Table Of Contents
Using the Management Interfaces
Preparing to Use the Web-Based Management Interfaces
Hardware and Software Requirements
Configuring Netscape Communicator
Configuring Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01
Configuring Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0
Using Cisco Visual Switch Manager
Accessing CVSM for the First Time
Common Interface Features in Cluster Management
Using the IOS Command-Line Interface
Using the CLI to Manage Cluster Members
Understanding Command-Line Error Messages
Configuring the Switch for Telnet
Starting a Telnet Session from the Browser
Working with Files in Flash Memory
Using FTP to Access the MIB Files
Using CCO to Access the MIB Files
Using SNMP to Access MIB Variables
Using the Management Interfaces
This chapter describes the features and management characteristics of the management interfaces. You can use these interfaces to monitor and configure a switch or a group of switches.
There are three web-based management tools that you access via a browser such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer:
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Cisco Visual Switch Manager (CVSM) for managing a switch
With CVSM, you can configure a switch via a graphical user interface and monitor live images of the switch.
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With Switch Network View, you can manage a stack of up to five switches configured in a star topology. Each switch has its own IP address. You can display a map of the stack and information about the devices and links that connect them.
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With Cluster Management, you can use a command switch with an IP address to manage a cluster of up to 15 other switches. The other switches, called member switches, do not need individual IP addresses.
There are two other interfaces you can use to manage a switch or group of switches:
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lists the key features and defaults of this release and cross-references the descriptions for changing them with the CLI or an HTML interface.
Preparing to Use the Web-Based Management Interfaces
All of the web-based management features are based on an embedded HTML web site in the switch Flash memory. This section describes how to configure your environment for web-based management.
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Hardware and Software Requirements
You can access the web-based interfaces through the browsers listed in . The switch checks the browser version when starting an HTML session to ensure that the browser is supported. If the browser is not supported, the switch displays an error message, and the HTML session does not start.
The minimum requirement for a PC is a Pentium processor running at 166 MHz with
64 MB of DRAM. The minimum requirement for a UNIX workstation is a Sun Ultra 1 running at 143 MHz.
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The following operating systems are supported for HTML management:
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Table 2-1 Browser Support for the HTML Interfaces
Netscape Communicator
4.5
4.5, 4.51
Microsoft Internet Explorer
4.01a
4.01, 5.0
lists the configuration that yields the best results for the HTML interfaces.
Table 2-2
WindowsNT
Pentium 300 MHz
128 MB
65536
1024x768
Small
Recommended Platform Configuration for the HTML Interfaces
Configuring Netscape Communicator
Follow these steps to configure Netscape Communicator:
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
(a)
(b)
Step 4
(a)
(b)
Configuring Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01
Follow these steps to configure Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01:
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
(a)
(b)
(c)
Step 4
Step 5
(a)
(b)
(c)
Step 6
Click Java Custom Setting, which appears at the bottom of the window.
Step 7
(a)
(b)
Step 8
Step 9
(a)
(b)
Step 10
(a)
http://172.20.153.36
(b)
Note
Step 11
Configuring Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0
Follow these steps to configure Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0:
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Step 7
Step 8
Step 9
Step 10
Step 11
Step 12
Step 13
Using Cisco Visual Switch Manager
CVSM is a web-based device-management site for configuring and monitoring your switch. Because the switch is preconfigured, CVSM pages show the settings that the switch is using. You change the configuration settings by entering information in fields, adding and removing list items, or selecting check boxes. In addition, the CVSM Home page displays a live image of the switch (see Figure 2-2). The LEDs reflect the current status of the switch, and you can click on ports to configure them.
When you enter information in a CVSM field and click Apply, the change becomes part of the running (current) configuration. If you make a mistake and want to retype an entry, click Cancel to undo your first entry. Items added to or removed from lists in CVSM immediately become part of the running configuration, and you do not need to click Apply.
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Accessing CVSM for the First Time
The switch must have an IP address before you can access CVSM. For instructions on assigning the IP address, see the "CLI Commands for Assigning IP Information to the Switch" section. Follow these steps to access CVSM:
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Figure 2-1 Cisco Systems Access Page
The CVSM Home page displays when you click Visual Switch Manager on the Cisco Systems Access page. All the CVSM pages have a Home button that you can click to return to this page. From the Home page you can monitor and configure the port as described in Figure 2-2.
The other web-based tools are available from the CVSM Home page. Depending on your network, you can click Cluster Management to create and manage clusters of switches or Switch Network View to display the stack connected to the switch.
You can bookmark the IP address to easily retrieve the Home page for later use.
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Figure 2-2 Using the Mode Button to Configure Ports
CVSM Menu Options
You can access the device-management features of this release from the Home page drop-down menus, such as the Port menu shown in . describes the menu options and their function.
Figure 2-3 CVSM Menu Bar
Table 2-3 Cisco Visual Switch Manager Menu Options
Using Switch Network View
The Switch Network View page displays a map of the devices that are directly connected to a switch that is not part of a cluster. From the Network View, you can display switch-connection information, device reports, and link reports.
You display Network View from the switch home page, but its availability depends on how your switch is configured. If your switch is part of a cluster, the button displays Cluster Management. If it is not part of a cluster, the button displays Switch Network View.
If your switch is not in a cluster, click Switch Network View on the CVSM Home page to display the view shown in Figure 2-4. Blue labels identify stack members. Yellow labels identify generic edge devices connected to stack members. Network View can also display Cisco routers, switches, hubs, and Cisco Micro Webservers if they are directly attached to a switch running IOS Release 11.2(8)SA6 or later.
