Chapter 7: Using The Cli Utility; Cli Utility Overview; Execution Modes; Command Line Mode - Avocent MERGEPOINT 53XX SP MANAGER Installer/User Manual

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CLI Utility Overview

An administrator can configure the MergePoint SP manager using the CLI utility. While in the CLI
utility, an administrator can escape to the shell and when finished can return to the CLI utility.
Administrators often prefer using the CLI utility over the web interface because they can run
frequently performed CLI configuration commands from shell scripts or from text files that can be
executed in batch mode. For example, on a MergePoint SP manager with 40 private Ethernet ports,
configuring all the service processors one by one could be tedious and prone to error, so scripting
the configuration of multiple service processors at one time is a good use of the CLI utility.
The CLI utility provides a set of commands (described under see CLI Commands on page 106) that
act on parameters nested in a format called the CLI parameter tree. Some parameters require
arguments when the parameters are entered with some commands.
NOTE: This section describes the CLI commands and how to navigate the CLI parameter tree, but it does not
describe all the parameters and values.
NOTE: In the examples in this section, the failover parameter in the /network/interface/mode directory is only for
the MergePoint SP5324/SP5340 appliance.

Execution Modes

The CLI utility has three modes: a command line mode, interactive mode and batch mode.

Command line mode

Command line mode refers to when the CLI utility is invoked on the Linux command line with
options, commands, parameters and values.
The CLI utility performs the specified commands, displays any values requested by a command
(such as the get
line mode, make sure to use the
102.
Using the CLI Utility
command) and returns the shell prompt. To commit the changes made in command
-C option as part of the command line. See CLI Options on page
101