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Table of Contents

Switch Configuration Overview

Switch Configuration Overview

This chapter provides an overview of the configuration and monitoring options supported by the Catalyst  1900 switch. Topics covered in this chapter are the following:

Overview of the Web Console

The web console is a graphical user interface (GUI) for changing the switch configuration and monitoring network conditions and statistics. The web console is an embedded HTML web site in Flash memory. Online help is available on all pages.


Note H
TTP is an in-band form of communication: you access the switch through one of its Ethernet or Fast Ethernet ports. Therefore, make sure that you do not disable or otherwise misconfigure the port through which you are communicating with the switch. You might want to write down the port number you are connected to. Make changes to the switch IP information with care.

Accessing the Web Console

The switch must have an IP address before you can access the web console. See the "Assigning IP Information to the Switch" section.

To access the web console, follow these steps:

Step 1 Start Netscape Communicator 4.xx or Internet Explorer 4.xx.

Step 2 Enter the IP address of the switch in the URL field if you are using Netscape (the Address field if you are using Internet Explorer).

The home page of the web console, Basic System Configuration Page (shown in Figure 3-1), is displayed.


Figure 3-1: Basic System Configuration Page

You now can continue to configure or monitor the switch from the web console, as described in the "Web-Based Management" chapter.


Note You can bookmark the IP address to easily retrieve the Basic System Configuration Page for later use. From the Netscape Communicator menu option, select Bookmarks, and then select Add Bookmark. From the Internet Explorer Favorites menu option, select Add to Favorites. Do not use the right mouse button to bookmark the web console; doing so only saves the specific frame (image) of the web console.

Note When you click the browser Reload button, or on some Sun and Macintosh platforms, when you resize the window, the browser redisplays a fresh copy of the Basic System Configuration Page.

Navigating in the Web Console

You can use the action bar at the top of each page to move between pages. Figure 3-2 lists the functions for each action bar section.


Figure 3-2: Web Console Action Bar

Making Changes with the Web Console

Web console pages function much like other GUIs. A web console page displays the current settings for the switch. You then change the switch settings by entering information into fields, adding and removing list items, or selecting check boxes.

After clicking Apply, you will not be able to revert to the previous settings.

Note Wait approximately 30 seconds for the changes to be saved to permanent storage before turning off the switch, or the changes might not be saved.

You can restrict access to the menu console by using a password and locking out a user who fails to enter the password within a set number of attempts. The network administrator can then be alerted by in-band management messages. For information about setting the password, see the "Basic System Configuration Page" section.

Using the Default Settings on the Web Console

The switch is designed to operate with little or no user intervention. In most cases, you can start using the switch with its default settings as soon as you assign an IP address to the switch.

Default values are defined for all switch features, and the switch begins forwarding packets as soon as it is powered up and connected to compatible devices. Table 3-1 shows the default values and the web console pages you use to change them.

Table 3-1: Features, Default Settings, and Console Pages
Feature Default Setting Web Console Page
Management

IP address, subnet mask, and
default gateway to the switch

0.0.0.0

System Management Page

Cisco Discovery Protocol

Enabled

CDP Management Page

Performance Tuning

Switching mode

FragmentFree
(cut-through)

System Management Page

Enhanced Congestion Control (ECC)
on 10BaseT ports

Disabled

System Management Page

Enhanced Congestion Control (ECC)
on 100BaseT ports

Disabled

Port Management Page

Duplex mode on 10BaseT ports

Half duplex

Port Management Page

Half-duplex back pressure
on 10BaseT ports

Disabled

System Management Page

Duplex mode
on switched 100BaseFX ports

Half duplex

Port Management Page

Duplex mode
on switched 100BaseTX port

Autonegotiate

Port Management Page

Flooding/Traffic Control

Broadcast storm control

Disabled

System Management Page

Store-and-forward on multicast

Disabled

System Management Page

Network Port

None

System Management Page

CGMP

Enabled

CGMP Management Page

Flooding unknown unicast packets

Enabled

Port Management Page

Flooding unregistered multicast packets

Enabled

Port Management Page

Network Redundancy/Fault Tolerance

Spanning-Tree Protocol

Enabled

Spanning-Tree Management Page

Port Fast Mode Spanning-Tree Protocol on 10BaseT ports

Enabled

Spanning-Tree Management Page

Port Fast Mode Spanning-Tree Protocol
on 100BaseT ports

Disabled

Spanning-Tree Management Page

Diagnostics

Port monitoring

Disabled

SPAN Configuration Page

Remote monitoring

Enabled

---

Usage reports

---

Detailed Port Statistics Page
Statistics Reports Page

Security

Console password

None

Basic System Configuration Page

Action on address violation

Suspend

System Management Page

Addressing security

Disabled

Address Table Management Page
Port Security Table Page

Define trap manager

None

SNMP Management Page

Define set (write) manager

None

SNMP Management Page

Community string

Public/Private

SNMP Management Page

Upgrades

Firmware

---

Console and Upgrade Configuration Page

Overview of the Menu Console

The menu console is a menu-driven interface for configuring and monitoring network conditions and statistics. You can use the menu console even when the network is down because the console bypasses the network and communicates directly with the switch.

