Avocent AlterPath Cyclades ACS48 Setup

While looking for an inexpensive console switch for my lab, I ran across a few recommendations for the Cyclades line, so I purchased a pair of Cyclades ACS48's on eBay. They arrived after a few days and with a little troubleshooting I was able to get them up and working. Since these devices are over 10 years old, documentation and firmware files are a little hard to come by, so I've added them to the notes below.

Single user mode

In order to change the password or reset to factory defaults, you'll need to be connected to the console port of the ACS. During the boot process, type the word " single" after the Linux/PPC load: root=/dev/ram ramdisk=0x0001F000 including the space. This will enter single user mode which will allow you to reset the password or set the ACS to factory defaults. 

 Linux/PPC load: root=/dev/ram ramdisk=0x0001F000 single

 ...

 [root@(none) /]#


Password Reset

The default username and password are root and tslinux, but that may not be the case when buying used.

 [root@(none) /]# passwd

 New password: newpassword

 Re-enter new password: newpassword

 Password changed

 [root@(none) /]# saveconf

 Checking the configuration file list…

 Compressing configuration files into /tmp/saving_config.tar.gz …  done. 

 Saving configuration files to flash … done.

 [root@(none) /]# reboot

Reset to Factory Defaults

To restore the setting to factory default either type echo > /proc/flash/script (older firmware) or defconf (newer firmware) depending on the version of code your running.

 [root@(none) /]# echo > /proc/flash/script
 [root@(none) /]# reboot


Firmware Upgrades & Documentation

The latest firmware I was able to locate was from 2014 (3.3.0.16) and still on Avocent's FTP site. You can also locate user manuals and other files from this FTP site.

 Firmware: ftp://ftp.avocent.com/public/product-upgrades/$ds1800/ACS/ACS%20Classic%203.3.0-16/
 Documentation: ftp://ftp.avocent.com/public/product-upgrades/$ds1800/ACS/ACS%203.2.0/

A company by the name of Vertiv is the current owner of the Cyclades line, they also host firmware and some documentation on their site as well.

You can upgrade the firmware through the ACS's web interface under Administration > Upgrade Firmware. You'll need to upload the .bin file to an FTP site in order to transfer it to the ACS. Once the firmware have been uploaded, you'll need to manually reboot the ACS for the new firmware to be installed.

Cabling

In order to console into Cisco devices from the ACS you'll need to use rollover cables. Below is a cabling diagram if you need to make your own.

Remote Console Access

During the initial setup you can choose to set all ports to telnet, ssh, etc. To keep it simple, I setup my ACS ports for telnet access since it's just for lab use and not in a production environment. By default, all physical ports are configured with a corresponding TCP port of 7001-7048. If you need to make changes to the port setup, just go to Ports > Physical Ports > Modify Selected Ports. From there you can select the method of access and the port number used for access. Below I setup port 2 for telnet access over TCP port 7002.

To access the console ports remotely, open your favorite telnet application and enter the IP of the ACS and the TCP port of the corresponding console port, e.g. 192.168.1.1:7002 for console port 2.

Format and Upgrade Juniper EX4200

While repurposing some old Juniper switches I found the easiest way of upgrading them was just to format and install the new image.

What you need:

• USB drive formatted as FAT32
• JUNOS image, "jinstall-ex-4200-15.1R4.6-domestic-signed.tgz" is used in this example

Copy the JUNOS file to the USB drive and connect the USB drive to the EX switch. While connected to the console, reboot the switch and press the space bar when prompted to get to the loader> prompt.

    Hit [Enter] to boot immediately, or space bar for command prompt.

Enter the following command to start the format and upgrade:

   loader>install --format file:///jinstall-ex-4200-15.1R4.6-domestic-signed.tgz

Once the format and upgrade is complete (around 15 minutes) you'll see a login prompt which you can login as root with no password. From there you can initiate the ezsetup or enter the cli.

    mgd: ----------------------------------------------------------
    mgd: Please login as 'root'. No password is required.
    mgd: To start Initial Setup, type 'ezsetup' at the JUNOS prompt.
    mgd: To start JUNOS CLI, type 'cli' at the JUNOS prompt.
    mgd: ----------------------------------------------------------
    .
    .
    .
    Login:

NEST Cam PoE Setup

Having just received my new NEST Cam to replace my existing Dropcam Pro, I wanted to update my  USB over PoE setup to work with my existing PoE switch (Cisco SD208P). The previous setup used a 24v PoE to USB setup which required it's own power adapter and was not 802.3af compatible. This time around I found several 802.3af solutions:

• ArmorActive USB over PoE Adapter, $99 (too much)
• Vidabox VidaPower CAT5 to USB Power Adapter, $99 (too much)
• Tyson Power POE-MSPLT-USB PoE to USB Converter, $32.95 (Sold!)

All three adapters are 802.3af and 802.3at compliant and provide 12-15W output via USB. That is enough to power most current smartphones, tablets, and USB cameras.

Below is a picture of the basic test setup I used before installing the camera in my entryway.

Front & back of Tycon Power POE-MSPLT-USB. Adapter has a handy green LED to let you know if the adapter is receiving PoE.

After confirming that this setup would work, I replaced my Dropcam Pro with the NEST Cam in the entryway.

VMware vSphere Client for Mac!?

Edit: Check out the new ESXi HTML 5 Embedded Host Client here, also included in ESXi 6.0u2! (3/24/2016)

I found this little nugget on YouTube while researching ESXi 6.0. A beta tester recorded the installation of ESXi 6.0 beta and when they went to the vSphere Client download page I was shocked to see something called "vSphere Host Client Installer for Mac".

After looking into this a little further I discovered that it was only available on a specific beta release, VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.0.0-1921158.x86_64.iso to be exact. I obtained a copy, through the magic that is Google search, and created a ESXi 6.0.0-1921158 VM in Fusion so that I could get the installer links.

The ESXi welcome page includes the following two links to the vSphere Host Client Installers:

Edit: Links are no longer valid (6/24/2015)

http://vsphereclient.vmware.com/vspherehostclient/VMware-hostclient-mac-6.0.0.pkg
http://vsphereclient.vmware.com/vspherehostclient/VMware-hostclient-win-6.0.0.zip

I downloaded and installed the VMware Host Client and was able to connect to the 6.0.0-1921158 beta host and to my 5.5u2 lab host.

INE's Cisco Mega Show Commands

I discovered these commands while watching a YouTube video on the CCIE R&S Lab and thought they would be of great use during the troubleshooting portion of the lab and in everyday troubleshooting.

   1.  Show IP Protocols Summary - shows all IP routing processes on the router

       router#show ip protocols summary
      Index Process Name
      0       connected
      1       static
      2       BGP 64000

   2. Show run | i access-list|class-map|policy-map|security|shutdown|control-plane - displays a key list of information from the router's configuration

       router#sho run | i access-list|class-map|policy-map|security|shutdown|control-plane
       class-map match-any Gold
       class-map match-any AF4
       class-map match-any AF3
       class-map match-any AF2
       policy-map BEST
        shutdown
       ip access-list extended MY-NETWORK-ACCESS
       access-list 101 permit ip host 192.168.0.20 any
       access-list 140 permit udp any any tos 5
       snmp-server system-shutdown

   3.  Ping 255.255.255.255 - pings all next-hop addresses on the router, great for checking connectivity

       router#ping 255.255.255.255
       Reply to request 0 from 192.168.1.2, 4 ms
       Reply to request 0 from 32.151.189.27, 36 ms
       Reply to request 1 from 192.168.1.2, 1 ms
       Reply to request 1 from 32.151.189.27, 16 ms
       Reply to request 2 from 192.168.1.2, 1 ms
       Reply to request 2 from 32.151.189.27, 16 ms
       Reply to request 3 from 192.168.1.2, 1 ms
       Reply to request 3 from 32.151.189.27, 80 ms
       Reply to request 4 from 192.168.1.2, 1 ms
       Reply to request 4 from 32.151.189.27, 48 ms

VMware Fusion 7 Crashes on Startup

Today I discovered that Fusion may not start if you are behind an Internet proxy and Fusion is unable to check for updates, which is the default setting. Sadly, this took me about a half-hour to figure out, when I was trying to startup Fusion to get my work PC up and running. The Fusion window would start to appear and then just disappear. I deleted Fusion, re-installed it, but experienced the same results, because by default Fusion checks for updates upon starting up and I was behind an Internet proxy (corporate office). Being used to working remotely with no proxy involved, this made the situation very confusing, since when I typically go into the office, Fusion is already running.

To avoid this behavior, go to VMware Fusion > Preferences and un-check Automatically check for updates or get out from behind the internet proxy until Fusion has started.

I discovered the source of this issue in this post on the VMware Community forum.

VMware Fusion 7 Copy & Paste, Drag & Drop, and Unity Issue

I use a client's Windows 7 laptop as my work PC that I long ago P2V'd into a Parallels 8 VM. All was going right in the world when I decided that with the introduction of VMware Fusion 7 Pro's ability to access ESXi hosts, like the non-existant VMware client for MAC, this would be my new hypervisor of choice. I knew of Fusion's (or Windows 7) lack of USB 3.0 support, but I figured I could live without it as long I could copy & paste between guest and host. After a messy "import" of my Parallels VM to Fusion, I was able to finally sort everything out except the following:

• Copy & paste did not work
• Drag & drop did not work
• Unity was not working

After following the advice in KB1014988 and KB1027884, the issues still persisted and I finally opened a ticket with VMware. After spending a couple of hours on a WebEx with VMware support, they finally discovered a solution. User Account Control (UAC) was preventing this functionality. After dropping it to "Never notify" and rebooting, Unity was enabled and I was able to copy & paste and drag & drop between the guest and host.

You can perform this fix by going to Control Panel > User Accounts > Change User Account Control settings and setting the slider bar to the bottom setting of Never notify. After updating this setting, reboot for the change to take effect.

After the issue was resolved, and I had a better idea as to what was causing the issue, I came across KB1019058 which addresses the issue of Unity and UAC. I was also informed that Windows Firewall could also cause issues with Unity, but that was not my case.