I made a configuration error on the RB206G forcing me to use the reset switch to restore the device.
After restoring the configuration, approximately 15 seconds after plugging the switch back into the router, the management interface on the switch became unreachable. Approx 15 seconds after removing the router to switch connection the management interface was restored.
Unreachable meaning pinging the interface is stopped responding and the web interface was to accessible.
I replaced the switch with a second RB206G fresh from the box, giving it the same configuration as the first switch and the anomaly didn’t exist.
I saved the configuration from the second switch to my PC and restored it to the first switch. The anomaly went away.
Thinking I was full of S&^% I reset the first router using the front panel switch. Sure enough when I plug it into the router the management interface drops after 15 seconds. I used switch two configuration file once again to restore switch one and the anomaly goes away.
What configuration does the reset switch fail to restore in the switches setup that impacts the management interface?
What do you EXACTLY mean by "saved" and "restored"?
I suspect you used a binary backup, that in some cases can produce strange issues when taken from one device and applied to a different one.
Check #17 and #18 here:
Under the systems tab in SWOS there is a save backup and restore backup.
The strange issue is what I want!
The reset switch restore places the device in a condition where the management interface will not stay up if it is connected back to the router. If I use a restore file from the second router the issue is not there.
I was thinking the switch reset has some config missing.
I will look through the resources. IIHF world junior hockey game is starting. Spit focus for that.
My bad, my reference was for RoS (sorry I didn't notice that this is a SwOS device), but very likely the issue is similar.
One of the settings that may cause issues (in RoS) with binary backup/restore is the MAC that is "carried over", check if on your devices the MAC is changed.
When out of two identical devices, with the same configuration (but with different MAC) one works and one not, it should mean that the issue is somewhere else on the network (a somehow blacklisted or duplicated MAC or a loop detected, or similar).
Anyway the SwOS generated file should be a .swb file which is (almost) a plain text file, maybe you can compare the two files.
I read your comment regarding MAC after a nights sleep. I worked a long session yesterday in my dev lab trying to wade through a VLAN configuration exercise. I had parked the switch anomaly in order to focus on the VLANs. Back at it again today to see if I can get one working.
I have discovered where I lacked knowledge was and from that determine the root cause of the issue. I have configured the switches with static IP. A reset defaults to DHCP with fallback. DHCP is doing what it is suppose to do.
What confused me is the IP displayed on the SWOS browser. It may say one thing but only if DHCP is not in the mix. Recovering the second switch configuration would result in static IP again.
All that time and the problem was between the keyboard and chair. I suspect as much:)
