Switch - Dell PowerConnect 5524 Initial Setup

This article will guide us on how to quickly setup a Dell switch powerconnect 5524.

0) Factory Reset

First thing, we will erase all configurations from the device.

console# delete startup-config
console# reload

1) Enable Password

First, let's enable password authentication for elevated privileges console access.

console> enable
console# configure
console(config)# enable password level 1 YOUR_PASSWORD
console(config)# enable password level 15 YOUR_PASSWORD

Next time we try to login to the elevated privileges console we will be prompted with a password box.

console> enable 
Password:********
01-Oct-2006 16:57:15 %AAA-I-CONNECT: User CLI session for user unKnown over console , source 0.0.0.0 destination  0.0.0.0 ACCEPTED

2) Adding Users

Let's add an administrator user.

console# show users accounts 

   UserName    Privilege  Password        Lockout   
                          Expiry date               
-------------- --------- -------------- ----------- 

console# configure
console(config)# username admin privilege 15 password YOUR_PASSWORD

console(config)# do show users accounts 

   UserName    Privilege  Password        Lockout   
                          Expiry date               
-------------- --------- -------------- ----------- 
    admin         15           -             -      

3) Enabling Console Local User Authentication

We do not want that anyone with a console cable connected to the device are able to issue any command without logging in.

console(config)# aaa authentication login default local
console(config)# line console 
console(config-line)# login authentication default

4) Enable HTTP Access

First, we need to change the port we will be connecting our laptop into a routed interface and not a regular switchport.

console(config)# interface gi1/0/1
console(config-if)# no switchport 
console(config-if)# 01-Oct-2006 17:08:22 %LINK-W-Down:  Vlan 1

Let's assign an IP address to port gi1/0/1.

console(config)# interface gi1/0/1
console(config-if)# ip address 192.168.10.2 255.255.255.0
console(config-if)# exit    
console(config)# do show ip interface 


    IP Address         I/F       Type     Directed   Precedence   Status    
                                          Broadcast                         
------------------- --------- ----------- ---------- ---------- ----------- 
192.168.10.2/24     gi1/0/1   Static      disable    No         Valid 

I have connected my laptop to port gi1/0/1 and assigned the IP address 192.168.10.1/24 to it. And, we should be able ping the switch.

tiago@HP-8470 ~> ping 192.168.10.2
PING 192.168.10.2 (192.168.10.2) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.10.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.908 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.10.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.924 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.10.2: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.961 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.10.2: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.962 ms
^C
--- 192.168.10.2 ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 4 received, 0% packet loss, time 3011ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.908/0.938/0.962/0.023 ms

By default the HTTP server is enabled and listening on port 80. We can check with the command :

console(config)# do show ip http
HTTP server enabled. Port: 80
Interactive timeout: 10 minutes, 0 seconds.

5) Firmware Upgrade

Check this page to verify if the device is outdated and if a new firmware version is available. Download and extract the firmware file to a folder in your PC.

console> show version

       Unit             SW version         Boot version         HW version      
------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- 
         1               4.1.0.12            1.0.0.14            00.00.02     

console# copy running-config startup-config 
Overwrite file [startup-config] ?[Yes/press any key for no]....01-Oct-2006 17:41:39 %COPY-I-FILECPY: Files Copy - source URL running-g
01-Oct-2006 17:41:43 %COPY-N-TRAP: The copy operation was completed successfully
Copy succeeded

Navigate to System > File Management > File Download

And under Download Protocol select HTTP that will enable the browse button. Therefore allowing the firmware to be uploaded.

Once the upload completes we will see the below :

We now need to navigate to System > File Management > Active Images and select the newly uploaded version and hit the apply button.

Go to the console and reload the device.

console# reload

After the reload we can verify the version and confirm that we are running the latest.

console# show version 

       Unit             SW version         Boot version         HW version      
------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- 
         1               4.1.0.24            1.0.0.14            00.00.02 

We should repeat the process above with the bootloader that in my case was the same version already running on the device.

The upload of the bootloader only worked after a switch reload.

Conclusion

The steps above are a basic initial set up to have the switch with minimal security and up to date firmware. In future articles, we will delve into more advanced configurations.

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