When you use CMS, the Cluster Management Suite, to manage a cluster, the user interface consists of these elements:
When you use CMS to manage an individual switch, a menu bar and toolbar are still present. The functions they launch are specific to the switch. You still have a front-panel view of the switch, popup menus, and configuration windows.
The menu bar and toolbar are always present. With them, you can do most administration and configuration tasks without viewing the network topology or the front panels of switches.
The Topology view and the Front Panel view are available from the View menu. You will find them helpful in two ways:
When you launch CMS, the Topology view appears by default if you are managing a cluster. The Front Panel view appears by default if you are managing a standalone device. You can change the launch default to display the Front Panel view instead of or in addition to the Topology view. Or you can display neither view. CMS lets you set this and other preferences.
The status bar is at the bottom of the user interface. When CMS starts up, the status bar appears and progresses to the right as the devices in the network are learned. When this process ends, the appropriate menu items and views are ready to use. CMS repeats this learning process for every network polling interval.
If you lose connectivity to the cluster, the status bar will show "No connectivity."
Most of the tasks you perform in CMS are with configuration windows or guide steps. They are alternative ways for specifying the objects that you want to work with and the actions that you want to take. When you use configuration windows, you are in expert mode; when you use guide steps, you are in guide mode.
When you make a valid change to a field or a table cell, you see a green border around it. Whatever you overtype appears in the status bar. When you save the change, the green border disappears.
When you make an invalid change to a field or a table cell, you see a red border around it. A message that describes the error appears in the status bar.