How to setup a Dell PowerConnect 5524P or 5548P Switch

This is going to be a basic guide for you. Essentially it will be for people too lazy to pickup and read the “Getting Started Guide”. I was pleasantly surprised how similar the commands on this switch were to a cisco switch! If you know anything about cisco switch language IOS than you will feel right at home! These switches are branded Dell are actually made by Nortel.

Needed

1. Dell ships a serial to console cable. My ultrabook didn’t come with a serial connection. I ended up getting a Keyspan USB to Serial converter. Check device manager to see what COM port you are using.
2. You will need to make sure you have some software installed on your machine that you can talk to the switch via the console. I recommend that you use the famous PuTTy Software. I recommend that you just download the all-in-one installer.
3. Dell puts the serials at the back of the switches. I recommend that you take a dymo labler and mark down the serial etc and put it in a place where you will be able to easily see it. You can also get it from the Web Gui or console if needed as well.
4. Plan out the IP addresses for each switch.
5. Plan out the names of the switches

Physically connecting everything:

NOTE – Do not turn on switch until told to!

1.) Plug in your cables into your computer. Most people I am assuming will need a USB to Serial convert.

2.) Check what COM port you are using:

3.) Open PuTTY and make sure the settings are as follows:

Serial:

NOTE – These should all be the defaults. Make sure that you have the same speeds listed as well.

Session:

NOTE – Enter in the serial line what ever COM port you are using via step #2. I save my session and called it “Dell Switch” so that I can easily connect again to the switch.

4.) Hit OPEN in the Putty Session window. This will open a windows that will look similar to a command prompt.

5.) Plug in the power cable to the switch. You will notice the switch will start to boot.

6.) Hit “Y” to setup the switch

7.) I setup SNMP on my switch. I chose the default: Dell_Network_Manager for the SNMP community string.

8.) It will ask you to setup the IP address, Subnet mask, Gateway, Username and password. It will also ask you if you only want certain computer allowed to make changes to the switch.

9.) Once you are done it will ask you to save the configuration. Hit “Y”.

10.) Once done you will need to setup the hostname of the switch:

• enable [enter]
• configure [enter]
• hostname <switchname> [Enter]

You can verify that the change has been made by hitting “Ctrl+z”

• Type “show running”
• Verify that the hostname is in the config file.

Save the changes

• Type: “wr”
• When asked if you want to save hit “yes”.