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$Id: README,v 1.5 1999/06/03 15:32:40 trockij Exp $ $Name: a3com-0-2-3 $

Introduction

A3Com is a set of Perl 5 modules which allow manipulation of 3Com SuperStack II 3900/9300 and CoreBuilder 3500 LAN switches. Currently there are modules which can use either the SNMP or telnet interface to:

-dump the ARP tables
-dump bridge tables
-search switches for a MAC address, IP address, or hostname -change admin passwords in batch mode -save and restore switch configurations via SNMP -upload new firmware via SNMP (batch mode) -and collect per-port ethernet details like current autonegotiation mode and duplex settings -keep global caches of ARP and bridge tables for fast searches -keep global ARP history as a merged ARP database from

A3Com requires:

-the Perl Expect, available from CPAN -the UCD SNMP libraries, http://www.ece.ucdavis.edu/ucd-snmp/ -Joe Marzot's SNMP-1.8 Perl 5 module, available from CPAN

and ftp://ftp.corpeast.baynetworks.com/netman/snmp/perl5/SNMP.tar.gz

You switches must be configured to have "inifinte" screen height in order for some of the routines to collect their data. Log in as "adm" and type the following:

Select menu option: sys screen 0 y
Do you want this to be the new default screen height (n,y) [y]:

Availability

See http://www.kernel.org/software/A3Com/ for details. The software is available from ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/software/admin/A3Com/

Please try a mirror of kernel.org, http://www.kernel.org/mirrors.html.

Installation

perl Makefile.PL
make
make install

Create /usr/local/etc/a3com.conf with this line in it:

GLOBALCACHEDIR = /whatever-path-you-choose/a3com-globalcache

Substitute "whatever-path-you-choose" with a path of your choice. Be sure that /whatever-path-you-choose/a3com-globalcache exists.

Examples

In the tools/ directory are the following:

3cft

Perform file transfer with a switch. This means save/restore a config, or upload new firmware.

3cbatch-backup

Backup switch configs in batch mode.

3cinfo

Report info on a list of 3com devices. Returns product model, serial number, hardware revision, software revision, the system ID, and the name of the device

3creset

Reboots a device.

3cvlan

Extracts VLAN information from a list of switches, suitable for making disaster-recovery hardcopies of your configurations.

3cpasswd

Change read/write/admin passwords of switches in batch mode.

btdump

This dumps bridge tables for a list of switches, or searches for the port where a particular IP address, hostname, or MAC address is seen. This makes use of the global ARP cache, which must be updated using "3cglobalcache -a".

3cglobalcache

Maintains global caches for ARP, bridge tables, and ARP historical database. Run this from cron (with the proper args) every so often to update the global caches.

Documentation

Someone needs to write it. Your best bet is to look in the tools directory for examples.

Future Plans

I'm currently working on the historical storage of ARP data (including conflicts and changes), and the historical tracking of bridge table port/MAC mappings.

Good luck.

Questions and bug reports to:

Jim Trocki <trockij@transmeta.com>
Computer System and Network Engineer
Transmeta Corporation
Santa Clara, CA