How to configure Shared Uplink Set Network in HP Flex Virtual Connect using CLI commands with example (cheatsheet)

This article gives you CLI based commands and examples to configure your HPE Flex Virtual Connect from scratch

Once you have your Virtual Connect the first thing you have to do is connect all the required Uplink ports with the switch before starting with the configuration.
For this example I will configure a Shared Uplink Set with 3 Uplink port connected from each VC Flex module to the switch.





Below diagram gives an overview of my setup

What we will configure?

• Our blade will have 6 interface (ideally there are 8 interface but we intend to use only 6 of them)
• There will be three bonds (bond0/bond1/bond2) configured for active backup mode
• bond0 will have allowed network bandwidth of 1 GB
• bond1 and bond2 will have allowed network bandwidth of 3 GB
• 3 Shared Uplink set with bond0 interface port connected to X3, bond1 interface port connected to X1, bond2 interface port connected to X5
• Smart Link for the Ethernet connection will be enabled
• Customised MAC address assigned to bond0 i.e. eth0 and eth1 (first two interface of the blade)
• Default MAC Address assigned to all the other interface in the server profile

Let us start configuring our Virtual Connect

Import Enclosure

First of all import the blade information from the enclosure Onboard Administrator

->import enclosure UserName=Administrator Password=My#Password
Importing enclosure, please wait...
SUCCESS: Enclosure imported

*******************************************************************************
IMPORT ENCLOSURE SUMMARY
*******************************************************************************
Enclosure Name : BlrSiteA-01-01
Rack Name      : BlrSiteA-01
IP Address     : 10.10.10.100
IPv6 Address   : fe80::9618:82ff:fe12:254b/64
Status         : OK
Status Cause   : Enclosure enc0 is normal

It will give you a long list of blade information with other details on the console

Use the below command to show the enclosure details

->show enclosure
===========================================================================
ID    Name            Import Status  Serial Number  Part        Asset Tag
                                                    Number
===========================================================================
enc0  BlrSiteA-01-01  Imported       BVD819XY2X     681844-B21

Some basic configuration before I start with network

->set mac-cache Enabled=true
SUCCESS: MAC cache failover settings modified

->set mac-cache Refresh=5
SUCCESS: MAC cache failover settings modified

->set igmp Enabled=false
SUCCESS: IGMP settings modified

->set igmp Timeout=260
SUCCESS: IGMP settings modified

->set enet-vlan SharedServerVLanId=false
SUCCESS: Ethernet settings modified

Creating a user

->add user HPadmin Password=Blr#46713 Enabled=true Privileges=domain,network,storage,server
SUCCESS: User added : HPadmin

->show user
==============================================================================
User Name      Roles       Role Operations  Full Name  Contact Info  Enabled
==============================================================================
Administrator  domain      FirmwareUpdate   -- --      -- --         true
               server      PortMonitoring
               network     RestoreConfig
               storage     SaveConfig
                           SupportFiles
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HPadmin        domain      FirmwareUpdate   -- --      -- --         true
               server      PortMonitoring
               network     RestoreConfig
               storage     SaveConfig
                           SupportFiles
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SNMP configuration

Disable SNMPV1,V2 as we intend to use SNMPV3.
NOTE: Here this article is all about network configuration hence I am not elaborating the SNMP configuration section

->set snmp enet EnableV1V2=false
SUCCESS: SNMP configuration settings modified

->set snmp fc EnableV1V2=false
SUCCESS: SNMP configuration settings modified

->set loop-protect Enabled=true
SUCCESS: Ethernet Loop Protect settings modified

Configure Networking

Create Shared Uplink Set
Here we will create three set of shared uplink set for both the VC Flex Net Module

->add uplinkset Test1-NetA-X1 ConnectionMode=Failover
SUCCESS: Shared uplink port set added : Test1-NetA-X1

->add uplinkset Test1-NetB-X1 ConnectionMode=Failover
SUCCESS: Shared uplink port set added : Test1-NetB-X1

Add uplink port to this uplink set for both VC Flex module

->add uplinkport enc0:1:X1 UplinkSet=Test1-NetA-X1 Speed=Auto Role=Primary
SUCCESS: Port added : enc0:1:X1

