Basic Device Management

This chapter contains the following sections:

About Basic Device Management

This section provides information about basic device management.

Device Hostname

You can change the device hostname displayed in the command prompt from the default (switch) to another character string. When you give the device a unique hostname, you can easily identify the device from the command-line interface (CLI) prompt.

Message-of-the-Day Banner

The message-of-the-day (MOTD) banner displays before the user login prompt on the device. This message can contain any information that you want to display for users of the device.

Device Clock

If you do not synchronize your device with a valid outside timing mechanism, such as an NTP clock source, you can manually set the clock time when your device boots.

Clock Manager

The Cisco NX-OS device might contain clocks of different types that might need to be synchronized. These clocks are a part of various components (such as the supervisor, line card processors, or line cards), and each might be using a different protocol.

The clock manager provides a way to synchronize these different clocks.

Time Zone and Summer Time (Daylight Saving Time)

You can configure the time zone and summer time (daylight saving time) setting for your device. These values offset the clock time from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). UTC is International Atomic Time (TAI) with leap seconds added periodically to compensate for the Earth's slowing rotation. UTC was formerly called Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

User Sessions

You can display the active user session on your device. You can also send messages to the user sessions. For more information about managing user sessions and accounts, see the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS Security Configuration Guide.

Licensing Requirements for Basic Device Management

The following table shows the licensing requirements for this feature:

Product

License Requirement

Cisco NX-OS

Basic device management requires no license. Any feature not included in a license package is bundled with the nx-os image and is provided at no extra charge to you. For a complete explanation of the Cisco NX-OS licensing scheme, see the Cisco NX-OS Licensing Guide.

Default Settings for Basic Device Parameters

This table lists the default settings for basic device parameters.

Table 1  Default Basic Device Parameters

Parameters

Default

MOTD banner text

User Access Verification

Clock time zone

UTC

Changing the Device Hostname

You can change the device hostname displayed in the command prompt from the default (switch) to another character string.

Procedure
     Command or ActionPurpose
    Step 1 configure terminal


    Example: 
    switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#
     

    Enters global configuration mode.

     
    Step 2 {hostname | switchname} name


    Example:

    Using the hostname command: 

    switch(config)# hostname Engineering1
Engineering1(config)#

    Using the switchname command: 

    Engineering1(config)# switchname Engineering2
Engineering2(config)#
     

    Changes the device hostname. The name argument is alphanumeric, case sensitive, and has a maximum length of 32 characters. The default is switch.

    Note   

    The switchname command performs the same function as the hostname command.

     
    Step 3 exit


    Example: 
    Engineering2(config)# exit
Engineering2#
     

    Exits global configuration mode.

     
    Step 4 copy running-config startup-config


    Example: 
    Engineering2# copy running-config startup-config
          		(Optional)

    Copies the running configuration to the startup configuration.

     

    Configuring the MOTD Banner

    You can configure the MOTD to display before the login prompt on the terminal when a user logs in. The MOTD banner has the following characteristics:

    • Maximum of 80 characters per line

    • Maximum of 40 lines

    Procedure
       Command or ActionPurpose
      Step 1 configure terminal


      Example: 
      switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#
       

      Enters global configuration mode.

       
      Step 2 banner motd delimiting-character message delimiting-character


      Example: 
      switch(config)# banner motd #Welcome to the Switch#
switch(config)#
       

      Configures the MOTD banner. Do not use the delimiting-character in the message text.

      Note   

      Do not use " or % as a delimiting character.

       
      Step 3 exit


      Example: 
      switch(config)# exit
switch#
       

      Exits global configuration mode.

       
      Step 4 show banner motd


      Example: 
      switch# show banner motd
              		(Optional)

      Displays the configured MOTD banner.

       
      Step 5 copy running-config startup-config


      Example: 
      switch# copy running-config startup-config
              		(Optional)

      Copies the running configuration to the startup configuration.

       

      Configuring the Time Zone

      You can configure the time zone to offset the device clock time from UTC.

      Procedure
         Command or ActionPurpose
        Step 1 configure terminal


        Example: 
        switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#
         

        Enters global configuration mode.

         
        Step 2 clock timezone zone-name offset-hours offset-minutes


        Example: 
        switch(config)# clock timezone EST -5 0
         

        Configures the time zone. The zone-name argument is a 3-character string for the time zone acronym (for example, PST or EST). The offset-hours argument is the offset from the UTC and the range is from –23 to 23 hours. The range for the offset-minutes argument is from 0 to 59 minutes.

