Guides / Equipment

Replace a failed switch

Swap the hardware in a closet position and record where the old unit went, in one step.

GuideReviewed against the application source on 3 October 2026

Before you start

You need permission to edit the equipment. A unit that is checked out to someone must be checked in first.
Have the new unit to hand: a spare recorded in a storeroom, or a unit whose serial you can scan or type.
Decide what happens to the old unit: back to a storeroom as a spare, to the vendor on the RMA board, or to disposal. If E-Rate paid for it and it is going to disposal, have the reason ready.

Steps

Open the switch’s page (or the stack member’s, or the part’s) and choose Replace this switch.
Choose where the new unit comes from: A spare from storage, or Enter or scan its serial and pick its model from the catalog. If a record in storage already has that serial, that record is used.
If the model differs from the old one, confirm the model change. A different kind of equipment is refused.
Choose what happens to the old unit: Spare in a storeroom (and which storeroom), RMA to the vendor (with what is wrong and, if you have it, the vendor’s case number) or Disposal (with the reason).
Choose Replace. The result says where the old unit went and what changed.
If Cenovel had verified the switch’s identity, open the new unit’s page and choose Confirm identity. Post-work reachability checks wait for this.

The old unit’s record, DEMO-102, showing its replacement entry: serial SIM-1002 replaced by SIM-2001, old unit sent to RMA. — **Replace a unit.** Type the new unit’s serial, send the old unit to the RMA board, and read the record of the swap. Recorded from the demo’s fictional district. Muted; it loops.

Practice on the working Replace dialog in the concept page, or on a real switch page in the demo.

Try the Replace dialog

Check the result

The switch keeps its name, management address, ports and links. Cenovel keeps polling the same address.
Its open outage is closed with the event “Replaced by serial on date”. This records the swap, not a repair of the old unit.
The old unit has its own record: in the storeroom, on the RMA board, or pending disposal.
The switch timeline shows the replacement, and the E-Rate export lists the chain on its Replaced units sheet.

If someone swapped it already

When Find devices sees a different serial in a known position, the switch page shows a Confirm replacement prompt. Confirm it to open Replace with the serial filled in, or choose Not a replacement and say why.

Describes the release being prepared for deployment. Check the behavior on your installed release.