->add uplinkport enc0:2:X1 UplinkSet=Test1-NetB-X1 Speed=Auto Role=Primary
SUCCESS: Port added : enc0:2:X1

Add Ethernet Network to this uplink (Test1-NetA-X1) for VC Flex module 1 (NetA)

->add network Test1-BOND1-NetA-527 UplinkSet=Test1-NetA-X1 VLanID=527 Labels=BOND1
SUCCESS: Network added : Test1-BOND1-NetA-527

->set network Test1-BOND1-NetA-527 SmartLink=Enabled
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1-BOND1-NetA-527

->set network Test1-BOND1-NetA-527 PrefSpeedType=Custom PrefSpeed=3000 MaxSpeedType=Custom MaxSpeed=3000
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1-BOND1-NetA-527

->set network Test1-BOND1-NetA-527 Color=green
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1-BOND1-NetA-527

Add Ethernet Network to this uplink (Test1-NetB-X1) for VC Flex module 2 (NetB)

->add network Test1-BOND1-NetB-527 UplinkSet=Test1-NetB-X1 VLanID=527 Labels=BOND1
SUCCESS: Network added : Test1-BOND1-NetB-527

->set network Test1-BOND1-NetB-527 SmartLink=Enabled
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1-BOND1-NetB-527

->set network Test1-BOND1-NetB-527 PrefSpeedType=Custom PrefSpeed=3000 MaxSpeedType=Custom MaxSpeed=3000
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1-BOND1-NetB-527

->set network Test1-BOND1-NetB-527 Color=green
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1-BOND1-NetB-527

Similarly we will create 2 more Uplink Set since we have total 6 interface to be configured for bond0/bond1/bond2

->add uplinkset Test1-NetB-X5 ConnectionMode=Failover
SUCCESS: Shared uplink port set added : Test1-NetB-X5

->add uplinkset Test1-NetA-X5 ConnectionMode=Failover
SUCCESS: Shared uplink port set added : Test1-NetA-X5

->add uplinkport enc0:1:X5 UplinkSet=Test1-NetA-X5 Speed=Auto Role=Primary
SUCCESS: Port added : enc0:1:X5

->add uplinkport enc0:2:X5 UplinkSet=Test1-NetB-X5 Speed=Auto Role=Primary
SUCCESS: Port added : enc0:2:X5

Add Ethernet Network to this uplink (Test1-NetA-X5) for VC Flex module 1 (NetA)

->add network Test1_BOND2-NetA-627 UplinkSet=Test1-NetA-X5 VLanID=627 Labels=BOND2
SUCCESS: Network added : Test1_BOND2-NetA-627

->set network Test1_BOND2-NetA-627 SmartLink=Enabled
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1_BOND2-NetA-627

->set network Test1_BOND2-NetA-627 PrefSpeedType=Custom PrefSpeed=3000 MaxSpeedType=Custom MaxSpeed=3000
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1_BOND2-NetA-627

->set network Test1_BOND2-NetA-627 Color=blue
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1_BOND2-NetA-627

Add Ethernet Network to this uplink (Test1-NetB-X5) for VC Flex module 2 (NetB)

->add network Test1-BOND2-NetB-627 UplinkSet=Test1-NetB-X5 VLanID=627 Labels=BOND2
SUCCESS: Network added : Test1-BOND2-NetB-627

->set network Test1-BOND2-NetB-627 SmartLink=Enabled
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1-BOND2-NetB-627

->set network Test1-BOND2-NetB-627 PrefSpeedType=Custom PrefSpeed=3000 MaxSpeedType=Custom MaxSpeed=3000
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1-BOND2-NetB-627

->set network Test1-BOND2-NetB-627 Color=blue
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1-BOND2-NetB-627

Lets create our third shared uplink set

->add uplinkset Test1-NetA-X3 ConnectionMode=Failover
SUCCESS: Shared uplink port set added : Test1-NetA-X3

->add uplinkport enc0:1:X3 UplinkSet=Test1-NetA-X3
SUCCESS: Port added : enc0:1:X3

->add uplinkset Test1-NetB-X3 ConnectionMode=Failover
SUCCESS: Shared uplink port set added : Test1-NetB-X3

