NetApp - Brocade 6505 reference configuration file (fabric 1, switch 1)

category: solutionz · date: 2019-12-31 · updated: 2026-10-02 · author: LALA

NetApp Solution · Config document · referenced from Physical design and cabling

noteThis is the file as it was kept with the project, not a dump of a running switch. Its zoning uses another port assignment than the cabling of this installation, and its factory defaults (HTTP, Telnet, SNMPv1) are not something to copy.

The reference configuration file (RCF) that NetApp supplies for a Brocade 6505 at the position "fabric 1, switch 1" of a four-node fabric MetroCluster. It gives the switch its name and domain ID, sets the fabric parameters and port flags, and defines the zones that let controllers reach each other and the bridges.

Item	Value
File	`Brcd6505_4N_FC1_FC2_FAB1_SW1_D5_RCF_v9.1`
Kept for	`DC1-A-SNAS001`, datacenter A, fabric 1
Also kept	The files for `DC1-A-SNAS002`, `DC1-B-SNAS001` and `DC1-B-SNAS002`; see the differences below
Format	Fabric OS configuration upload, format 3.0, written by Fabric OS 7.2.1c1; the date inside the file is October 2014
Length	738 lines, of which the fence below carries the defining ones
Not reproduced	The vendor's factory-default sections, including the default SNMP community strings and the default SNMPv3 user secrets
Applied with	Not recorded in the notes
Fabric OS on the switches	8.0.1

The file

ini

# Brcd6505_4N_FC1_FC2_FAB1_SW1_D5_RCF_v9.1
# NetApp reference configuration file for a Brocade 6505 in a four-node
# MetroCluster: fabric 1, switch 1, domain 5. Kept for DC1-A-SNAS001.
#
# This is an excerpt. The file has 738 lines; the lines below are the ones
# that define the installation, in the order of the file. Lines starting
# with "#" are comments of this write-up and are not in the file.

# --- File header: written by a switch running Fabric OS 7.2.1c1 -------------
[Configuration upload Information]
Configuration Format = 3.0
Minimum Compatible Format = 3.0
Excluding Format = 0.0
FOS version = v7.2.1c1
Number of LS = 0

# --- Chassis section ---------------------------------------------------------
# About 390 lines, all factory defaults. Left out: licence ID, password
# policy, the IPv6 copy of the IP filter, the MIB capability masks, six
# SNMPv1 communities and six SNMPv3 users with their default secrets, the
# SNMP trap targets, the Fabric Watch thresholds.
# Kept: the fabric ID and the defaults that decide how the switch can be
# reached and how the clock is set.
[Chassis Configuration Begin]
FabricID:128

# Web access: HTTP on, HTTPS off
http.enabled:1
http.port:80
http.ssl.enabled:0
http.ssl.port:443

# Default IPv4 filter: permits TCP 22, 23, 80, 443, UDP 161, 123 and the
# RPC port range 600 to 1023
ipfilter.0.name:default_ipv4
ipfilter.0.numofrules:8
ipfilter.0.rule.1:0,0x23,0,0,6,22
ipfilter.0.rule.2:0,0x23,0,0,6,23
ipfilter.0.rule.3:0,0x23,0,0,6,80
ipfilter.0.rule.4:0,0x23,0,0,6,443
ipfilter.0.rule.5:0,0x23,0,0,17,161
ipfilter.0.rule.6:0,0x23,0,0,17,123
ipfilter.0.rule.7:0,0x63,0,0,6,600,1023
ipfilter.0.rule.8:0,0x63,0,0,17,600,1023
ipfilter.0.state:3
ipfilter.0.type:0

# SNMP: no security level enforced, SNMPv1 enabled
snmp.seclevel:0
snmp.setseclevel:0
snmp.v1Enable:1

# Time zone of the template, not of the site
ts.tz:US/Eastern
ts.tzh:0
ts.tzm:0

# --- Switch section ------------------------------------------------------------
date = Fri Oct  3 12:19:29 2014
[Switch Configuration Begin : 0]
SwitchName = Brcd6505-FAB1-SW1-D5
Fabric ID = 128

[Boot Parameters]
boot.name:Brcd6505-FAB1-SW1-D5

# The [Configuration] block has about 270 lines. Left out: Access Gateway
# port topology, FICON, performance monitor filters, the empty per-port
# disable reasons, status policies, threshold filters.
[Configuration]
FabricID:128

# Device authentication policy
auth.policy:0
auth.policy.dev:3

# Fabric parameters. The domain ID is the only line of this block that
# differs between the four switches.
fabric.domain:5
fabric.dynamic_dport_feature:1
fabric.ficonmode:0
fabric.hifmode:0
fabric.ididmode:0
fabric.name:
fabric.npivProbeMode:0
fabric.ops.BBCredit:16
fabric.ops.E_D_TOV:2000
fabric.ops.R_A_TOV:10000
fabric.ops.bladeFault_on_hwErrlevel:0
fabric.ops.dataFieldSize:2048
fabric.ops.max_hops:7
fabric.ops.mode.fcpProbeDisable:0
fabric.ops.mode.isolate:0
fabric.ops.mode.longDistance:0
fabric.ops.mode.noClassF:0
fabric.ops.mode.pidFormat:1
fabric.ops.mode.tachyonCompat:0
fabric.ops.mode.unicastOnly:0
fabric.ops.mode.useCsCtl:0
fabric.ops.vc.class.2:2
fabric.ops.vc.class.3:3
fabric.ops.vc.config:0xc0
fabric.ops.vc.linkCtrl:0
fabric.ops.vc.multicast:7
fabric.ops.wan_tov:0
fabric.principalSwSelMode:0
fabric.rdp_poll_cycle:0
fabric.wwnPidMode:0

# Per-port configuration, one record per port: port number and four flag
# words in the encoding of Fabric OS. Ports 0 to 7 and 12 to 19 are alike,
# ports 8 to 11 differ in the second word, ports 20 to 23 in the first.
portCfg:0,0xe000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;1,0xe000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;2,0xe000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;3,0xe000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;4,0xe000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;5,0xe000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;6,0xe000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;7,0xe000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;8,0xe000000,0xc0000000,0x0,0x0;9,0xe000000,0xc0000000,0x0,0x0;10,0xe000000,0xc0000000,0x0,0x0;11,0xe000000,0xc0000000,0x0,0x0;12,0xe000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;13,0xe000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;14,0xe000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;15,0xe000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;16,0xe000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;17,0xe000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;18,0xe000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;19,0xe000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;20,0x1e000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;21,0x1e000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;22,0x1e000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;23,0x1e000000,0x0,0x0,0x0;

# Routing
route.delayReroute:1
route.embeddedPortBcast:1
route.lossless:0
route.stickyRoutes:1
rte.ap_policy:0
rte.ext_dbr_policy:0
rte.external_policy:1
rte.internal_policy:0

# Switch parameters
switch.defaultPortname:0
switch.domain_id_offset:96
switch.edgeHoldTime:220
switch.interopMode:0
switch.persistentDisable:0
switch.xisluse:0

# Clock source: local, no NTP server
ts.clockServer:LOCL
ts.clockServerIndex:-1
ts.clockServerIndexList:-1
ts.clockServerList:LOCL

# Zoning mode
zoning.check.nodeNameDisabled:0
zoning.standardMode:0

# --- Zoning --------------------------------------------------------------------
# One zone configuration with seventeen zones. Members are written as
# "domain,port": 5 is this switch, 7 is the switch of the same fabric in
# the other datacenter.
[Zoning]
cfg.CFG_FAB_1_RCF_9_1:QOSH1_MC1_FAB_1_FCVI;MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_A_STK_GRP_1_TOP_FC1;MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_A_STK_GRP_1_BOT_FC1;MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_B_STK_GRP_1_TOP_FC1;MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_B_STK_GRP_1_BOT_FC1;MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_A_STK_GRP_2_TOP_FC1;MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_A_STK_GRP_2_BOT_FC1;MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_B_STK_GRP_2_TOP_FC1;MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_B_STK_GRP_2_BOT_FC1;MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_A_STK_GRP_3_TOP_FC1;MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_A_STK_GRP_3_BOT_FC1;MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_B_STK_GRP_3_TOP_FC1;MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_B_STK_GRP_3_BOT_FC1;MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_A_STK_GRP_4_TOP_FC1;MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_A_STK_GRP_4_BOT_FC1;MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_B_STK_GRP_4_TOP_FC1;MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_B_STK_GRP_4_BOT_FC1

