Cisco 3750-E

Dec 27 2008   6:19AM GMT

Cisco Etherchannel Overview and how it can be configured in Cisco Catalyst Switches – Series 3

Posted by: Yasir Irfan
Networking, Switches, Cisco, IEEE, Switching, Cisco IOS, Cisco 2960, Cisco 2950, Cisco 6500, Cisco Tips, Cisco 3560, Cisco Learning, Cisco 3750-E, Cisco Systems, Etherchannel, Cisco 6500 Series Catalyst Switch, 802.3ad, Etherchannel configuration, Etherchannel restrictions, Protocol, PAGP, LACP, Port Aggregation Protocol, Link Aggregation Control Protocol

Dear Friends, hope everyone is having great holidays, have fun. In my previous post  I was focusing on some of the limitations of Etherchannel. Now let’s proceed a step ahead and figure out about the Etherchannel negotiation protocols. Etherchannels can be negotiated between two Cisco Catalyst Switches  to provide some dynamic link configuration.

 Basically there are two types of protocols are available, which can be used to bundled the automated creation of an Etherchannel in the Cisco Catalyst Switches.

In upcomming post I will try to concentrate on automating the creation of an Etherchannel . Have fun and happy new year 2009.

Dec 20 2008   6:33AM GMT

Cisco Etherchannel Overview and how it can be configured in Cisco Catalyst Switches – Series 2

Posted by: Yasir Irfan
Networking, Switches, Cisco, Switching, Routing and Switching, Cisco 2960, Cisco 2950, Cisco 6500, Cisco Tips, Cisco 3560, Cisco 3750-E, Cisco Systems, Etherchannel, Layer 2 Etherchannel, Layer 3 Etherchannel, Etherchannel configuration, Etherchannel restrictions

Dear Friends, in my previous post I just introduced Etherchannel, now let’s proceed one step ahead,  there are certain limits with the Etherchannel  lets figure out what are those  limits,

 

·         An Etherchannel  Group Number must be in the range of 1 to 256.

·         All ports in the target Etherchannel  group MUST be in the same VLAN.

·         If one physical link in the Etherchannel  group is a TRUNK, then all other ports must be configured as trunks carrying the same VLAN information.

·         Any defined broadcast limits must be the same across all ports in an Etherchannel.

·         An LACP Etherchannel  group cannot support any physical links in half duplex mode.

·         No port in the Etherchannel  group can be defined as a SPAN port.

Dec 13 2008   6:27AM GMT

How to configure an interface to default settings in a Cisco Switch or a Cisco Router?

Posted by: Yasir Irfan
Switches, Cisco, Routers, Switching, Routing and Switching, Cisco IOS, Routing, Cisco 2960, Cisco 2950, Cisco 6500, Cisco Tips, Cisco 3560, Cisco 3745, Cisco 3750-E, Router Troubleshooting, Cisco 877W Router, Cisco 6500 Series Catalyst Switch, Cisco 6503, Cisco Catalyst 6503-E Switch, Cisco Catalyst 6506-E Switch, Cisco Catalyst 6509-V-E Switch, Cisco Catalyst 6509-E Switch, Cisco Catalyst 6513 Switch

This is a cool command to erase just the configuration for a particular interface in a Cisco Switch or a Cisco Router.

In the following example we will configure the interface fast Ethernet 0/9  to default configuration

Current Configuration for fast Ethernet 0/9  

ITKE-Cisco#sho running-config interface fastEthernet 0/9

Building configuration…

 

Current configuration : 85 bytes

!

interface FastEthernet0/9

 switchport access vlan 100

 switchport mode access

end

ITKE-Cisco

 

Now we will configure the fast Ethernet 0/9 to default configuration using the following command

“default interface fastEthernet 0/9” 

ITKE-Cisco#configure t

Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.

ITKE-Cisco(config)#default interface fastEthernet 0/9

Interface FastEthernet0/6 set to default configuration

ITKE-Cisco(config)#

 

Running configuration for fast Ethernet 0/9 after configuring to default settings

ITKE-Cisco#sho running-config interface fastEthernet 0/9

Building configuration…

 

Current configuration : 68 bytes

!

interface FastEthernet0/9

 switchport mode dynamic desirable

end

 

ITKE-Cisco#

Dec 2 2008   7:30AM GMT

How to configure SPAN(Switched Port Analyzer ) feature in a Cisco Catalyst Switch