->add uplinkport enc0:2:X3 UplinkSet=Test1-NetB-X3
SUCCESS: Port added : enc0:2:X3

Add Ethernet Network to this uplink (Test1-NetA-X3) for VC Flex module 2 (NetA)

->add network Test1-BOND0-NetA-427 UplinkSet=Test1-NetA-X3 VLanID=427 Labels=BOND0
SUCCESS: Network added : Test1-BOND0-NetA-427

->set network Test1-BOND0-NetA-427 SmartLink=Enabled
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1-BOND0-NetA-427

->set network Test1-BOND0-NetA-427 PrefSpeedType=Custom PrefSpeed=1000 MaxSpeedType=Custom MaxSpeed=1000
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1-BOND0-NetA-427

->set network Test1-BOND0-NetA-427 Color=orange
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1-BOND0-NetA-427

Add Ethernet Network to this uplink (Test1-NetB-X3) for VC Flex module 2 (NetB)

->add network Test1-BOND0-NetB-427 UplinkSet=Test1-NetB-X3 VLanID=427 Labels=BOND0
SUCCESS: Network added : Test1-BOND0-NetB-427

->set network Test1-BOND0-NetB-427 SmartLink=Enabled
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1-BOND0-NetB-427

->set network Test1-BOND0-NetB-427 PrefSpeedType=Custom PrefSpeed=1000 MaxSpeedType=Custom MaxSpeed=1000
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1-BOND0-NetB-427

->set network Test1-BOND0-NetB-427 Color=orange
SUCCESS: Network modified : Test1-BOND0-NetB-427

Create Server profile

->add profile server1 -NoDefaultEnetConn -NoDefaultFcConn -NoDefaultFCoEConn
SUCCESS: Profile added : server1

here we are providing a custom user defined MAC Address for our first two interface i.e. bond0

->add enet-connection server1 AddressType=User-Defined EthernetMAC=00-17-A4-77-00-14 iScsiMAC=00-17-A4-77-00-15
SUCCESS: Connection added to server profile : server1

->add enet-connection server1 AddressType=User-Defined EthernetMAC=00-17-A4-77-00-16 iScsiMAC=00-17-A4-77-00-17
SUCCESS: Connection added to server profile : server1

Next create 4 default enet connections for bond1 and bond2

->add enet-connection server1
SUCCESS: Connection added to server profile : server1

->add enet-connection server1
SUCCESS: Connection added to server profile : server1

->add enet-connection server1
SUCCESS: Connection added to server profile : server1

->add enet-connection server1
SUCCESS: Connection added to server profile : server1

Next assign the Ethernet Network we created above to respective enet-connections here. For our case we are also restricting the bandwidth of each interface. For bond0 we intend to restrict bandwidth to

1 GB and enable PXE for the first interface
->set enet-connection server1 1 Network=Test1-BOND0-NetA-427 SpeedType=Custom Speed=1000 PXE=Enabled
SUCCESS: Connection modified : server1

->set enet-connection server1 2 Network=Test1-BOND0-NetB-427 SpeedType=Custom Speed=1000 PXE=UseBios
SUCCESS: Connection modified : server1

For bond1 and bond2 we will restrict the bandwidth to 3 GB and PXE will be disabled

->set enet-connection server1 3 Network=Test1-BOND1-NetA-527 SpeedType=Custom Speed=3000 PXE=UseBios
SUCCESS: Connection modified : server1

->set enet-connection server1 4 Network=Test1-BOND1-NetB-527 SpeedType=Custom Speed=3000 PXE=UseBios
SUCCESS: Connection modified : server1

->set enet-connection server1 5 Network=Test1_BOND2-NetA-627 SpeedType=Custom Speed=3000 PXE=UseBios
SUCCESS: Connection modified : server1

->set enet-connection server1 6 Network=Test1-BOND2-NetB-627 SpeedType=Custom Speed=3000 PXE=UseBios
SUCCESS: Connection modified : server1

Assign server profile to bay1

Lastly once all the required enet-connections are created we will assign this profile to blade 1

->assign profile server1 enc0:1
SUCCESS: Profile 'server1' assigned to device bay enc0:1

Similarly more profiles must be created for every blade in the enclosure.
Next power on the blade and you can start working on it.