# FC-VI zone. The prefix QOSH1_ marks it as high priority.
zone.QOSH1_MC1_FAB_1_FCVI:5,0;5,1;5,4;5,5;7,0;7,1;7,4;7,5

# Storage zones. Each has the HBA ports of the controllers of both
# datacenters (ports 2 and 6, or 3 and 7, on domains 5 and 7) and one bridge
# port (8 to 15 on domain 5 or 7).
zone.MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_A_STK_GRP_1_TOP_FC1:5,2;5,6;7,2;7,6;5,8
zone.MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_A_STK_GRP_1_BOT_FC1:5,3;5,7;7,3;7,7;5,9
zone.MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_B_STK_GRP_1_TOP_FC1:5,2;5,6;7,2;7,6;7,8
zone.MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_B_STK_GRP_1_BOT_FC1:5,3;5,7;7,3;7,7;7,9
zone.MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_A_STK_GRP_2_TOP_FC1:5,2;5,6;7,2;7,6;5,10
zone.MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_A_STK_GRP_2_BOT_FC1:5,3;5,7;7,3;7,7;5,11
zone.MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_B_STK_GRP_2_TOP_FC1:5,2;5,6;7,2;7,6;7,10
zone.MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_B_STK_GRP_2_BOT_FC1:5,3;5,7;7,3;7,7;7,11
zone.MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_A_STK_GRP_3_TOP_FC1:5,2;5,6;7,2;7,6;5,12
zone.MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_A_STK_GRP_3_BOT_FC1:5,3;5,7;7,3;7,7;5,13
zone.MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_B_STK_GRP_3_TOP_FC1:5,2;5,6;7,2;7,6;7,12
zone.MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_B_STK_GRP_3_BOT_FC1:5,3;5,7;7,3;7,7;7,13
zone.MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_A_STK_GRP_4_TOP_FC1:5,2;5,6;7,2;7,6;5,14
zone.MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_A_STK_GRP_4_BOT_FC1:5,3;5,7;7,3;7,7;5,15
zone.MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_B_STK_GRP_4_TOP_FC1:5,2;5,6;7,2;7,6;7,14
zone.MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_B_STK_GRP_4_BOT_FC1:5,3;5,7;7,3;7,7;7,15

# Ports that are in no zone may talk to nobody; then the configuration
# above is made the effective one.
defzone:noaccess
enable:CFG_FAB_1_RCF_9_1

# The rest of the file is empty sections: security policies, iSCSI,
# crypto, FICON, virtual fabrics, MAPS, banner.

[End]
[Switch Configuration End : 0]

What the zones say

Zone	Members	Meaning
`QOSH1_MC1_FAB_1_FCVI`	Ports 0, 1, 4, 5 of domain 5 and of domain 7	The FC-VI ports of all four controllers in this fabric
`MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_A_STK_GRP_n_TOP_FC1`, n = 1 to 4	Ports 2 and 6 of both domains, and port 8, 10, 12 or 14 of domain 5	First HBA port of every controller with the top bridge of stack group n in datacenter A
`MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_A_STK_GRP_n_BOT_FC1`	Ports 3 and 7 of both domains, and port 9, 11, 13 or 15 of domain 5	Second HBA port of every controller with the bottom bridge of stack group n in datacenter A
`MC1_INIT_GRP_1_SITE_B_...`, `MC1_INIT_GRP_2_SITE_B_...`	The same initiator ports, and ports 8 to 15 of domain 7	The same for the bridges in datacenter B

SITE_A and SITE_B in the zone names are the two halves of a MetroCluster in NetApp's vocabulary. In this installation they are the two datacenters of one site.

