How to Use a Serial Cable with the Mac Terminal

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  1. Connect the Serial Cable: Plug one end of the serial cable into the switch’s serial port.
  2. Connect to Mac: Plug the serial adapter’s USB end into your Mac.
  3. Open Terminal: Navigate to and open the Terminal application.
  4. List USB Devices: Enter the command ls /dev/usb to list all USB devices.
  5. Identify Serial Adapter: Look for an entry like /dev/tty.usbserial-XXX. If you see tty.usbserial in the name, it indicates that this device is your serial adapter.
  6. Check Port Speed: Refer to your switch’s manual to determine the correct port speed. For example, on my Dell switch, the port speed is set at 115200.
  7. Access Serial Connection: With the correct port speed in mind, input the command screen /dev/tty.usbserial-3140 115200 where 115200 represents the serial port speed you determined in the previous step.
  8. Begin Configuration: After pressing “Enter”, you’ll be connected and can start configuring your network devices.

ls /dev/*usb*

screen /dev/tty.usbserial-3140 115200