3Com CoreBuilder 2500 Instruction Manual

http://www.3com.com/
CoreBuilder®2500
Software Installation and
Release Notes
Intelligent Switching Software
Version 8.1.2
Part No.10005340
Published March 1999

3Com Corporation
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Santa Clara, California
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CONTENTS
COREBUILDER 2500 INTELLIGENT SWITCHING SOFTWARE
VERSION 8.1.2
Overview 7
Before You Start 7
Upgrade Considerations 7
About Software Version 8.1.2 8
System Issues 10
Upgrade Considerations 11
Restrictions with ATM and 10BASE-FL Modules 11
Error Message for Unsupported Configurations 13
Customer Documentation 14
Software Installation Procedure 15
Software Files on the Software CD-ROM 15
Software Files on the 3Com Web Site 15
Software Installation Process Summary 16
Copying Software to a Hard Disk 16
Preinstallation Tasks 17
Installing the Diagnostic Software 18
Installing the System Software 20
Loading the Expander File 20
Loading the Compressed Image 22
Rebooting the System 23
Reloading the Compressed Image 23
SNMP MIB Files 25
Compiler Support 25
Release History 26

ANEW FEATURES IN INTELLIGENT SWITCHING SOFTWARE
VERSION 8.1.1
New Features 29
Support for the ATM Module 30
Physical Configuration 30
Features 30
Parameter Change in Interface Definition Procedure 30
Defining an IP Interface 31
Displaying Interface Information 31
Field Added to the Interface Display 32
New System Uptime Menu 32
New and Updated MIBs 33
Removing STP on a Per Port Basis 33
Telnet Timeout Interval Changed 33
BADMINISTERING ATM
ATM in Your Network 36
LAN Emulation and Classical IP 36
Before You Configure ATM 37
Checking ATM Link Status 37
Verifying Address Registration 38
Verifying Signaling 39
LAN Emulation 40
Creating an Emulated LAN 40
Eliminating Bridge Loops in ELAN Configurations 41
Configuring Clients to Join an Existing Emulated LAN 41
Defining LAN Emulation Clients 41
Administering LAN Emulation Clients 43
Displaying Information About LAN Emulation Clients 43
Modifying Information About LAN Emulation Clients 48
Removing a LAN Emulation Client 48
Administering UNI Management Entities 49
Displaying UME Information 49
Listing Network Prefixes and Addresses 51
Setting the UME Connect State 51
Setting the Virtual Path Identifier 52
Setting the Virtual Channel Identifier 52

Administering ATM Ports 53
Displaying Port Information 53
Labeling a Port 55
Listing Virtual Channel Connection Information 56
Listing General VCC Information 56
Listing VCC Transmit Information 57
Listing VCC Receive Information 58
CT
ECHNICAL SUPPORT
Online Technical Services 59
World Wide Web Site 59
3Com Knowledgebase Web Services 59
3Com FTP Site 60
3Com Bulletin Board Service 60
Access by Analog Modem 60
Access by Digital Modem 61
3Com Facts Automated Fax Service 61
Support from Your Network Supplier 61
Support from 3Com 61
Returning Products for Repair 63
Year 2000 Compliance 63

COREBUILDER 2500
INTELLIGENT SWITCHING
SOFTWARE VERSION 8.1.2
Overview These release notes describe CoreBuilder®2500 Intelligent Switching
software, version 8.1.2, from 3Com Corporation, dated February 19,
1999. This release supersedes LANplex®2500 Intelligent Switching
software, version 8.1.1, dated December 20, 1996.
In mid-1997, 3Com changed the name of the LANplex 2500 switch to
the CoreBuilder 2500 switch. In version 8.1.2, however, the LANplex
name and related abbreviations, such as lp and lpx, remain in the
filenames and displays on the Administration Console.
These release notes use the CoreBuilder name. If applicable for your
system, substitute LANplex for CoreBuilder throughout these release
notes.
Before You Start Before you install Intelligent Switching software version 8.1.2 on your
system, be sure to read this document in its entirety so that you
understand the release features, system issues, known problems,
supported configurations, and the software installation procedure.
Upgrade
Considerations
You can load Intelligent Switching software version 8.1.2 on any
LANplex 2500 or CoreBuilder 2500 system. Before you upgrade a system,
read “Upgrade Considerations” on page 11 for important information
and cautions.

