DellPowerConnectSwitches

Our linux cluster is running over Gigabit Ethernet on a set of Dell Poweconnect 5424 managed switches. They come out of the box with some deficiencies, mainly that they eat the PXE boot requests from the nodes, making installing the cluster impossible.

We initially set them up to have fixed IP addresses on a 192.168 network, but I am now setting them back to DHCP, managing the switches from the espresso frontend.

To set the switch back to dhcp mode, connect via a serial terminal, and type the following:

  config
  interface vlan 1
  no ip address
  ip address dhcp
  exit
  no ip default
  end
  write running-config startup-config

Then set up insert-ethers on the front end and wait for a network switch. Now reset the switch, it should be assigned a name like network-0-X and automatically configured.

To fix the PXE boot issue, the simplest solution is to point a web browser at the switch, then go to the spanning-tree configuration of the ports. The old version of the firmware has an option called "Fast Link" which must be enabled. The new firmware calls it "edge port".

If you see the old firmware, upgrade over the web.