Posted by: Yasir Irfan
Switches, Cisco, Switching, Cisco IOS, Wireshark, Cisco 2960, Cisco 2950, Cisco 6500, Cisco Tips, Cisco 3560, Cisco 3745, Cisco Learning, Cisco 3750-E, Cisco 3560-E, Network Troubleshooting, Show commands, Cisco 6500 Series Catalyst Switch, Cisco 6503, Cisco Catalyst 6503-E Switch, Cisco Catalyst 6506-E Switch, Cisco Catalyst 6509-V-E Switch, Cisco Catalyst 6509-E Switch, Cisco Catalyst 6513 Switch, SPAN, Sniifer

It’s quite important for Network Engineers and an essential network troubleshooting technique to utilize the ability of Cisco Catalyst Switches to mirror the traffic and send it to a sniffer for analysis. All Cisco Catalyst Switches support the Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) feature. The SPAN copies traffic from the specified interface or VLANs and mirrors this traffic to a specified destination interface (SPAN interface).  Then you can connect the PC with a sniffing tool (Wireshark) installed on the destination SPAN interface to capture all the mirrored traffic.Let’s see how to configure the SPAN in Cisco Catalyst Switches.  To enable the switch SPAN mirroring feature configure the following on the catalyst switch: Configuration Example - Monitoring traffic from a specific interfaceITKEAS01#configure tITKEAS01(config) monitor session 1 source interface gigabitEthernet 0/5

ITKEAS01(config)#monitor session 1 destination interface gigabitEthernet 0/10 

The  above configuration will capture all traffic from interface gigabitEthernet 0/5  and send it to SPAN port interface gigabitEthernet 0/10 

Configuration Example - Monitoring an entire VLAN traffic
ITKEAS01(config)#monitor session 1 source vlan 100
ITKEAS01(config) monitor session 1 destination interface gigabitEthernet 0/10 The  above configuration will capture all traffic of VLAN 100 and send it to SPAN port interface gigabitEthernet 0/10

Use  show monitor session 1 to verify your configuration.

Nov 22 2008   12:56PM GMT

How to configure DHCP Snooping in a Cisco Catalyst Switches.

Posted by: Yasir Irfan
Networking, DHCP, Switches, Cisco, Switching, Routing and Switching, CCNP, Cisco IOS, Cisco 2960, Cisco 2950, HSRP, Cisco 6500, Cisco Tips, Cisco 3560, Cisco Learning, Server Security, Cisco 3750-E, Cisco 3560-E, IOS commands, Cisco Systems, Cisco 6500 Series Catalyst Switch, Cisco 6503, Cisco Catalyst 6503-E Switch, Cisco Catalyst 6506-E Switch, Cisco Catalyst 6509-V-E Switch, Cisco Catalyst 6509-E Switch, Cisco Catalyst 6513 Switch, DHCP Snooping, Configuring DHCP Snooping, 802.1 Q, Trunk Ports

 So here we go, with the configuration of DHCP snooping on a Cisco Switch. This feature protects the network by allowing the Cisco Switches to accept DHCP response message only from the authorized servers connected to the trusted interfaces in a Cisco Switch.

All Switch to  Switch connections are configured as 802.1 1Q Trunk ports.

IP Address and HSRP Details for the Core Switches  From the above scenario we have two Cisco 6513 Series Switches as a Core/ Distribution with three VLANS one for management of Switches VLAN 50,VLAN 100 for all the servers and VLAN 101 for clients. Two Cisco 3560 Series Switches as Server Farm Switches and a Cisco 3560 Series Switch as an Access Switch.There are two DHCP servers with an IP address 10.0.1.100 and 10.0.1.101 connected with Server Farm Switches with HP NIC teaming. We configure DHCP Snooping based on above scenario. 

The first step to configure DHCP Snooping is to turn on DHCP snooping in all Cisco Switches using the “ip dhcp snooping” command. 

All Cisco Switches (config)#ip dhcp snooping  Second step is to configure the trusted interfaces, from the above scenario all trunk ports are configured as trusted ports as well as the interfaces G0/7,(ITKESF01 50.0.0.6),  G0/17,(ITKESF02 50.0.0.7),  G0/9 ITKESF01 50.0.0.6)  and G0/18 ITKESF02 50.0.0.7)  connected to DHCP servers with IP 10.0.1.100 and 10.0.1.101. Lets configure all trunk ports in ITKEBB01 

ITKEBB01(config)#interface range  gigabitEthernet 3/21 - 23

ITKEBB01 (config-if)#ip dhcp snooping trust 

Now let’s configure all trunk ports in ITKEBB02 

ITKEBB02(config)#interface range  gigabitEthernet 3/21 - 23 ITKEBB02 (config-if)#ip dhcp snooping trust 

