In this guide, we will walk through the process of connecting to an Aruba 6000 switch via PuTTY, performing basic VLAN configurations, backing up the configuration using logging, and finally restoring the switch after a reset.
Before connecting, identify the COM port assigned to your console cable.
Open Device Manager on your computer and look under the "Ports (COM & LPT)" section. Note the COM port number (e.g., COM5) assigned to your connection.
Launch PuTTY and select the Serial connection type. Enter your COM port (e.g., COM5) and set the speed to 115200, which is the standard baud rate for Aruba 6000 switches. Click Open to connect.
Once connected, we will create a new VLAN and assign it to several interfaces.
Enter configuration mode and create VLAN 33 with a description:
config term
vlan 33
name 33-DHCP
exit
Assign interfaces 1 through 10 to the new VLAN:
interface 1/1/1-1/1/10
vlan access 33
exit
Verify your changes with show running-config to ensure the new VLAN is present and ports are assigned correctly.
We will use PuTTY's session logging feature to capture the running configuration to a text file.
Close your current PuTTY session and open a new one. Before clicking Open, go to the Logging category in the left menu. Select "All session output" or "Printable output" and browse to choose a destination file (e.g., putty.log on the Desktop). Then proceed to open the connection as normal.
To ensure the configuration prints without pauses, set the page length to a high number (e.g., 1000):
page 1000
show running-config
The entire configuration will scroll through the screen and be saved to your log file. Once complete, close the session.
Open the log file with a text editor. You will see the command history at the top. Delete everything above the line starting with Current configuration and delete the prompt at the very end. Save this file; it is now a clean configuration script ready for restore.
We will now simulate a loss of configuration by factory resetting the switch and then restoring our backup.
Press and hold the reset button on the switch with a paperclip for about 5 seconds. This initiates a soft reset, rebooting the switch to its default state. After it reboots, verify that your custom VLAN 33 is gone using show running-config.
Open your cleaned log file and copy all the text (Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C). In your PuTTY terminal (connected to the reset switch), enter global configuration mode:
config term
simply right-click in the terminal window to paste the configuration. The switch will execute each line command-by-command, restoring your settings.
Run show running-config again to confirm that VLAN 33 and the interface assignments are back. Finally, execute write memory to save the restored configuration to the startup config so it survives future reboots.