Brocade Zoning Basic Commands

Zoning Brocade switches - Tutorial
This tutorial provides a quick walk-through of setting up zoning on a Brocade switch. It is not a
comprehensive review of the topic, but it may give you some familiarity with the commands
and syntax necessary to set up zoning in the Brocade environment.
What is zoning?
Zoning provides a way to logically group together the components of a SAN. Ports, interfaces
and even switches themselves can be grouped together into configurations that work together
to make SANs more orderly and less daunting.
Managing configurations
All zoning in the Brocade environment is done within configurations. A configuration contains

aliases and zones.
An alias is a tool to simplify repetitive port numbers or WWN entries into an easy-to-remember
name. For instance: rather than typing in the WWN "50:00:0e:10:00:00:00:17" in zoning
operations, one could use an alias to identify the WWN as being "DF350_intfc_0". Aliases can
also be used to identify multiple ports or WWNs by a single name. All zoning commands accept
aliases as valid parameters.
A zone is a set of devices that access one another. All devices connected to a Fabric may be
configured into one or more zones. Devices that are in the same zone can see each other, devices
that are in different zones can not.
Commands used in this example
alicreate : Creates new zone aliases. Assigns a name to a list of alias members. Alias members
can include port numbers (for example; 1,2 indicates switch 1, port 2) or WorldWide? names. If
there are multiple alias members, all members must be separated by semicolons within the list
of alias members.
example : alicreate "df350_intfc_0", "50:00:0e:10:00:00:00:17"
zonecreate : Groups a list of zone members under a zone name. Zone members can include
port numbers,WorldWide? names, or aliases created by the alicreate command. Multiple zone
members must be separated by semicolons within the list of zone members.
example : zonecreate "c2zone", "snowtop_c2; df350_intfc_1"

cfgcreate : Assigns a configuration name to a list of configuration members. The configuration
members are all zones Multiple configuration members are separated by semicolons.
example : cfgcreate "c2config", "c2zone"
cfgenable : Checks a specified configuration for errors and makes it the active configuration of
the switch. Note: No zoning is applied to the switch until the cfgenable command completes
successfully. If there is already an active configuration, cfgenable will replace the active
configuration with the specified configuration.
example : cfgenable "c2config"
cfgdisable : Deactivates a specified configuration
example : cfgdisable "c2config"
cfgsave : Saves zoning information to switch's flash memory. Configuration will not survive a
reboot of the switch until the configuration is saved.
cfgclear : Deactivates and removes all zoning information from active memory. To remove a
configuration from flash memory, run cfgsave after cfgclear.
zoneshow : Shows zoning configuration.
switchshow : Shows overall configuration of switch. WWNs, login types (F-port, L-Port etc.)
port status and some general switch info show up in switchshow.
Setting up a zoning configuration
The following example sets up a switch so that the LUNs presented on controller 0 of a DF350
Fibre unit are presented either to controller 2 or controller 3 of a Sun Solaris host depending on
which configuration is activated.
Please note : If ANY ports on a switch are in an active zone configuration, ALL ports on the
switch MUST be zoned in order to be useable. Since this example only uses ports 4-7 of the
switch, ports 0-3 would not be useable until they were included in the active zoning
configuration.
'Another note : Usually it is best to zone by WWN, rather than by port number. That way, if a
port goes bad the user just has to move the affected interface cable to a different port on the
switch and the zoning should still be in place.
login: admin
Password:
sw2400_68:admin> switchshow
switchName: sw2400_68
switchType: 3.2
switchState: Online
switchRole: Principal
switchDomain: 1
switchId: fffc01
switchWwn: 10:00:00:60:69:20:13:c0
port 0: sw No_Light
port 1: sw No_Light
port 2: sw No_Light
port 3: sw No_Light
port 4: sw Online F-Port 50:00:0e:10:00:00:00:5d
port 5: sw Online F-Port 50:00:0e:10:00:00:00:17
port 6: sw Online F-Port 20:00:00:e0:69:c0:08:23
port 7: sw Online F-Port 20:00:00:e0:69:c0:08:45
sw2400_68:admin> alicreate "df350_intfc_0", "50:00:0e:10:00:00:00:17"
sw2400_68:admin> alicreate "df350_intfc_1", "50:00:0e:10:00:00:00:5d"
sw2400_68:admin> alicreate "snowtop_c2", "20:00:00:e0:69:c0:08:45"
sw2400_68:admin> alicreate "snowtop_c3", "20:00:00:e0:69:c0:08:23"
sw2400_68:admin> zoneshow
Defined configuration:
alias: df350_intfc_0
50:00:0e:10:00:00:00:17
50:00:0e:10:00:00:00:5d
alias: snowtop_c2
20:00:00:e0:69:c0:08:45
alias: snowtop_c3
20:00:00:e0:69:c0:08:23
Effective configuration:
no configuration in effect
sw2400_68:admin> zonecreate "c2zone", "snowtop_c2; df350_intfc_1"

sw2400_68:admin> zonecreate "c3zone", "snowtop_c3; df350_intfc_1"
zone: c2zone snowtop_c2; df350_intfc_1
50:00:0e:10:00:00:00:17
50:00:0e:10:00:00:00:5d
alias: snowtop_c2
20:00:00:e0:69:c0:08:45
alias: snowtop_c3
20:00:00:e0:69:c0:08:23
sw2400_68:admin> cfgcreate "c2config", "c2zone"