ITKEBB02 (config)#interface gigabitEthernet 3/16

ITKEBB02 (config-if)#ip dhcp snooping trust 

Now let’s configure the trusted ports for the DHCP servers  

ITKESF01(config)#interface gigabitEthernet 0/7

ITKESF01 (config-if)#ip dhcp snooping trust 

ITKESF01(config)#interface gigabitEthernet 0/17 ITKESF01 (config-if)#ip dhcp snooping trust 

ITKESF02(config)#interface gigabitEthernet 0/9

ITKESF02 (config-if)#ip dhcp snooping trust 

ITKESF02(config)#interface gigabitEthernet 0/18 ITKESF02 (config-if)#ip dhcp snooping trust 

Now let’s configure the trunk ports  Access Switch ITKEAS01 

ITKEAS01(config)#interface range  gigabitEthernet 0/49 - 52

ITKEAS01 (config-if)#ip dhcp snooping trust 

Finally we are going to configure VLANS for DHCP snooping DHCP snooping will used on all the VLANs (VLAN 100 & 101)except management VLAN 50 . Also we will limit the requests rate received in the Access Switch (ITKEAS01)  ALL SWITCHES(config)# ip dhcp snooping VLAN 100,101 

ITKEAS01(config)#interface range  gigabitEthernet 0/1 - 48

ITKEAS01 (config-if)#ip dhcp snooping limit rate 20

Displaying the DHCP snooping  

For further reference please do check this article from Cisco about DHCP snooping.

Nov 22 2008   7:22AM GMT

Why should we consider implementing DHCP Snooping?

Posted by: Yasir Irfan
Networking, Security, DHCP, Switches, Cisco, Switching, Cisco 2960, Cisco 2950, Cisco 6500, Cisco Tips, Cisco 3560, Cisco 3750-E, Cisco 3560-E, Err-disable, Cisco Systems, Cisco 6500 Series Catalyst Switch, Cisco 6503, DHCP Snooping

Dear FriendsIn my previous post I was discussing about the DHCP Snooping, it may be hard to believe a DHCP sever can lead to lot troubles in your network. Consider a host sends out DHCP discovery packets, it listens for a DHCP offers packets and accepts the first available offer from a DHCP server. Guess what happens if the host gets a DHCP offer from a rouge DHCP server? The host could end up with using rouge DHCP server with an IP address and the default gateway. The host cannot access any of the resources from your network. 

Yes we can prevent this with DHCP snooping thanks to Cisco. DHCP snooping classifies interfaces as either trusted or untrusted. DHCP messages received on trusted interfaces will be permitted to pass through the Cisco switch, but DHCP messages received on untrusted interface in a Cisco Switch results in putting the interface into error disable state. Configuring DHCP snooping in a Network is quite troublesome job but I will try to make things easier for you by using a scenario, which hopefully I am going post soon.

Sep 8 2008   8:12AM GMT

How to reset/delete the password & configuraton on a Cisco WS-C350-48-SMI

Posted by: Yasir Irfan
Switches, Cisco, Cisco 2950, HyperTerminal, Cisco Tips, Cisco 3560, Cisco 3750-E, Cisco 3560-E, IOS commands, Password reset

This article describes the procedure for resetting / delete  the  password & current configuration on a Cisco Catalyst WS-C3550-48-SMI.Model: WS-C3550-48-SMI
Warning: This procedure will remove the switch configuration. Be sure to have a backup of you current switch configuration before proceeding.The Cisco WS-C3550-48-SMI Catalyst switch is similar to most Catalyst switches and the procedure for resetting the password is the same.

Step 1: Connect the console cable to the switch and start your terminal program (HyperTerminal/Secure CRT). Console port settings are 9600,8,N,1

Step 2: Hold the MODE button (on the front of the switch) while you power on the switch.

Step 3: Hold the MODE button for a few seconds until you the System light stop flashing.Step 4: At this point, the switch should be in ROMmon mode. Step 5: From ROMmon mode, type: flash_initStep 6: From ROMmon mode, type: delete flash:config.textStep 7: From ROMmon mode, type: boot

At this point the switch will boot as normal with a new configuration and no password.

 

Aug 30 2008   5:16AM GMT

A cool tool to solve layer 1 UTP cable issues in Cisco Catalyst Switches.

