Connections

Start by connecting the serial port on the PC side and the console port on the switch.

Connection

Launch HyperTerminal and choose a connection on com1 port, or another com port depending on the PC configuration. You need to choose 9600 Bauds The rest doesn’t matter much…

What You Need to Know

When launching the terminal, you’ll determine several things:

  • The router name (for example: swpar5)
  • A secret
  • A password
  • A virtual terminal password

Then you need to switch to “enable” mode to be able to change the configuration

  enable
  

The prompt changes from swpar5> to swpar5#

In this mode, you can view the router configuration by typing

  sh run
  

Resources

Cisco Basic Concepts

If you want to modify this configuration, you need to switch to “conf” mode

  conf t
  

Result: the prompt changes to swpar5(config)#

The “t” is to indicate that you want to configure the router in terminal mode.

Configuring the IP Address of an Interface

By running sh run, you can see the different interfaces, like this:

  interface FastEthernet0/24
!
interface GigabitEthernet0/1
!
interface GigabitEthernet0/2
!
interface Vlan1
 no ip address 
 no ip route-cache
!
ip http server
!
control-plane
!
!
line con 0
line vty 0 4
 password *xxxxx*
 no login
line vty 5 15
  

Here we see an interface named Vlan1 that has no IP address, and we notice that the two lines that follow are indented with a space, so we can modify them by typing, in “configuration” mode:

  interface Vlan1
  

The prompt then changes to swpar5(config-if)# Then type

  ip address 192.168.0.169 255.255.255.0
  

Then return to enable mode (with the prompt swpar5#) and type:

  wr m
  

to save

From there, you can access the router’s web interface by typing

  http://192.168.0.169
  

Firmware Update

Checking Firmware Version

Type

  sh ver
  

Downloading the Latest Version

Go to cisco.fr –> support –> download software –> software advisor –> Find software compatible with my hardware –> Select your hardware configuration manually –> then choose the router model and download the archive. You have the choice between software that supports CRYPTO (secure https connection) or not.

Installing the New Firmware

It’s a .tar archive that needs to be loaded from the router’s web interface. Everything is automatic.

Configuring the VTP Domain

  swpar5(config)#vtp mode client     (or server or transparent)
swpar5(config)#vtp domain ulnet-fr 
  

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/lan/catalyst4500/12.1/12ew/configuration/guide/vtp.html#wp1032093

Configuring an Interface

Setting trunk mode allows multiple VLANs to pass through a single port between multiple switches:

  swpar5(config-if)#switchport mode trunk
  
  swpar5(config-if)#switchport nonegotiate
  
  swpar5(config-if)#auto qos voip trust 
  
  swpar5(config-if)#macro description cisco-switch
  
  swpar5(config-if)#spanning-tree link-type point-to-point
  

Creating a VLAN

Switch to configuration mode, and type

  swpar5(config)#vlan x
  

where “x” is an “id” for the VLAN (a number), then choose a name for this VLAN. To do this, in conf mode, type “vlan x”

  swpar5(config-vlan)#name vlan_name
  

You can verify the VLAN configuration with the command

  swpar5#sh vlan
  

Once the VLAN is created, it’s better to put it in “no-shutdown” so that it doesn’t automatically deactivate:

  swpar5(config-if)#no shutdown
  

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/lan/catalyst2960/software/release/12.2_25_fx/configuration/guide/swvlan.html#wp1273595

Assigning an Interface to a VLAN

Enter configuration mode and choose an interface, for example “interface FastEthernet0/1”, and type

  swpar5(config-if)#switchport mode access
swpar5(config-if)#switchport access vlan 3 (if the VLAN is called "vlan 3")
  

Graphical Mode

Once you have assigned an IP address, you can access the switch’s graphical interface via http. When asked for a username and password, you only need to enter the password that you set at the beginning.

Resources

Last updated 20 Nov 2007, 14:57 CET. history