8COREBUILDER 2500 INTELLIGENT SWITCHING SOFTWARE VERSION 8.1.2
About Software
Version 8.1.2
Intelligent Switching software version 8.1.2 is a maintenance release that
includes several patches (bug fixes). Table 1 lists the patch numbers and
descriptions.
Ta b l e 1 Patch Descriptions
Patch
No. Descriptions of Fixed Problems
5Added the ability to save nonvolatile configuration data from one system
and restore it to another system.
Fixed a problem with the nvdata save process and .nvd file extensions.
6Fixed a buffer leak problem with IPX NetBIOS in configurations that have
no outgoing interfaces.
Fixed a problem in which IPX NetBIOS network numbers were corrupted
when using FDDI 802.2 encapsulation on an IPX interface. This problem
affected the processing of an IPX NetBIOS frame and potentially caused it
to be dropped.
10 Fixed a problem with Fast Ethernet port lockups.
13 Fixed the FDDI Source Route frame problem with Panic 3 errors. Errors
were caused by frames with unicast DA, known DA, source route SA,
known SA, and frames in error.
Fixed a problem with multibuffer FDDI and ATM Panic 3 errors.
Fixed an error with the max VLAN condition that occurred while adding
VLANs.
15 Fixed the corruption problem with frames that required fragmentation
between FDDI and Ethernet.
17 Fixed filtering problems with ATM LECs.
18 Fixed a problem in which, if an IP VLAN was removed, then the remaining
IP VLANs could no longer communicate with each other through the
system.
19 Fixed a problem in which AUI and BNC ports hung when a certain amount
of collision activity occurred.
22 Revised the fix that dealt with frame corruption during FDDI-to-Fast
Ethernet or FDDI-to-Ethernet fragmentation.
Fixed a problem with the initialization and timing of ATM LECs.
23 Fixed a problem that occurred if an ATM multicast limit was set. If that limit
value was reached on an ATM interface, all future traffic through that
interface was dropped.
24 Fixed the Panic78 frame buffer overreturn problem that was caused by
Source Route frames in error. This fix is only for Transparent Bridge Mode.

About Software Version 8.1.2 9
25 Added functionality to disable ATM throttling to the Broadcast and
Unknown Server (BUS). A value indicates the number of unknown
addresses that can be sent to the BUS. A new value of "0" disables this
function.
Fixed a problem with console lockup that can occur after you enter a
Ctrl+C command at the Administration Console.
27 Fixed performance problems (slow responses, lost connections, and so on)
that occurred when the system accessed the ARP table via SNMP.
Fixed a memory leak that was caused by ARP frames.
Fixed an ARP-related problem that resulted in buffer loss.
28 Added support for LEC IDs of zero.
30 Fixed the cause of various cp panic messages when the system is
interoperating in an ATM environment.
31 Fixed a buffer leak that was caused by receiving packets that were larger
than legal Ethernet sizes.
32 Changed how passwords are handled in the system.
Changed the system response for certain MIB requests. When the MIB
objects swSysSystemConsoleWritePwd and
swSysSystemConsoleAdminPwd are requested by a management
entity, the system now returns the message NoSuchName, regardless of
the access level of the community string that you use to request these
objects.
33 Fixed a problem with Rlogin so that customers can use Rlogin instead of
Telnet. The use of Telnet causes small memory leaks of about 40 bytes per
session. If you Telnet to a system with a Rev 7 motherboard every 15
minutes on a 7x24 basis, then it would take approximately 24 days to start
receiving memPartAlloc error messages when you access the system for
information. This time would be longer than 24 days for systems with Rev
8 motherboards and shorter for systems with Rev 6 motherboards,
because they have different amounts of memory. A system reboot or
power cycle returns all memory that is lost through the leaking process.
34 Provided a software fix for a flash memory issue. In certain circumstances,
if the system was rebooted, the system indicated unrecoverable checksum
errors. This fix incorporates a new expander file to be used during the
software installation process.
Ta b l e 1 Patch Descriptions (continued)
Patch
No. Descriptions of Fixed Problems

10 COREBUILDER 2500 INTELLIGENT SWITCHING SOFTWARE VERSION 8.1.2
System Issues The following system issues have been identified for software
version 8.1.2:
■When a ping is initiated from the CoreBuilder 2500 system and is
destined to an ATM device that has a specific ATM adapter card,
multiple pings are required before communication is initiated. This
situation arises because of the amount of time required for the
adapter card to resolve ATM ARP.
■An ATM LEC cannot be configured as the backbone port in Express
Switching mode.
■After you set a system baseline, ATM LEC bridge statistics are
incorrect.
■You cannot set the ipDefaultTTL MIB variable.
■When the ILMI autoconfiguration option is enabled on a
CoreBuilder 7000 switch, it could take several minutes for a LEC
configured on a CoreBuilder 2500 to join an emulated LAN.
■Packet filters can access data only through byte 64 in the packet.
■Roving Analysis frames that are sent over a remote Fast Ethernet
connection are truncated if greater than 1495 bytes.
■Roving analysis is not supported on a system that has an ATM module
installed in the chassis.
■Remote roving analysis is not supported over a Fast Ethernet
connection that has the Spanning Tree Protocol enabled.
■Before you enable Express Switching mode, disable the backbone
port. Then, after you enable Express Switching mode, reenable the
backbone port.
■The system cannot route FDDI multicast frames that are larger than
1500 bytes (that is, frames that require fragmentation).
■The FCS error statistics field reports inaccurate values for Fast Ethernet
ports.