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3-13
Cisco MDS 9020 Fabric Switch Configuration Guide and Command Reference
OL-6988-02
Chapter 3 Initial Configuration
Management Interface Configuration
NTP Configuration
A Network Time Protocol (NTP) server provides a precise time source (radio clock or atomic clock) to
synchronize the system clocks of network devices. NTP is transported over User Datagram Protocol
UDP/IP. All NTP communications use UTC. An NTP server receives its time from a reference time
source, such as a radio clock or atomic clock, attached to the time. NTP distributes this time across the
network.
In a large enterprise network, having one time standard for all network devices is critical for management
reporting and event logging functions when trying to correlate interacting events logged across multiple
devices. Many enterprise customers with extremely mission-critical networks maintain their own
stratum-1 NTP source.
Time synchronization happens when several frames are exchanged between clients and servers. The
switches in client mode know the address of one or more NTP servers. The servers act as the time source
and receive client synchronization requests.
To configure NTP in a server association, perform this task:
Management Interface Configuration
A single IP address is used to manage the switch. The switch management (mgmt0) interface uses this
IP address. The management interface on the switch allows multiple, simultaneous Telnet or SNMP
sessions. You can remotely configure the switch through the management interface, but first you must
configure some IP parameters (IP address, subnet mask) so that the switch is reachable. You can
manually configure the management interface from the CLI.
The management port (mgmt0) is autosensing and operates in full duplex mode at a speed of 10/100
Mbps. The speed and mode cannot be configured.
Note Before you begin to configure the management interface manually, obtain the switch’s IP address and IP
subnet mask. Also make sure the console cable is connected to the console port.
Command Purpose
Step 1
switch# config t
Enters configuration mode.
Step 2
switch(config)# ntp server 10.10.10.10
switch(config)#
Forms a server association with a server.
Step 3
switch(config)# exit
switch#
Returns to EXEC mode.
Step 4
switch# copy running-config startup-config
Saves your configuration changes to nonvolatile
memory.
Tip This is one instance where you can save
the configuration as a result of an NTP
configuration change. You can enter this
command at any time.
