About This Guide

This chapter describes the objectives, audience, organization, and conventions of the Catalyst 5000 Series Advanced Software Configuration Guide.

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Document Objectives

The Catalyst 5000 Series Advanced Software Configuration Guide is designed to help you understand the Catalyst 5000 series switches, initially configure the switch to work in your network, and customize the switch configuration to fit your needs. For an alphabetical listing of software commands used to configure and maintain the switch, refer to the Catalyst 5000 Series Command Reference publication.

If you are using the Catalyst 5000 series switch in an emulated LAN, you should use this guide with the Cisco IOS Release 11.0 documentation set for routers and the
LightStream 100 User Guide (3.1) or the LightStream 1010 User Guide (3.1).

Audience

This guide is intended as a standalone document for experienced network administrators who are responsible for configuring and maintaining the Catalyst 5000 series switches.

Document Organization

The following parts are included in this guide:

• Part 1, " Getting Started," contains a module and software feature overview of the Catalyst 5000 series switches and references specific chapters in which the information is documented. It also describes how to access the command-line interface, documents the commands used to configure the Catalyst 5000 series switches, and contains steps for configuring the system at a basic level.

• Part 2, "Configuring the Modules," contains steps for configuring the Ethernet and Fast Ethernet Switching Modules, the ATM module, and CDDI/FDDI module.

• Part 3, "Configuring System Features," describes configuration and conceptual information about the following features for the Catalyst 5000 series switch:

  • Virtual LANs

  • Multicast Services

  • Supervisor Resilience

  • Network Security

  • Network Management

Document Conventions

This guide uses the following conventions:

• The symbol ^ represents the key labeled Control. For example, the key combinations ^D and Ctrl-D mean hold down the Control key while you press the D key. Keys are indicated in capital letters, but are not case sensitive.

• A string is defined as a nonquoted set of characters. For example, when setting an SNMP community string to "public," do not use quotation marks around the string, or the string will include the quotation marks.

• Command descriptions use these conventions:

  • Commands and keywords are in boldface font.

  • Arguments for which you supply values are in italic font.

  • Optional elements are shown in square brackets ([ ]); alternative optional elements are separated by vertical bars ( | ).

  • Alternative but required elements are grouped in braces ({ }) and separated by vertical bars ( | ).

• Examples use these conventions:

  • Examples that contain system prompts denote interactive sessions, indicating that the user enters commands at the prompt. The system prompt indicates the current command mode. For example, Console <enable> indicates privileged mode.

  • Terminal sessions and information the system displays are in screen font.

  • Information you enter is in boldface screen font.

  • Nonprinting characters, such as passwords, are in angle brackets (< >).

  • Default responses to system prompts are in square brackets ([ ]).

  • Exclamation points (!) and pound signs (#) at the beginning of a line indicate a comment line. They are also displayed by the switch for certain processes.

• Throughout this guide, the word port refers to both ports and interfaces.

• The following meanings apply to Note, Caution, and Warning:

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Note Means reader take note. Notes contain helpful suggestions or references to materials not contained in this guide.

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Caution Means reader be careful. In this situation, you might do something that could result in equipment damage or loss of data.

Warning Means danger. You are in a situation that could cause bodily injury. Before you work on any equipment, you must be aware of the hazards involved with electrical circuitry and familiar with standard practices for preventing accidents.