sw2400_68:admin> cfgcreate "c3config", "c3zone"
cfg: c2config
c2zone
cfg: c3config
c3zone
50:00:0e:10:00:00:00:17
50:00:0e:10:00:00:00:5d
alias: snowtop_c2
20:00:00:e0:69:c0:08:45
alias: snowtop_c3
20:00:00:e0:69:c0:08:23
sw2400_68:admin> cfgenable "c2zone"

error: "c2zone" is not a configuration
sw2400_68:admin> cfgenable "c2config"
zone config "c2config" is in effect
cfg: c2config
c2zone
cfg: c3config
c3zone
50:00:0e:10:00:00:00:17
50:00:0e:10:00:00:00:5d
alias: snowtop_c2
20:00:00:e0:69:c0:08:45
alias: snowtop_c3
20:00:00:e0:69:c0:08:23
cfg: c2config
zone: c2zone 20:00:00:e0:69:c0:08:45
50:00:0e:10:00:00:00:5d
What does this configuration look like on the Sun Solaris host?
After a reconfiguration boot, this is what the host sees when the " c2config " configuration is
used on the switch.
# format
Searching for disks...done
c2t0d1: configured with capacity of 32.45GB

AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:

0. c0t0d0 <SUN9.0G cyl 4924 alt 2 hd 27 sec 133>
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/sd@0,0
1. c2t0d0 <HITACHI-DF350F-0000 cyl 17 alt 2 hd 8 sec 65>
/pci@6,4000/fibre-channel@2/sd@0,0
Changing the configuration
To change the configuration, simply log into the switch and activate the " c3config "
configuration that we created earlier.
sw2400_68:admin> cfgenable "c3config"

zone config "c3config" is in effect
After a reconfiguration boot, the Sun Solaris host now sees the new configuration. The LUNs
that used to be presented to controller 2 are now presented to controller 3:
# format
Searching for disks...done

AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:

0. c0t0d0 <SUN9.0G cyl 4924 alt 2 hd 27 sec 133>
/pci@1f,4000/scsi@3/sd@0,0
Here are the basics to add a new device to a SAN fabric. I’m working with a Brocade Silkworm
4900. In this scenario, I replaced a server that connects to a tape library for backup.
Terminology
HBA - Host Bus Adapter, which in this case, refers to the Fibre Channel Card. In LAN
networking, it’s analogous to an Ethernet card.
WWN - World Wide Name, a unique 8-byte number identifying the HBA. In Ethernet
networking, it’s analogous to the MAC address.
FC Zone - Fibre Channel Zone, a partitioned subset of the fabric. Members of a zone are
allowed to communicate with each other, but devices are not allowed to communicate across
zones. An FC Zone is loosely analogous to a VLAN.
Steps to Zone Brocade Switch

1. Plug in the FC Connector into an open port on the switch.
2. Login to the server and verify the HBA connection. It should see the switch but not the
storage device.
3. Login to the Brocade Switch GUI interface. You’ll need Java enabled on your browser.
4. Check the Brocade Switch Port.
1. On the visual depiction of the switch, click on the port where you plugged in the
FC connector.
2. The Port Administration Services screen should pop up. You’ll need to enable the
pop-up.
3. Verify that the Port Status is “Online”. Note the port number.
4. Close the Port Administration Services screen.
5. Find the WWN of your new device
1. Navigate back to the original GUI page.
2. Select Zone Admin, an icon on the bottom left of the screen. It looks like two
squares and a rectangle.
3. Expand the Ports & Attaching Devices under the Member Selection List.
4. Expand the appropriate port number. Note the attached WWN.
6. Create a new alias for this device
1. Click New Alias button
2. Follow menu instructions
7. Add the appropriate WWN to the alias
1. Select your new device name from the Name drop down menu
2. Expand the WWNs under Member Selection List
3. Highlight the appropriate WWN
4. Select Add Member
8. Add the alias to the appropriate zone
1. Select the Zone tab
2. Select the appropriate zone from the Name drop down menu
3. Select the appropriate alias from the Member Selection List
4. Click Add Member
9. Ensure that the zone is in Zone Config in the Zone Config tab
10. Save your changes by selecting ZoningActions -> Enable Config
11. Login back in to the server to verify. It should now see the storage devices.

Brocade Zoning Basic Commands

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Zoning Brocade switches - Tutorial

All zoning in the Brocade environment is done within configurations. A configuration contains

Commands used in this example

example : alicreate "df350_intfc_0", "50:00:0e:10:00:00:00:17"

example : zonecreate "c2zone", "snowtop_c2; df350_intfc_1"

example : cfgcreate "c2config", "c2zone"

example : cfgenable "c2config"

cfgdisable : Deactivates a specified configuration

example : cfgdisable "c2config"

zoneshow : Shows zoning configuration.

Setting up a zoning configuration

sw2400_68:admin> zonecreate "c2zone", "snowtop_c2; df350_intfc_1"

sw2400_68:admin> cfgcreate "c2config", "c2zone"

sw2400_68:admin> cfgenable "c2zone"

c2t0d1: configured with capacity of 32.45GB

AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:

Changing the configuration

sw2400_68:admin> cfgenable "c3config"

c3t0d1: configured with capacity of 32.45GB

AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:

Steps to Zone Brocade Switch

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