Using Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP), you can discover the surrounding network star topology that consists of 2900 and 3500 XL switches and Cisco edge devices. The center node of the star is the primary device; stack members can include up to four directly connected 2900 or 3500 XL switches. If more than four switches are connected to the primary switch, only the four connected to the lowest port numbers of the primary switch are displayed as stack members. All other devices are considered edge devices.
To use Switch Network View, you must enable SNMP and set the read community string to public on all stack members. In addition, all stack members must be running either the Cisco IOS Release 12.0(5)XP (or Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8.x)SA6 on WS-C2908-XL, WS-C2916M-XL, WS-C2924-XL, and WS-C2924C-XL models) and the corresponding Cisco Visual Switch Manager (CVSM) software release. To display the IOS version, use the CLI command show version.
The network view contains features that help you manage collections of devices. You can display connection information and configure individual switches.
Note: To properly display five switches, the configuration can include only one modular switch and four single rack-space switches.
Using the network view, you can:
For information about accessing pop-up menus using the right mouse button, review the tips on navigating.
For more information about the network view, review the page buttons and the device labels and color coding.
From the network view, click Visual Stack to display stack member switches in a consolidated physical view called the visual stack. The visual stack provides a real-time status update of the ports (status, speed, duplex mode), modules, and Cisco Redundant Power System (RPS). From the visual stack, you can click a port on the switch image and configure port functionality. You can also configure a switch by clicking its IP address and launching CVSM. For more information, click Help on the Visual Stack page.
Note: If you access CVSM to configure a stack member and then relaunch the network view, the reconfigured stack member becomes the primary switch. The network view displays devices in a different arrangement than if the browser is pointed at the original center node of the star topology. For example, a stack member could become an edge device.
You can display switch connection information for stack member switches (blue labels) that are directly connected to the primary switch and switch edge devices (yellow labels).
Click Switch Manager in the network view to access the following connection information:
| Field | Description |
| Primary/Type | Lists the IP address and device type of the primary switch (center node). The IP address of the primary switch is hyperlinked so that you can launch CVSM to perform additional configuration tasks. |
| Primary Interface | Lists the interfaces of the primary that are connected to other switches. |
| Connected Member | Lists the IP address of switches connected to the primary switch. IP addresses are hyperlinked so that you can launch CVSM to perform additional configuration tasks. |
| Device Type | Displays the device types of the stack members. |
| Capability | Displays the function of the stack member, such as switch. |
| Connected Member Port | Displays the switch port that is connected to the primary switch. |
If the primary switch is connected to four stack members, these devices appear first in the table. If the primary switch has redundant links or port groups configured to another stack member, each port connection is listed in a separate row.
Note: If you access CVSM to configure a stack member and then relaunch the network view, the reconfigured stack member becomes the primary switch. The network view displays devices in a different arrangement than if the browser is pointed at the original center node of the star topology. For example, a stack member could become an edge device.
When you click the right mouse button on a switch (stack member) with a blue label, a pop-up menu appears with the following options:
Clicking Device Report from the pop-up menu launches another browser window that contains two navigation buttons (Device Report and Switch Manager) at the top of the page. These buttons have the same functionality as the menu commands on the pop-up menu. For more information, click Help on the Device Report page.
Note: If a switch or another device has a yellow label, it is considered an edge device. When you click the right mouse button on it, a pop-up menu appears from which you can launch the web-based management application for this device, if one exists.
When you click the right mouse button on a link between devices, a pop-up menu appears. Click Link Report to generate link-specific reports that contain link speed, duplex mode, port group, VLAN, and network port information in a separate browser window. For more information, click Help on the Link Report page.
By clicking the right mouse button on a switch stack member (blue label), you can access device-specific information such as configuration, system, and port information. For more information, review accessing device reports.
By clicking the right mouse button on a link, you can access link-specific information such as speed, duplex mode, port groups, network port, and VLAN information. For more information, review accessing link reports.
Double-clicking a device in the network view causes the web-based management application (if one exists) for that device to be launched.
Note: If you access CVSM to configure a stack member and then relaunch the network view, the reconfigured stack member becomes the primary switch. The network view displays devices in a different arrangement than if the browser is pointed at the original center node of the star topology. For example, a stack member could become an edge device.
The network view contains the following page buttons along the left edge of the page. These buttons have the following functions:
| Button | Function |
| Visual Stack | Launches the Visual Stack View page, which displays members of the stack in a visual stack. Displays the status, duplex, and speed settings of each port on the image of the stack members. Allows you to select and configure an individual port. Provides access to CVSM, which allows you to perform configuration tasks on a single switch. For more information, click Help on the Visual Stack View page. |
| Switch Manager | Launches a page that displays IP addresses, port information, and device
type information about connected stack member switches. Provides links to CVSM, which
allows you to perform configuration tasks on a single switch. Note: To launch the web-based management application for nonstack members (devices with yellow labels), click the right mouse button on the device in the network view, and select Device Web Page from the pop-up menu. |
| Toggle Labels | Alternately displays IP addresses and device type labels. |
| Help | Displays help topics for a specific page. |
| Legend | Launches the Legend page, which shows what each icon and link represents in the network view. |
Each device in the network view is represented by an icon, label, and color.
To understand what each icon represents, click Legend.
Each device has a label that displays the IP address or the device type. You can alternate between these two labels by clicking Toggle Labels. The device labels are color coded. For example, blue device labels identify stack members; only 2900 and 3500 XL switches can be stack members. Yellow device labels identify edge devices, which include Cisco switches, routers, hubs, or micro-web servers connected to the stack members. Edge devices can only be Cisco devices.
Each link has a label that displays port connection information between two devices.