Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switch CLI Software Configuration Guide (OL-16597-01, July 2009)

track of the device alias membership changes and enforce them accordingly. The primary benefit of operating
in enhanced mode is that you have a single point of change.
Whenever you change device alias modes, the change is distributed to other switches in the network only if
device alias distribution is enabled or on. Otherwise, the mode change only takes place on the local switch.
Enhanced mode, or native device alias-based configurations are not accepted in interop mode VSANs.
IVR zoneset activation will fail in interop mode VSANs if the corresponding zones have native device
alias-based members.
Note
Changing Device Alias Mode Guidelines
When changing device alias modes, follow these guidelines:
• If two fabrics running in different device alias modes are joined together, the device alias merge will
fail. There is no automatic conversion to one mode or the other during the merge process. In this situation,
you must to select one mode over the other.
• Before changing from enhanced to basic mode, you must first explicitly remove all native device
alias-based configurations from both local and remote switches, or, replace all device alias-based
configuration members with the corresponding pWWN.
• If you remove a device alias from the device alias database, all applications will automatically stop
enforcing the corresponding device alias. If that corresponding device alias is part of an active zoneset,
all the traffic to and from that pWWN is disrupted.
• Renaming the device alias not only changes the device alias name in the device alias database, but also
replaces the corresponding device alias configuration in all the applications.
• When a new device alias is added to the device alias database, and the application configuration is present
on that device alias, it automatically takes effect. For example, if the corresponding device alias is part
of the active zoneset and the device is online, then zoning is enforced automatically. You do not have
to reactivate the zoneset.
• If a device alias name is mapped to a new HBA’s pWWN, then the application’s enforcement changes
accordingly. In this case, the zone server automatically enforces zoning based on the new HBA’s pWWN.
Configuring Device Alias Modes
To configure device aliases to operate in enhanced mode, perform this task:
Procedure
PurposeCommand or Action
Enters configuration mode.switch# configuration terminal
Step 1
Assigns the device alias to operate in
enhanced mode.
switch(config)# device-alias mode enhanced
Step 2
Assigns the device alias to operate in basic
mode.
switch(config)# no device-alias mode
enhance
Step 3
Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switch CLI Software Configuration Guide
570 OL-16597-01
Distributing Device Alias Services
Changing Device Alias Mode Guidelines