Posted by: Yasir Irfan
Switches, Cisco, Cisco Tips, Cisco 3560, Cisco Learning, Cisco 3750-E, Cisco 3560-E, Network Troubleshooting, IOS commands, Layer 1 issues

Here is a simple and cool tool for solving layer 1 UTP cable issues in a Cisco Catalyst Switches, the command used for this function is “test cable-diagnostics tdr interface”
Here is the example

MBGF-DAC-3560-AS01#test cable-diagnostics tdr interface gigabitEthernet 0/1
TDR test started on interface Gi0/1
A TDR test can take a few seconds to run on an interface
Use ’show cable-diagnostics tdr’ to read the TDR results.
MBGF-DAC-3560-AS01#
The Catalyst 2960, 2970, 3560/3560-E, and 3750/3750-E switches have an integrated Time Domain Reflector (TDR), which is used to test cables associated with a port. TDR is supported only on 10/100/1000 and some 10/100 (Catalyst 2960) copper Ethernet ports. It is not supported on 10 GigabitEthernet or SFP module ports.

A TDR test can take a few seconds to run on an interface. Use “show cable-diagnostics tdr” to read the TDR results.

MBGF-DAC-3560-AS01#sho cable-diagnostics tdr interface gigabitEthernet 0/1
TDR test last run on: August 30 08:01:35

Interface Speed Local pair Pair length        Remote pair Pair status
——— —– ———- —————— ———– ——————–
Gi0/1     1000M Pair A     54   +/- 4  meters Pair A      Normal             
                Pair B     52   +/- 4  meters Pair B      Normal             
                Pair C     53   +/- 4  meters Pair C      Normal             
                Pair D     54   +/- 4  meters Pair D      Normal             
MBGF-DAC-3560-AS01#

Aug 23 2008   6:04AM GMT

Discover Cisco Network Assistant (CNA)

Posted by: Yasir Irfan
Networking, Switches, Cisco, Routers, SNMP, Cisco 2950, Cisco Tips, Cisco 3560, Cisco 3750-E, Cisco 3560-E, Network Troubleshooting, Network Inventory, Cisco Network Assistant

Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) is a PC-based graphical network management application which is free tool included when a new Cisco Switch is purchased. Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) is capable of managing the standalone Cisco Switches and clusters of Cisco Switches in your intranet. Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) is best suited for Small to Mid Sized LANS. . Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) supports wide range of Cisco Catalyst Switches from Cisco 2900 through Cisco Catalyst 4506. The Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) manages many of the critical functions of a Cisco Switches & is optimized for wired and Wireless LANs (WLANs). The Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) provides a centralized network view and allows network administrators to employ its features across Cisco switches, routers, and access points.  With Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) a Network Administrators can easily apply common services, generate inventory reports, synchronize passwords and employ features across Cisco Switches, routers and access points.   Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) is available at no cost and can be downloaded from the Cisco Network Assistant Software Download.

 

What’s new in Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) Version 5.4?

Increased device limits: Supports up to 40 switches and routers

Enhanced discovery: Discover devices with subnet or IP range 

Diagnostics: Conduct on-demand or scheduled tests to verify hardware functionality 

Command-line interface (CLI) preview: View CLIs before they are sent to the device

In my next article I will focus on how to use the Cisco Network Assistant (CNA).

Aug 17 2008   5:55AM GMT

What is the Link-flap error in Cisco Switches?

Posted by: Yasir Irfan
Switches, Cisco, Cisco 2950, Cisco 6500, Cisco 3560, Cisco 3750-E, Cisco 3560-E, Link-Flap, Err-disable, Layer 1 issues

Link flap means that the interface continually goes up and down in a Cisco Switch. The interface is put into the errdisabled state if it flaps more than five times in 10 seconds. The common cause of link flap is a Layer 1 issue such as a bad cable, duplex mismatch, or bad Gigabit Interface Converter (GBIC) card. Look at the console messages or the messages that were sent to the syslog server that state the reason for the port shutdown.

13w0d: %PM-4-ERR_DISABLE: link-flap error detected on Fa0/28, putting Fa0/28 in err-disable state 

Issue this command in order to view the flap values:

SRCL-ONC-3550-AS01# sho errdisable flap-values  ErrDisable Reason    Flaps     Time (sec)

—————–        ——   ———-

pagp-flap                        3       30

dtp-flap                           3       30

link-flap                           5       10

SRCL-ONC-3550-AS01# 

The interface can be recovered from errdisable state by reenabling the port using the errdisable recovery cause link-flap. This command is used to configure the recovery mechanism so that the interface can be brought out of the disabled state and allowed to try again. You can also set the time interval. Errdisable recovery is disabled by default in Cisco Switches; when enabled, the default time interval is 300 seconds.

Once you enable the errdisable state you can see the following log in the Cisco switch which is trying to recover the error disable interface (link-flap error)

13w0d: %PM-4-ERR_RECOVER: Attempting to recover from link-flap err-disable state on Fa0/28