Accessing the Menu Console

To access the menu console, follow these steps:

Step 1 Establish a connection with the switch by either:

After you connect through the console port or through a Telnet session, the Menu Console Logon Screen is displayed (shown in Figure 3-3) on the console.


Figure 3-3: Menu Console Logon Screen
Catalyst 1900 Management Console
Copyright (c) Cisco Systems, Inc.    1993-1998
All rights reserved.
Standard Edition Software
Ethernet address:      00-E0-1E-7E-B4-40
PCA Number: 73-2239-01
PCA Serial Number: SAD01200001
Model Number: WS-C1924-A
System Serial Number: FAA01200001
-------------------------------------------------
            User Interface Menu
            [M] Menus
            [I] IP Configuration
Enter Selection:

Step 2 Enter the [M] option to display the Management Console Main Menu (Figure 3-4).


Figure 3-4: Management Console Main Menu
Catalyst 1900 - Main Menu
[C] Console Settings
[S] System
[N] Network Management
[P] Port Configuration
[A] Port Addressing
[D] Port Statistics Detail
[M] Monitoring
[B] Bridge Group
[R] Multicast Registration
[F] Firmware
[I] RS-232 Interface
[U] Usage Summaries
[H] Help
[X] Exit Management Console
Enter Selection:

You now can continue to configure or monitor the switch from the menu console, as described in the "Menu-Based Management" chapter.

Navigating in the Menu Console

Figure 3-5 lists the menus that are available from the Main Menu of the menu console.


Figure 3-5: Menu Console Menus and Displays

Making Changes with the Menu Console

When you use the menu console, keep the following in mind:

In addition, when the cursor is at the beginning of an entry, pressing the Backspace key clears the entry.

Note The menus and displays in this chapter are for reference only and might not exactly reflect the menus and displays on your console.

Using the Default Settings on the Menu Console

The switch is designed to operate with little or no user intervention. In most cases, you can start using the switch with its default settings as soon as you assign an IP address to the switch.

Default values are defined for all switch features, and the switch begins forwarding packets as soon as it is powered up and connected to compatible devices. Table 3-2 shows the default values and the web console pages you use to change them.

Table 3-2: Features, Default Settings, and Console Menus
Feature Default Setting Console Menu
Management

IP address, subnet mask, and
default gateway to the switch

0.0.0.0

IP Configuration Menu

Cisco Discovery Protocol

Enabled

CDP Configuration/Status Menu

Performance Tuning

Switching mode

FragmentFree
(cut-through)

System Configuration Menu

Enhanced Congestion Control (ECC)
on 10BaseT ports

Disabled

System Configuration Menu

Enhanced Congestion Control (ECC)
on 100BaseT ports

Disabled

Port Configuration Menu (100BaseT Ports)

Duplex mode on 10BaseT

Half duplex

Port Configuration Menu (10BaseT Ports)

Half-duplex back pressure
on 10BaseT ports

Disabled

Port Configuration Menu (10BaseT Ports)

Duplex mode on 100BaseFX port

Half duplex

Port Configuration Menu (100BaseT Ports)

Duplex mode on 100BaseTX ports

Autonegotiation

Port Configuration Menu (100BaseT Ports)

Flooding/Traffic Control

Broadcast storm control

Disabled

System Configuration Menu

Network Port

None

System Configuration Menu

CGMP

Enabled

Cisco Group Management Protocol (CGMP) Configuration Menu

Overlapping bridge groups

Disabled

System Configuration Menu

Store-and-forward on multicast

Disabled

System Configuration Menu

Flooding unknown unicast packets

Enabled

Port Addressing Menu

Flooding unregistered multicast packets

Enabled

Port Addressing Menu

Network Redundancy/Fault Tolerance

Spanning-Tree Protocol

Enabled

Spanning Tree Configuration Menu

Port Fast Spanning-Tree Protocol
on 10BaseT ports

Enabled

Port Configuration Menu (10BaseT Ports)

Port Fast Spanning-Tree Protocol
on 100BaseT ports

Disabled

Port Configuration Menu (100BaseT Ports)

Diagnostics

Port monitoring

Disabled

Monitoring Configuration Menu

Remote monitoring (RMON)

Enabled

---

Usage reports

---

Port Status Report
Port Addressing Report
Exception Statistics Report
Utilization Statistics Report
Bandwidth Usage Report

Security

Console password

None

Console Settings Menu

Action on address violation

Suspend

System Configuration Menu

Addressing security

Disabled

Port Addressing Menu

Define trap manager

None

Network Management (SNMP) Configuration Menu

Define set (write) manage

None

Network Management (SNMP) Configuration Menu

Community strings

Public/Private

Network Management (SNMP) Configuration Menu

Upgrading

Firmware

---

Firmware Configuration Menu

In-Band Management

You can configure and manage the switch by accessing the MIB objects through in-band management. This section provides the following information about in-band management through Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).


Note Wait approximately 30 seconds for the changes to be saved to permanent storage before turning off the switch, or the changes might not be saved.

