Iris Scenarios: Changing a Port from One Network to Another

Although Iris allows you to move ports from one network to another, there are some restrictions on which ports can be assigned to a given network.

Your write permissions

The first restriction is whether you have write permission in Contact Manager for the target network.

If a switch contains segments of networks named alpha, beta, and gamma, but Contact Manager records that you only have write permissions for beta and gamma, then Iris will not list alpha as an option in the Network menu of your Edit Port Settings window.

(This illustration shows the Network menu as seen by an Iris user with write permissions for one network, and this illustration shows the Network menu from an Iris user with write permissions for several networks.)

The switch's networks

Another restriction is whether the switch is configured to manage a segment of that particular network.

If switch X carries segments of the delta and epsilon networks, but does not carry zeta, then you won't be able to move switch X port 6 from delta to zeta. You could, however, move X-6 from delta to epsilon.

In the examples shown above, the uiuc-netmaintlab-net network listed in the first illustration is not available in the list of networks in the second illustration. The port in Bevier Hall cannot be assigned to uiuc-netmaintlab-net because the Bevier switch does not carry that network, even though the multi-network-authorized user could assign ports to that network.

If a network is not available on a certain switch, email net-trouble@uiuc.edu or contact the CITES Operations Center to request that it be added.

The Edit Port Settings page

In any Edit Port Settings page, you can change a port from one network to another by changing the Network menu item and clicking Commit Changes.

You cannot assign a port to a network that is not available from your instance of the Network menu.

If the switch carries that network, but you aren't authorized to move the port to it, check Contact Manager for a list of people who would be authorized to add ports to that network.