Power down ProCurve switches gracefully

[n3tm1n]

Anybody what the CLI command to shut down a procurve switch? I know there is one, but I cannot remember it and I cannot find it in the documentation.

Thanks in advance.

-Bob

[jefflj]

Procurve switches are designed to be always on...there isn't really a shutdown command for E-series switches that I know of (and I have done a lot of testing on them).  The most graceful way to shutdown an E-series Procurve switch is to do a "write memory" command at the CLI, (alternately exiting the menu interface or committing a change on the WebUI), wait for the command to complete, then pull the plug.  If you want to reboot, you can do a "reload" or a "boot" command.

[n3tm1n]

Jefflj,

Thanks for the response.  I was sure the was a shut down command. Pulling the plug to shut down a switch just seems harsh on the system.

For instance, I have a few 3500yl switches with redundant power supplies. I just unplug the main power, then the redundant powersupply will keep the switch going. If I need to move the switch, would I need to unplug the rps unit too? If I do that, then the second 3500 will not have rds as well as addition POE. So moving one switch will compromise one and a half switches.

-Bob

[n3tm1n · Accepted solution]

Got the answer from HP Networking support:

Thank you for contacting HP Networking Support.

The only way to completely shut down the switch is by pulling the power plug. This is by design. Since the switch can only be powered off through physical intervention, it negates the risk of someone inadvertently issuing a command to shut it down remotely.  If the switch were shut down remotely, then there would be no way to issue a command that would start it back up. Startup in such a case would require physical access to the switch.

Therefore, the switch can only be reloaded or booted through the CLI.  If you need to shut it off, you must unplug it.

End of line.

[James-1200]

Perhaps HP should introduce iLO mgmt on to the switches as a future hardware improvement.

[BGraham_1]

I guess that would work, but you would need to have another network in place to support the iLO.