Accessing MIB and Trap Information

These MIB files contain variables that can be set or read to provide information about the switch and the traps generated by the switch.

The switch is shipped with a DOS diskette containing the switch firmware and device-specific MIBs. You can also obtain a copy of the MIB files in the following ways:

Using FTP to Access the MIB Files

To obtain a MIB file, follow these steps:

Step 1 Use FTP to access the server ftp.cisco.com.

Step 2 Log in with the username anonymous.

Step 3 Enter your e-mail name when prompted for the password.

Step 4 At the ftp> prompt, change directories to /pub/MIBs.

Step 5 Use the get README command to display the readme file listing available files.

Step 6 Use the get MIB_filename command to get a copy of the MIB file.

Using CCO to Access the MIB Files

To access the MIB files from CCO, click Software & Support to display the Software Center site.

CCO serves a wide variety of users through two interfaces that are updated and enhanced simultaneously: a character-based version and a multimedia version that resides on the World Wide Web (WWW). The character-based CCO supports Zmodem, Kermit, Xmodem, FTP, and Internet e-mail, and it is excellent for quick access to information over lower bandwidths. The WWW version of CCO provides richly formatted documents with photographs, figures, graphics, and video, as well as hyperlinks to related information.

You can access CCO in the following ways:

For a copy of CCO's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), contact cco-help@cisco.com. For additional information, contact cco-team@cisco.com.

Using SNMP to Access MIB Variables

The switch MIB variables are accessible through SNMP, an application-layer protocol facilitating the exchange of management information between network devices. The SNMP system consists of three parts: SNMP manager, SNMP agent, and MIB.

SNMP places all operations in a get-request, get-next-request, and set-request format. For example, an SNMP manager can get a value from an SNMP agent or store a value into that SNMP agent. The SNMP manager can be part of a network management system (NMS), and the SNMP agent can reside on a networking device such as a switch. You can compile the switch MIB files with your network management software. The SNMP agent can respond to MIB-related queries being sent by the NMS.

An example of an NMS is the CiscoWorks network management software. CiscoWorks uses the switch MIB variables to set device variables and to poll devices on the network for specific information. The results of a poll can be displayed as a graph and analyzed in order to troubleshoot internetworking problems, increase network performance, verify the configuration of devices, monitor traffic loads, and more.

Figure 3-6 shows how the SNMP agent gathers data from the MIB, which holds information about device parameters and network data. The agent can send traps, or notification of certain events, to the manager.


Figure 3-6: SNMP Network


Note Make sure you use the correct READ and WRITE community strings so that your SNMP request does not fail. Refer to the
Network Management (SNMP) Configuration Menu for the correct community strings.

The SNMP manager uses information in the MIB to perform the operations described in Table 3-3.

Table 3-3: SNMP Manager Operations
Operation Description

get-request

Retrieves a value from a specific variable.

get-next-request

Retrieves a value from a variable within a table.1

get-response

Reply to a get-request, get-next-request, and set-request sent by an NMS.

set-request

Store a value in a specific variable.

trap

Send an unsolicited message from an SNMP agent to an SNMP manager indicating that some event has occurred.

1An SNMP manager does not need to know the exact variable name. It sequentially searches to find the needed variable from within a table.

Remote Monitoring (RMON)

Remote Monitoring (RMON) is a standard monitoring specification that allows various network monitors and console systems to exchange network monitoring data. The switches provide support for the RMON of all ports. RMON provides you with visibility into network activity. You can access and remotely monitor the RMON specification RFC-1757 groupings of statistics, historical information, alarms, and events for any port through SNMP or through management applications, such as TrafficDirector.

RMON is enabled by default and is not displayed on the console. The switches support the statistics, history, alarm, and event groups.

The RMON feature monitors network traffic at the link layer of the OSI model without requiring a dedicated monitoring probe or network analyzer. You can analyze network traffic patterns, set up proactive alarms to detect problems before they affect users, identify heavy network users as candidates to move to dedicated or higher speed ports, and do trend analysis for long-term planning.

The switches support the following four RMON groups:

The statistics group of the RMON specification maintains utilization and error statistics for the monitored switch. Statistics include information about collisions, cyclic redundancy checks (CRCs) and alignment; undersized or oversized packets, jabber, fragments, broadcast, multicast, and unicast messages; and bandwidth utilization.

The history group takes periodic samples from the statistics section and stores them for later retrieval. This sampling includes information such as utilization, error counts, and packet counts.

You can use the alarm group to set a sampling interval and threshold for any RMON recorded item. Examples of alarm settings include absolute or relative values, rising or falling thresholds of utilization, packet counts, and CRC errors.

The events group allows events (generated traps) to be logged and provided to a network manager. The time and date are recorded with each logged event. You can use the events group to create customized reports that are based on alarm types.

With RMON enabled, the switches collect and forward comprehensive network traffic information from multiple Ethernet segments simultaneously. This capability allows you to obtain information to help tune or troubleshoot a switched LAN.

Extended RMON capabilities are provided through the use of a networking monitoring probe (such as Cisco SwitchProbe) connected to the monitoring (Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN)) port of the switch.


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