EXOS: give more feedback on CLI

[jeronimo]

Hey,

I've been playing with EXOS and I noticed the following.

"configure vlan x delete port 2" does not throw an error when the port was not a member of the vlan in the first place.

Also, "configure vlan x add port 2" does not give a warning when the port was already a member before issuing the command

For the sake of transparency, I would find it useful if the switch gave some feedback in scenarios like these. Giving warnings in those cases can reduce the risk of administrative errors IMHO.

[Tomasz]

Well, perhaps it would be enough to have such event in EMS that last issued command does not influence the running configuration (like removing port from vlan in which it is not defined). I'm not sure if it is there but It should be much easier for Extreme to apply. Then you would see those if you had 'enable log display' or 'enable log target session' commad issued.

[Brian_Anderson1]

I try to name each switch too, so the command line reflects which switch I'm on. Helps keep mistakes to a minimum.

[jeronimo]

I've tried EXOS 22.6.
I disagree that the output should be the same (in this case none) when the preconditions are different (port already assigned to that VLAN vs. port not already assigned to the VLAN).
Maybe no output would be ok on the latter but not on the former. When you try to assign a port to a VLAN it is already a member of, there should be some message, as what you're trying to do makes no sense.
Yes, the human should be the expert, but if it is easy for the machine to give suggestions, that can't hurt.

[Tomasz]

Hi Jeronimo,

What is your EXOS version?
Please take a look at this command and its completion:
configure vlan untagged-ports auto-moveIt might be set to 'on' and I thing thats the case.
It might be set to informational or turned off, the latter will induce an error when you try to move a port untagged from one VLAN to another VLAN as untagged.

There is no such thing as moving ports between VLANs when they are tagged, as port can be a member of many VLANs when tagged. I doubt should it ask you "are you sure", as you're the expert to know what's going on.  And an output that is exactly the same what you have issued in CLI is not useful at all - it doesn't make sure you're on the correct switch, that you will be sure of when phones begin to call. 😉
On the other hand, feature like commit/rollback would be awesome.

HTH,
Tomasz

[jeronimo]

I like to know when I input a command that doesn't make sense.

Any number of things could cause this: I am on the wrong switch, I issued the command for the wrong port, etc. The earlier I get a message that the actual outcome is probably not the expected outcome, it is always great to know. The earlier, the better.

Mainly it's about minimizing human error.