2025-06-13 0

9 Essential Huawei Switch Commands Every Network Pro Should Master

Picture this: it’s 3 AM, the office is dark, and an urgent alert signals a critical network slowdown affecting the entire finance department. Your console session connects to the Huawei S5735 stack at the core of the chaos. ​The difference between a quick resolution and hours of frustration lies in knowing the precise commands to probe your switches.​​ Mastering Huawei’s command-line interface (CLI) transforms reactive troubleshooting into proactive network stewardship. These tools aren’t just instructions; they’re your network’s diagnostic toolkit.

While GUI interfaces evolve, the CLI remains the network engineer’s scalpel, offering surgical precision for diagnosis and verification. For Huawei’s versatile Ethernet switches (like the S5700, S6700, or CloudEngine series), specific commands act as foundational instruments. Let’s explore nine indispensable query commands:

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​The Essential Nine:​​

  1. ​**display current-configuration**: Peek into the live settings. This command reveals the active configuration loaded into RAM. Need to confirm that VLAN assignment, ACL entry, or SNMP community string actually took effect? This is your definitive source. It avoids confusion between the running configuration and the saved startup configuration (display saved-configuration). Use | include to filter, e.g., display current-configuration | include vlan 10.
    • ​Output:​​ Shows the complete running configuration.
  2. ​**display interface brief / display interface [interface-type interface-number]**: Your first stop for connectivity woes. display interface brief provides a high-level overview of all interfaces – status (Up/Down), protocol status (Up/Down), description, VLAN membership, and duplex/speed. Drilling down with display interface GigabitEthernet 0/0/1 reveals critical details: input/output traffic rates, error counters (CRC, runts, giants), input/output discards, duplex mismatches, and detailed physical/line protocol state changes. Spotting incrementing error counters is key.
    • ​Output (Brief):​​ Shows Interface, Physical (PHY), Protocol (PRO), Description, Type, Duplex/Speed, VLAN, Status.
    • ​Output (Detailed):​​ Shows operational state, line protocol state, MAC address, speed/duplex, last flapping time, traffic statistics (bytes, packets, rates), and error counters.
  3. ​**display mac-address**: Mapping devices to ports. This fundamental command lists the MAC addresses dynamically learned by the switch or statically configured and associates them with specific interfaces and VLANs. It’s indispensable for identifying where a specific workstation connects, locating rogue devices, or diagnosing issues related to MAC address table saturation or flapping entries (where display mac-address flapping becomes useful).
    • ​Output:​​ Shows MAC Address, VLAN ID, State (Dynamic/Static/Sticky/Blackhole/Security/Authen), Interface, Aging Time.
  4. ​**display arp (or display arp all)​**: Bridging Layer 2 and Layer 3. When a host is unreachable beyond the local subnet, verify its ARP entry. This command displays the IP-to-MAC address bindings the switch has learned (if acting as a layer 3 gateway) or through proxy ARP for locally attached devices. Missing or incorrect ARP entries signal layer 2 reachability problems or misconfigured subnets.
    • ​Output:​​ Shows IP Address, MAC Address, VLAN ID, Interface, Aging Time (Type: Dynamic/Static/Openflow/…).
  5. ​**display ip routing-table**: Visualizing the switch’s forwarding path. For multilayer switches acting as the default gateway, this command lists the known network routes. It shows how the switch will forward packets towards specific destination networks – indicating the next-hop IP address or the directly connected exit interface. Essential for confirming route advertisement and path selection.
    • ​Output:​​ Shows Destination/Mask, Protocol (DIRECT/STATIC/OSPF/…), Pre (Preference), Cost, NextHop, Interface.
  6. ​**display vlan / display vlan [vlan-id]**: Confirming your segmentation strategy. display vlan provides a concise summary of all configured VLANs and their member interfaces. Diving deeper with display vlan 10 reveals the VLAN name, status, its tagged and untagged member ports, and potentially associated IP interfaces.
    • ​Output (Summary):​​ Shows VLAN ID, Name, Status, Interface List.
    • ​Output (Detailed):​​ Adds VLAN type (common), Route Interface (if applicable), Description, MAC learning, STP state, detailed tagged/untagged member interfaces.
  7. ​**display stp brief (or display stp)​**​ : Unraveling switching loop prevention. Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) silently protects your network. display stp brief gives a quick overview: which ports are Root/Designated/Alternate, their state (Forwarding/Blocking/Discarding). Deeper analysis with display stp reveals the root bridge ID, port costs, timers, and region details (if using MSTP/RSTP). Critical for diagnosing persistent loop conditions or blocked ports that should be forwarding.
    • ​Output (Brief):​​ Shows Interface, Role (Root/Desi/Altn/Backup), State (FWD/DIS/BLK), Cost, Priority, Port ID.
    • ​Output (Standard/Detailed):​​ Shows root bridge ID, regional root ID, bridge priority/timers, per-port detailed state/cost/priority/etc.
  8. ​**display logbuffer**: The device’s diary. When something breaks, especially if an interface bounced or the switch reloaded, the logbuffer is the first place to look. It holds the most recent system messages, warnings, and errors (like link flaps, port-security violations, OSPF adjacencies going down, configuration changes). Its size is limited, so act quickly. For persistent logs, configure a proper logging server.
    • ​Output:​​ Shows timestamped system messages, severity level, module, and content.
  9. ​**display device / display version**: Knowing your hardware heartbeat. display device lists the switch chassis, installed power supplies, fans, and slots (on modular models), indicating their operational status (Normal/Fault/Offline). display version provides the software version, release date, boot ROM version, and base MAC address. Vital for planning upgrades, troubleshooting hardware faults, or understanding feature support limitations.
    • ​Output (Device):​​ Shows Slot, Card Type, Ports, Status (Register/Absent/Normal/PowerOff/Fault), Online, PowerSupply State.
    • ​Output (Version):​​ Shows Huawei Versatile Routing Platform (VRP) version, release time, patch version, software filename, boot ROM version, system start time, running time, base MAC address.

​The True Value Lies in Synthesis​

Memorizing these nine commands provides a powerful starting point. Yet, the mark of a seasoned network professional lies not merely in recollection, but in intelligent combination and context-driven application. A dropped port discovered via display interface brief might lead to a display interface GigabitEthernet x/x/x revealing CRC errors, prompting a cable replacement. An unexpected IP route disappearance shown in display ip routing-table could require checking neighbor adjacencies or routing protocol logs within display logbuffer. That elusive device appearing in display mac-address might be traced to an unexpected access port using display vlan. Every query feeds into a larger diagnostic picture.