Configuring the Switch

Arista switches ship from the factory in Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) mode. ZTP configures the switch without user intervention by downloading a startup configuration file or a boot script from a location specified by a DHCP server. To manually configure a switch, ZTP is bypassed. The initial configuration provides one username (admin) accessible only through the console port because it has no password.

When bypassing ZTP, initial switch access requires logging in as admin, with no password, through the console port. Then you can configure an admin password and other password protected usernames.

This manual configuration procedure cancels ZTP mode, logs into the switch, assigns a password to admin, assigns an IP address to the management port, and defines a default route to a network gateway.

  1. Provide power to the switch (Cabling the Switch).
  2. Connect the console port to a PC (Connecting Power Cables).

    As the switch boots without a startup-config file, it displays the following through the console:

    The device is in Zero Touch Provisioning mode and is attempting to
download the startup-config from a remote system. The device will not
be fully functional until either a valid startup-config is downloaded
from a remote system or Zero Touch Provisioning is cancelled. To cancel
Zero Touch Provisioning, login as admin and type 'zerotouch cancel'
at the CLI.
localhost login:
  3. Log into the switch by typing admin at the login prompt. 
    localhost login: admin
  4. Cancel ZTP mode by typing zerotouch cancel. IMPORTANT: This step initiates a switch reboot. 
    localhost>zerotouch cancel
  5. After the switch boots, log into the switch again by typing admin at the login prompt. 
    Arista EOS
localhost login:admin
Last login: Fri Mar 15 13:17:13 on console
  6. Enter global configuration mode. 
    localhost>enable
localhost#config
  7. Assign a password to the admin username with the username secret command. 
    localhost(config)#username admin secret pxq123
  8. Configure a default route to the network gateway. 
    localhost(config)#ip route 0.0.0.0/0 192.0.2.1
  9. Assign an IP address (192.0.2.8/24 in this example) to an Ethernet management port. 
    localhost(config)#interface management 1
localhost(config-if-Ma1/1)#ip address 192.0.2.8/24
  10. Save the configuration by typing write memory or copy running-config startup-config. 
    localhost#copy running-config startup-config

    When the management port IP address is configured, use this command to access the switch from a host, using the address configured in Step 9:

    ssh admin@192.0.2.8

    Refer to the Arista Networks User Manual for complete switch configuration information.