S2D: Mellanox Prep – Connecting to the Switches via SSHv2

To update the Mellanox switch pair we can use the Web interface.

 

Or, we could use the command line.

But, just what utility should we use to do that?

For us, we’ve been using Tera Term for the longest time now.

It’s a simple utility to use and best of all, it’s free!

Now, it took a _long_ while to figure out how to get in via SSHv2! Note that in our case the two switches we have in our Proof-of-Concept (PoC) setup were demo units we ended up purchasing.

During the first SSH connection the switch should prompt to run the Mellanox configuration wizard which it did for  as seen below:

Here are the steps we took to get connected:

• HOSTNAME: 14 Characters or less (NETBIOS)
• IP Address: Static or DHCP Reserved
• DNS: Set up DNS A Record for HOSTNAME at IP
• Tera Term: Use challenge/response to log in
• 

We’re now off to get our switches set up for RoCE (RDMA over Converged Ethernet).

Philip Elder
Microsoft High Availability MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
Our Cloud Service
Twitter: @MPECSInc