Dell EMC SmartFabric OS10 User Guide Release 10.5.0

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Operating modes

The MX9116n Fabric Switching Engine and the MX5108n Ethernet Switch operate in Full Switch and SmartFabric modes. A SmartFabric switch is automatically placed in SmartFabric mode. A switch that is not part of a SmartFabric is automatically placed in Full Switch mode. To verify the currently configured mode, use the show switch-operating-mode command.

OS10# show switch-operating-mode
Switch-Operating-Mode : Smart Fabric Mode

To change the mode, use the OpenManage Enterprise - Modular (OME-Modular) user interface. You cannot change the mode using the OS10 CLI. For more information, see the Dell EMC OpenManage Enterprise - Modular User's Guide — Ethernet IO Modules chapter.

Full Switch mode

PowerEdge MX Ethernet switches operate in Full Switch mode by default. In Full Switch mode, all supported OS10 CLI commands and features that the hardware supports are available.

You can also perform certain tasks using the OpenManage Enterprise - Modular interface, including:

Configure hostname and IP management protocols, such as SNMP and NTP.
Set the port status up or down.
Monitor system logs, alerts, and events.
Update and manage the firmware.
View the physical topology.
Use power control.

SmartFabric mode

In SmartFabric mode, the PowerEdge MX switches operate as Layer 2 I/O aggregation devices. The OpenManage Enterprise - Modular interface supports most switch configuration settings. Use SmartFabric mode to configure your switch.

SmartFabric mode supports all OS10 show commands and the following subset of CLI configuration commands: Other CLI configuration commands are not available.

clock — Configure clock parameters.
end — Exit to EXEC mode.
exit — Exit from the current mode
help — Display available commands.
hostname — Set the system hostname.
interface — Configure the management interface, a VLAN interface, or a range of interfaces.
ip name-server — Configure the IP address of a name server; up to three name servers are supported.
logging — Configure system logging.
management route — Configure the IPv4 or IPv6 management route.
no — Delete or disable commands in Configuration mode.
ntp — Configure the network time protocol.
snmp-server — Configure the SNMP server.
spanning-tree
- disable — Disable spanning tree globally.
- mac-flush-timer — Set the time used to flush MAC address entries.
- mode — Enable a spanning-tree mode, such as RSTP or MST.
- mst — Configure multiple spanning-tree (MST) mode.
- rstp — Configure rapid spanning-tree protocol (RSTP) mode.
- vlan — Configure spanning-tree on a VLAN range.
username — Create or modify user credentials.
SupportAssist — Configure SupportAssist related settings.
Security — Configure features corresponding to network security.
Fibre Channel — Configure features corresponding to fibre channel interfaces.

Table 1. Differences between operating modesDifferences between operating modes
Full Switch mode	SmartFabric mode
All configuration changes you save are retained after you reload the switch.	Only the configuration changes that you make using these OS10 administrative commands (supported in both modes) are saved and retained. All other CLI configuration commands are disabled. clock hostname ip name-server logging management route ntp snmp-server spanning-tree username The OpenManage Enterprise - Modular console manages the dataplane configuration.
All switch interfaces are assigned to VLAN 1 by default, and are in the same L2 bridge domain.	Although front-panel port interfaces operate in L2 mode by default, L2 bridging is disabled.
All configuration changes are saved in the running configuration by default. To display the current configuration, use the show running-configuration command.	Verify configuration changes using feature-specific show commands, such as show interface and show vlan, instead of show running-configuration.