         
        Step 3 exit


        Example: 
        switch(config)# exit
switch#
         

        Exits global configuration mode.

         
        Step 4 show clock


        Example: 
        switch# show clock
                  		(Optional)

        Displays the time and time zone.

         
        Step 5 copy running-config startup-config


        Example: 
        switch# copy running-config startup-config
                  		(Optional)

        Copies the running configuration to the startup configuration.

         

        Configuring Summer Time (Daylight Saving Time)

        You can configure when summer time, or daylight saving time, is in effect for the device and the offset in minutes.

        Procedure
           Command or ActionPurpose
          Step 1 configure terminal


          Example: 
          switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#
           

          Enters global configuration mode.

           
          Step 2 clock summer-time zone-name start-week start-day start-month start-time end-week end-day end-month end-time offset-minutes


          Example: 
          switch(config)# clock summer-time PDT 
1 Sunday March 02:00 1 Sunday 
November 02:00 60
           

          Configures summer time or daylight saving time.

          The zone-name argument is a three character string for the time zone acronym (for example, PST and EST).

          The values for the start-day and end-day arguments are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

          The values for the start-month and end-month arguments are January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December.

          The value for the start-time and end-time arguments are in the format hh:mm.

          The range for the offset-minutes argument is from 0 to 1440 minutes.

           
          Step 3 exit


          Example: 
          switch(config)# exit
switch#
           

          Exits global configuration mode.

           
          Step 4 show clock detail


          Example: 
          switch(config)# show clock detail
                      		(Optional)

          Displays the configured MOTD banner.

           
          Step 5 copy running-config startup-config


          Example: 
          switch# copy running-config startup-config
                      		(Optional)

          Copies the running configuration to the startup configuration.

           

          Manually Setting the Device Clock

          You can set the clock manually if your device cannot access a remote time source.

          Before You Begin

          Configure the time zone.

          Procedure
             Command or ActionPurpose
            Step 1 clock set time day month year


            Example: 
            switch# clock set 15:00:00 30 May 2013
Fri May 30 15:14:00 PDT 2013
             

            Configures the device clock.

            The format for the time argument is hh:mm:ss.

            The range for the day argument is from 1 to 31.

            The values for the month argument are January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December.

            The range for the year argument is from 2000 to 2030.

             
            Step 2 show clock


            Example: 
            switch(config)# show clock
                          		(Optional)

            Displays the current clock value.

             
            Related Tasks
            Configuring the Time Zone

            Setting the Clock Manager

            You can configure the clock manager to synchronize all the clocks of the components in the Cisco Nexus device.

            Procedure
               Command or ActionPurpose
              Step 1 clock protocol protocol


              Example: 
              switch# clock protocol ntp
               

              Configures the clock manager.

              The values for the protocol argument are ntp and none.

              The following describes the values:

              • ntp—Synchronizes clocks with Network Time Protocol (NTP).

              • none—Uses clock set HH:MM:SS to set the supervisor clock.

                Note   

                When none is used, the clock must be configured.

                Note   

                Once the protocol is configured, the clock must use that protocol.

               
              Step 2 show run clock_manager


              Example: 
              switch# show run clock_manager
                              		(Optional)

              Displays the configuration of the clock manager.

               

              Managing Users

              You can display information about users logged into the device and send messages to those users.

              Displaying Information about the User Sessions

              You can display information about the user session on the device.

              Procedure
                 Command or ActionPurpose
                Step 1 show users


                Example: 
                switch# show users
                 

                Displays the user sessions.

                 

                Sending a Message to Users

                You can send a message to active users currently using the device CLI.

                Procedure
                   Command or ActionPurpose
                  Step 1 show users


                  Example: 
                  switch# show users
                                      		(Optional)

                  Displays the active user sessions.

                   
                  Step 2 send [session line] message-text


                  Example: 
                  switch# send Reloading the device is 10 minutes!
                   

                  Sends a message to all active users or to a specific user. The message can be up to 80 alphanumeric characters and is case sensitive.

                   

                  Verifying the Device Configuration

                  To verify the configuration after bootstrapping the device using POAP, use one of the following commands:

                  Command

                  Purpose

                  show running-config

                  Displays the running configuration.

                  show startup-config

                  Displays the startup configuration.

                  Additional References for Basic Device Management

                  You can find additional information related to basic device management.

                  Related Documents for Basic Device Management

                  Related Topic

                  Document Title

                  Licensing

                  Cisco NX-OS Licensing Guide