Raspberry Pi Console server for Aruba AOS-CX switches
So, you got a bench of new Aruba AOS-CX switches, series 6300, and now you need to connect them to your network…
There are 2 ways to configure those, either using Aruba CX Bluetooth app or connecting using the console port.
The Aruba AOS-CX 63xx comes with USB type C console connector, which allow you to use any USB type C cable to your PC, but what about console server?
You will also need 5 USB cables type A (male) to type C, those can be found easily.
After configuring the Raspberry Pi with all the basic settings (IP address, routes, enable remote access etc.), which is out of the scope of this post, let’s start the configuration of the console server functions.
Update and Install
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sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade -y sudo apt-get install minicom -y sudo apt install ser2net -y |
Allow user to dialout
Taking ownership of the serial port is as easy as adding the group dialout to your login id. You do that with the following command:
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sudo usermod -a -G dialout pi |
In the line above pi is the user you want to add a group to. If you are logged in as a different user, you’ll have to use that username instead on the line above.
Serial Port discovery
Before we can configure ser2net we need to figure out where our serial adapters are listening. Normally serial ports are /dev/ttyS0 or ttyS1, but because we are using USB adapters they may show up as /dev/ttyUSB0 and ttyUSB1 etc.
Use this command to search for yours:
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dmesg | grep tty |
You’ll see something like this:
As you can see, I have my 1 port adapter plugged in, named ttyACM0.
With this information we can configure our ser2net.conf file.
Configuration
Create logging directory:
| sudo mkdir /var/log/ser2net |
When you install ser2net via apt it puts the configuration file in /etc. To edit it you can use nano with is already on your Pi:
| sudo nano /etc/ser2net.conf |
Inside you will find some default configuration lines at the bottom of the config file. We can easily edit these to meet our needs.
Let’s edit the ser2net configuration to get things going. The following is my configuration for each serial connection:
Login banner:
| BANNER:aruba-b1:\r\nAruba Networks ERT Lab\r\n\r\nUNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO THIS DEVICE IS PROHIBITED\r\nYou must have explicit, authorized permission to access or configure this device.\r\nUnauthorized attempts and actions to access or use this system may result in civil and/or\r\ncriminal penalties.\r\nAll activities performed on this device are logged and monitored.\r\n\r\nYou are connected to port \p device \d [\s]\r\n\r\nHostname: AOS-CX 6300-06\r\n\r\n |
Serial connection with trace file:
| 192.168.10.145,3000:telnet:600:/dev/ttyACM0:115200 8DATABITS NONE 1STOPBIT aruba-b1 TRACEFILE:tr1:/var/log/ser2net/p-Y-M-D-H:i:s.U |
This should be configured for each serial connection, as the Raspberry Pi only got 4 USB ports, you will need to configure 4 of those.
Here is my ser2net.conf complete file:
| BANNER:aruba-b1:\r\nAruba Networks ERT Lab\r\n\r\nUNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO THIS DEVICE IS PROHIBITED\r\nYou must have explicit, authorized permission to access or configure this device.\r\nUnauthorized attempts and actions to access or use this system may result in civil and/or\r\ncriminal penalties.\r\nAll activities performed on this device are logged and monitored.\r\n\r\nYou are connected to port \p device \d [\s]\r\n\r\nHostname: AOS-CX 6300-01\r\n\r\n
BANNER:aruba-b2:\r\nAruba Networks ERT Lab\r\n\r\nUNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO THIS DEVICE IS PROHIBITED\r\nYou must have explicit, authorized permission to access or configure this device.\r\nUnauthorized attempts and actions to access or use this system may result in civil and/or\r\ncriminal penalties.\r\nAll activities performed on this device are logged and monitored.\r\n\r\nYou are connected to port \p device \d [\s]\r\n\r\nHostname: AOS-CX 6300-02\r\n\r\n BANNER:aruba-b3:\r\nAruba Networks ERT Lab\r\n\r\nUNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO THIS DEVICE IS PROHIBITED\r\nYou must have explicit, authorized permission to access or configure this device.\r\nUnauthorized attempts and actions to access or use this system may result in civil and/or\r\ncriminal penalties.\r\nAll activities performed on this device are logged and monitored.\r\n\r\nYou are connected to port \p device \d [\s]\r\n\r\nHostname: AOS-CX 6300-03\r\n\r\n BANNER:aruba-b4:\r\nAruba Networks ERT Lab\r\n\r\nUNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO THIS DEVICE IS PROHIBITED\r\nYou must have explicit, authorized permission to access or configure this device.\r\nUnauthorized attempts and actions to access or use this system may result in civil and/or\r\ncriminal penalties.\r\nAll activities performed on this device are logged and monitored.\r\n\r\nYou are connected to port \p device \d [\s]\r\n\r\nHostname: AOS-CX 6300-04\r\n\r\n TRACEFILE:tr1:/var/log/ser2net/usb-console-port1 TRACEFILE:tr2:/var/log/ser2net/usb-console-port2 TRACEFILE:tr3:/var/log/ser2net/usb-console-port3 TRACEFILE:tr4:/var/log/ser2net/usb-console-port4 |
Save that file and let’s make sure Ser2Net starts up automatically:
| sudo nano /etc/rc.local |
Add the following above exit 0:
| /usr/local/sbin/ser2net -n -c /etc/ser2net.conf |
In order to stop/start ser2net use the following command:
| sudo /etc/init.d/ser2net [stop|start] |
Connect
Now use your favourite terminal app to connect to the console server:
And connect:
Summary
There are many more enhancements which we can use or add to this console server, such wireless AP/client, to connect using wireless network (the Raspberry Pi comes with 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz IEEE 802.11ac wireless card) similar to AirConsole.
We can even power up the Raspberry Pi, using the auxiliary USB port, which can be found on the AOS-CX switch, if you run out of power outlets in your rack.
Reference:
https://www.packet6.com/configuring-your-raspberry-pi-as-a-console-server/