Out-of-band management versus in-band management

The auto-provisioning process can use the out-of-band management port (Mgmt port) or in-band management on Ethernet ports.

The node attempts the auto-provisioning process using any port with an operational link, starting with the out-of-band management port. If the node cannot be discovered using the out-of-band management port, either because the port is down or is not receiving a DHCP offer from the DHCP server, the process is reattempted using the Ethernet ports. If the Ethernet ports fail, the management port is tried again and the cycle repeats sequentially.

The following operational guidelines apply to in-band and out-of-band management ports.

If out-of-band management is used, no card or MDA provisioning is necessary and the auto-provisioning process executes as soon as an active link is detected on the Mgmt port.

To use out-of-band management exclusively, use the bof>auto-boot management-port command.

To use in-band management exclusively, use the bof>auto-boot inband [vlan vlan-id] command.