User Manual
3.6
Serial Port Cascading
Cascaded Ports enables you to cluster distributed console servers so a large number of serial ports (up to
1000) can be configured and accessed through one IP address and managed through the one
Management Console. One console server, the Master, controls other console servers as Slave units and
all the serial ports on the Slave units appear as if they are part of the Master.
Opengear’s clustering connects each Slave to the Master with an SSH connection. This is done using
public key authentication, so the Master can access each Slave using the SSH key pair (rather than using
passwords). This ensures secure authenticated communications between Master and Slaves enabling the
Slave console server units to be distributed locally on a LAN or remotely around the world.
3.6.1 Automatically generate and upload SSH keys
To set up public key authentication you must first generate an RSA or DSA key pair and upload them into
the Master and Slave console servers. This can be done automatically from the Master:
