How to switch from PC to Mac OS for Networkers

Here is a little article to come back in business with this blog.

I recently moved from PC to Mac OS X and I was a little bit bored when the time was come to connect my console cable and starts configuring some routers (specifically the INE Lab for my CCIE prep that I will detail later on) :) If you read this article, you are probably in the same situation as me, here is a bunch of what I found everywhere around the Web, but centralized here for you folks.

USB-to-RS232 console cable drivers

Use this great blog post from Mark Holloway, everything is here, how-to download the drivers & connect throught the console cable : http://www.markholloway.com/blog/?p=495

MacBook-Pro-de-Benoit::~ benoit$ls -la /dev/tty.* 
crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 18, 2 Sep 20 22:22 /dev/tty.Bluetooth-Modem
crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 18, 0 Sep 20 22:22 /dev/tty.Bluetooth-PDA-Sync
crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 18, 32 Sep 22 16:11 /dev/tty.PL2303-00002626

/dev/tty.PL2303-00002626 is the IOGEAR USB to Serial Adapter

How to connect on USB-to-RS232 console from the OS X terminal
Without installing any other tool, you can use the native screen command.

MacBook-Pro-de-Benoit::~ benoit$ screen /dev/tty.PL2303-00002626 
Press RETURN to get started.
CCIE-Terminal-server>enable
Password:

Some useful Keyboard shortcuts for networkers Some times, you’ll need to add /1200 for some devices, if the connection doesn’t negociate correctly (you’ll see some strange characters..) or to perform BREAK commands, as you can see in the article of Mr. Holloway.

Some useful Keyboard shortcuts for networkers (From well known PC shortcuts to the stranges Mac shortcuts..)

CTRL+C+6  x

This command is useful when you use terminal server and whant to switch from different Switch/routers and keeping the sessions opened. First, if you use a french keyboard, please switch to US keyboard as this shortcut work only in this mode..

  • Click the “System Preference” icon in the Dock, or click the Apple icon in the upper left corner, then click “System Preferences…”
  • Click “Language and Text,” then the “Input Sources” tab.
  • Check the language or languages you want to be available for keyboard layouts. If you check multiple check boxes, click “Show Input Menu in Menu Bar” to make all selected languages available when you click the flag icon in the menu bar at the top of the screen. For example, if the U.S. flag is displayed, you can click it and select another keyboard language from the drop-down menu.

Then use CTRL+SHIFT+6 x

This article is now over, but don’t hesitate to post comments with the keyboard shortcut you use.. etc. I’ll edit this post later with them.

Benoit

Network engineer at CNS Communications. CCIE #47705, focused on R&S, Data Center, SD-WAN & Automation.

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