Using Dell devices in CatTools
On some Dell devices, such as PowerConnect switches 5224, 5324, 6024, and so on, the device may be interrupted with system or port status messages when capturing device output for configuration backups or reports. Because these messages are sent to the terminal window, they are captured along with the rest of the data output and can therefore cause reporting issues or problems with the configuration backup activity compare function.
To prevent these messages from occurring, you change to the device global configuration by sending the following command when in configuration mode:
no logging console
This command prevents all system messages from being written to the console / terminal window.
To turn on system messaging again, execute the command:
logging console level
The level limits the logging of messages displayed on the console to a specified level:
emergenciesalertscriticalerrorswarningsnotificationsinformationaldebugging
SSH2 connection issues
There appears to be an issue with the implementation of SSH2 for the Dell operating system version 2.0.0.12. When using the SSH2 connection method in CatTools to connect to a Dell device and the Username and Password fields values are set correctly, users may still see the Info Log error: Failed to determine hostname - timeout.
Verify the version of the Dell operating system running on the device. This issue is isolated to the 2.0.0.12 version of the Dell operating system. Versions prior to this are not effected. The problem has been acknowledged by Dell and, as of March 2008, is expected to be resolved in a firmware release. For information on the firmware edition that resolves this issue, contact Dell support directly.
This issue is not specifically limited to CatTools, and may also effect other clients used to connect to the device using the 2.0.0.12 version of the Dell operating system. For example, PuTTY 0.60 has the same problem, although PuTTY 0.58 does not.