpFddi.mib --- LANplex Optional FDDI MIB, version 1.2.0

o mib2.mib --- MIB-II, RFC 1213

Compiler Support

ASN.1 MIB files are provided for each of the MIB compilers listed in this section. Any warnings or exceptions related to a compiler are listed with it.

o SMIC (version 1.0.9)

o MOSY (version 7.1)

For the MIB file lpOpFddi.mib, the MOSY compiler reports warnings for counter names that do not end in "s". This report has no effect on the output produced by the MOSY compiler.

o HP Openview (version 3.1)

o mib2schema (with SunNet Manager version 2.0)

The MIB file fddiSmt7.mib produces the following warning messages when compiled using mib2schema:

Translating....
Warning: The following INDEX entries in fddimibMACCountersTable not resolved:
fddimibMACSMTIndex
fddimibMACIndex
Translation Complete.
Schema file in "fddiSmt7.mib.schema"
Oid file in "fddiSmt7.mib.oid"

These warning messages have no effect on the ability of SNM to use the schema file generated with versions SNM 2.0 or later.

Revision History

Table 1 provides a brief description of the previous releases of the LANplex 2500 software.

Table 1 Revision History for LANplex 2500 Software

Revision Number	Description of Release
5.1.0	Maintenance release Several bug fixes implemented
5.0.0	New features: o IPX Routing o AppleTalk Routing
4.3.0	New features: o UDP Helper o IPX Snap Translation
4.2.0	New features: o IP Routing implemented o Support for the AUI and BNC Option Modules
4.0.1	Maintenance release Several bug fixes implemented
4.0.0	First release of LANplex 2500 system software

© 3Com Corporation