The cabling of this installation, in Physical design and cabling, has FC-VI on ports 0 and 3, the HBA ports on 1, 2, 4 and 5, the bridges on 6 and 7 and the inter-switch links on 8 and 9. With defzone:noaccess and exactly these zones, most of the cabled ports would sit in the wrong zone: the HBA ports on 1, 4 and 5 in the FC-VI zone, the FC-VI port of node 2 on port 3 in a storage zone, and the bridges on 6 and 7 where the file expects HBA ports. The zoning that was active on the switches is therefore not this one. The Source material holds no output of cfgshow or switchshow to show what it was.

What changes on the other three switches

The four files were compared line by line. They differ only in the following.

Line	`DC1-A-SNAS001`	`DC1-A-SNAS002`	`DC1-B-SNAS001`	`DC1-B-SNAS002`
File name ends in	`FAB1_SW1_D5`	`FAB2_SW2_D6`	`FAB1_SW3_D7`	`FAB2_SW4_D8`
`SwitchName`, `boot.name`	`Brcd6505-FAB1-SW1-D5`	`Brcd6505-FAB2-SW2-D6`	`Brcd6505-FAB1-SW3-D7`	`Brcd6505-FAB2-SW4-D8`
`fabric.domain`	`5`	`6`	`7`	`8`
`[Zoning]` section	Present	Present; the section header is written twice	Absent	Absent
Zone configuration	`CFG_FAB_1_RCF_9_1`	`CFG_FAB_2_RCF_9_1`	None	None
FC-VI zone	`QOSH1_MC1_FAB_1_FCVI`	`QOSH1_FAB_2_FCVI`	None	None
Storage zones	Names end in `_FC1`, domains 5 and 7	Names end in `_FC2`, domains 6 and 8	None	None
`defzone`, `enable`	`noaccess`, `CFG_FAB_1_RCF_9_1`	`noaccess`, `CFG_FAB_2_RCF_9_1`	Neither line	Neither line

The files of datacenter B carry no zoning at all. A zone configuration belongs to the fabric and not to one switch, so one file per fabric is enough to define it.

Set on the switches beside the file

Setting	Where it is described
Management address, host name	Network design
TACACS+ login with local fallback	Access and directory integration
SNMP community strings, SNMP security level, syslog server and facility	Logging, monitoring and AutoSupport

Checked against Fabric OS 9.2 and ONTAP 9.19.1

As built	Today
Brocade 6505	End of support since 30 April 2025; the vendor names the G610 as replacement
Fabric OS 8.0.1	The 8.0.x stream reached end of support on 30 July 2020; current streams are 9.2.x and 10.0.x
RCF per switch, downloaded from NetApp	Still distributed per switch from the MetroCluster RCF download page. The files require the port layout of ONTAP 9.1 and later and set in-order delivery
`http.enabled:1`, `http.ssl.enabled:0`, IP filter permitting TCP 23 and 80	The default secure configuration of Fabric OS 9.2.0 blocks Telnet, HTTP and FTP. On older releases they are blocked with `ipfilter`
`snmp.seclevel:0`, `snmp.v1Enable:1`, factory communities and SNMPv3 users without authentication	Fabric OS 9.0.x and later ship without default communities or SNMPv3 users; from 9.2.2 SNMPv1 cannot be configured at all. ONTAP needs SNMPv3 to monitor a switch on Fabric OS 9.0.1 or later
ONTAP watches the switches with `storage switch`	The command family is `system switch fibre-channel` since ONTAP 9.8
Fabric-attached MetroCluster on FAS8200	MetroCluster FC is still a documented configuration, but no platform has been added to it since ONTAP 9.10.1, and the last ONTAP release for a FAS8200 is 9.16.1

The third row is the useful one for this document: NetApp's own description says the RCF goes with the port layout of ONTAP 9.1 and later. The cabling tables of this installation show a different layout, which is consistent with the mismatch described above and still does not tell what the switches ran.