Most modern switches include the ability to use SSH as a remote communications protocol.  Here we will enable that functionality and disable telnet on the Dell Powerconnect 5548 switches.

Enable SSH

In order to enable SSH we need to generate the keys which will be used by SSH to encrypt the traffic.

text 
console>enable
console# configure terminal
(config)# crypto key generate rsa
(config)# crypto key generate dsa
(config)# ip ssh server
(config)# exit
console# write memory

Disable Telnet

Depending on your config you might not need to disable this, but if it is enabled you should disable it.

text 
console>enable
console# configure terminal
(config)# no ip telnet server
(config)# exit
console# write memory