If you’re new to the HPE FlexNet line of network hardware, I strongly suggest downloading the command reference guides from HPE’s support portal. They are very well organized and easy to follow.
Here’s a link to the HPE Support Center – http://h20565.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc
Basic Configuration Commands
Let’s get started with some basic configuration commands. Out of the box, the switch has no real configuration. It’ll switch packets between interfaces, but that’s about it. So let’s make changes to fit our environment. But first, you’ll need to make a console connection to the switch. Using the console cable that came with the switch, connect the RJ-45 end to the console port on the switch and the other end to your computer (you’ll most likely need an RS-232 to USB adapter). Fire up PuTTY, or your favorite serial console client and start a session.
First, let’s set the date and time.
<HP> clock datetime 12:39:59 08/30/2017
Now we’ll enter the system-view mode and change the hostname to match our naming convention.
<HP> system-view
[HP] sysname GM-SW001
[GM-SW001]
Our switch now has the correct date and time, and it has a meaningful name which follows our defined naming convention standards. The next step is to define our management VLAN and assign a management interface IP address.
Create the management VLAN:
[GM-SW001] vlan 256
description Management VLAN
quit
Create the virtual interface for the management VLAN:
[GM-SW001] int vlan 256
ip address 10.129.65.105 255.255.255.0
quit
Now that our switch has a management interface, let’s set some security parameters to protect it from unauthorized changes. Here we’ll set the super password, create a local administrative user and set the allowed service types for that user. I strongly encourage you to document your passwords in a secure manner. I suggest using a password manager such as KeePass, Dashlane, or ManageEngine Password Manager Pro.
[GM-SW001] super password level 3 cipher ******
[GM-SW001] local-user admin
[GM-SW001] auth level 3
[GM-SW001] service-type term
[GM-SW001] service-type web
[GM-SW001] service-type ssh
[GM-SW001] password cipher ******
Now we’ll configure the user interfaces to allow access and set their idle timeouts.
[GM-SW001] user-int aux 0 1
authentication-mode scheme
idle 30 0
[GM-SW001] user-int vty 0 15
authentication-mode scheme
idle 30 0
Let’s enable SSH so we can remotely manage the switch.
[GM-SW001] ssh server enable
[GM-SW001] public-key local create rsa
And lastly, let’s enable the HTTPS web interface
[GM-SW001] ip https enable