Operating instructions

Appendix A. Hints and tips 233
Key sequence to switch between blade servers
The BladeCenter has a KVM (keyboard/video/monitor) switch built into the Management
Modules, allowing traditional access to the installed blade servers. To switch the keyboard,
mouse, and monitor between blade servers, perform this keystroke combination from the
keyboard attached to the active Management Module:
NumLock NumLock <blade server number> Enter
Where <blade server number> is the number of the blade server bay where the blade server
is installed. For example, to select the blade server in bay 2, press the NumLock key twice,
press the number 2 key, and press the Enter key:
NumLock NumLock 2 Enter
Note that often after selecting a blade server through this sequence, the display is blank.
Moving the cursor usually brings the window up (out of screen-saver mode).
Native VLAN mismatch message
When changing the management VLAN on the Cisco Systems IGESM, you might receive a
native VLAN mismatch message on the console of the Cisco Systems IGESM. This is
because changing the management VLAN on a Cisco Systems IGESM also changes the
native VLAN on ports g0/15 and g0/16. (The default native VLAN for these ports is VLAN1.)
Ports g0/15 and g0/16 connect through the Management Module to all other Cisco Systems
IGESMs in the BladeCenter. When you make the initial change on one Cisco Systems
IGESM, the native VLAN is still different on any other Cisco Systems IGESM in the
BladeCenter (on ports g0/15 and g0/16) until their management VLAN is changed as well.
If you have only a single Cisco Systems IGESM in the BladeCenter, this message will not
occur when changing the management VLAN.
Use of RSPAN on the Cisco Systems IGESM
Testing during the preparation of this Redpaper showed an issue with configuring RSPAN on
the Cisco Systems IGESM when using IOS Release 12.1(14)AY. In certain circumstances,
several interfaces, including the link to the upstream switch and the port being monitored,
would begin to stream data at wire rate. The result is, at a minimum, lost communications to
the device on the port being monitored and issues on the upstream switch.
This RSPAN issue was traced to a bug with Release 12.1(14)AY of IOS. An update version,
Revision 12.1(14)AY1, resolved this issue. The latest version of IOS that includes this fix (plus
others) is available for download at the following location (this may change in the future):
http://www.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-55479
If you have already configured RSPAN and are experiencing the issue of streaming data as
previously described, deleting the monitor session associated with the RSPAN will halt this
Note: For correct operation, the management VLAN on all Cisco Systems IGESMs in a
BladeCenter should be the same. To resolve the native VLAN mismatch message, change
the management VLAN to the same VLAN for every Cisco Systems IGESM in a given
BladeCenter. See 5.3.6, “Considerations: More than a single IGESM in a given
BladeCenter” on page 62 for details and a workaround if IGESM management VLANs in a
single BladeCenter should be different.