Figure 2-4 Switch Network View Page
To display the device pop-up menu, right-click a switch. You can select one of the following options:
To display the link report, right-click a link, and select Link Report. This report displays the link speed, VLAN and port group memberships, and STP state.Using Cluster Management
Cluster Management consists of three related tools that you can use to create clusters of switches, manage individual switches, and display device information, link information, and performance graphs. This section describes how you can use the following Cluster Management tools to manage your network:
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Accessing Cluster Management
See the "Creating Clusters" section for information on how to create a cluster.
Once the cluster is created, you can access Cluster Management in the following ways:
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Common Interface Features in Cluster Management
Certain features are common to all three Cluster Management tools. lists the buttons on the Cluster Builder, Cluster View, and Cluster Manager pages.
Table 2-5 Cluster Management Buttons
Legend
Provides a legend with the meaning of icons, labels, and links.
Save Config
Saves the current configuration of cluster switches to permanent storage. These configurations are saved in the config.text file that is used when the switches are reset. For more information, see the "Working with Files in Flash Memory" section.
User Settings
Configure your preferences for Cluster Management. The command switch saves this information in permanent storage, and you do not need to click save config. You can set these preferences:
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Help
Displays detailed procedures for Cluster Management tasks.
Using Cluster Builder
Use Cluster Builder to automatically or manually create a cluster of switches. Devices directly connected to the command switch and running the appropriate software display in color to identify them as cluster members or candidates.
Depending on your topology, you can add all candidate switches to the cluster at once (star topology) or add them one by one (daisy-chain topology). After the cluster is created, you can collapse the entire cluster into a single icon by clicking Toggle Views to display Cluster View. shows Cluster Builder displaying a map of cluster devices.
Cluster Builder labels other network devices with the following colors:
describes the active buttons in Cluster Builder, describes the available menu options when you right-click a switch, and describes the available menu options when you right-click a link. The menu options can vary depending on the type of device and whether it is a cluster member or not.
Figure 2-5 Cluster Builder
Table 2-6 Cluster Builder Buttons
Table 2-7 Cluster Builder Device Menu Items
Table 2-8 Cluster Builder Link Menu Items
Using Cluster View
Cluster View displays the cluster as a single icon and edge devices and candidate switches connected to the cluster. To access Cluster View, click the Toggle Views button in Cluster Builder.
Figure 2-6 Cluster View
Cluster View labels network devices with the following colors:
Yellow
Edge devices that are not running Cluster Management software
Green
Cluster icon
Blue
Candidate switches that are not qualified for membership
White
Additional clusters
lists the menu options available when you right-click a device. lists the menu options available when you right-click a link.
Table 2-9 Cluster View Device Menu Options
Device web page
Displays the CVSM Home page for Catalyst 2900 XL and Catalyst 3500 XL switches.
Disqualification code
Describes why the switch is not a cluster member or candidate.
Table 2-10 Cluster View Link Menu Options
Using Cluster Manager
Cluster Manager displays live images of cluster switches that you can use to monitor and configure the devices. You can click a port, or several ports, to configure status, speed, duplex and Port Fast settings.
The LEDs display real-time information on the status and configuration of the ports. Click the Mode button to change the port LED mode to display the speed and duplex settings of all switch ports. Click Device Position to place the images in any order.
Click a switch chassis and right-click to display the device pop-up window. describes the items available from this menu.
Table 2-11 Cluster Manager Device Menu Items
Figure 2-7 Cluster Manager
Using the IOS Command-Line Interface
This section introduces the Cisco IOS command-line interface (CLI). The Cisco IOS Desktop Switching Command Reference: Catalyst 2900 Series XL
and Catalyst 3500 Series XL Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA6 is a complete description of commands that have been created or changed for the switches. The documentation set for Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8) describes the other command switches.This section describes how to perform the following tasks:
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Understanding the CLI
This section describes the Cisco IOS command-mode structure. Each command mode supports specific Cisco IOS commands. For example, the interface type_number command is used only from global configuration mode.
The switch supports the following command modes:
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describes how to access each mode, the prompt you see in that mode, and how to exit the mode. The examples in the table use the host name switch.
Table 2-12 Command Modes Summary
User EXEC
Begin a session with your switch.
Enter the logout command or quit.
Use this mode to
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Privileged EXEC
Enter the enable command while in user EXEC mode.
Enter the disable command to exit.
Use this mode to verify commands you have entered. Access to this mode should be protected with a password.
VLAN database (Enterprise Edition Software only)
Enter the vlan database command while in privileged EXEC mode.
To exit to privileged EXEC mode, enter exit.
Use this mode to configure VLAN-specific parameters.
Global configuration
Enter the configure command while in privileged EXEC mode.
To exit to privileged EXEC mode, enter the exit or end command, or press Ctrl-Z.
Use this mode to configure parameters that apply to your switch as a whole.
Interface configuration
Enter the interface command (with a specific interface) while in global configuration mode.
To exit to global configuration mode, enter the exit command.
Press Ctrl-Z or enter end to return to privileged EXEC mode.
Use this mode to configure parameters for the Ethernet interfaces.
Line configuration
Specify a line with the line vty or line console command while in global configuration mode.
To exit to global configuration mode, enter the exit command.
Press Ctrl-Z or enter end to return to privileged EXEC mode.
Use this mode to configure parameters for the terminal line.
1 For any of the modes, you can see a comprehensive list of the available commands by entering a question mark (?) at the prompt.
Using the CLI to Manage Cluster Members
You can configure member switches via the CLI by first logging in to the command switch. Enter the EXEC mode rcommand command and the number of the member switch to access the member switch CLI. The following example shows how to log in to member-switch 3 from the command-switch CLI:
switch# rcommand 3If you do not know the member-switch number, enter the EXEC mode show cluster members command on the command switch. When you display the member-switch CLI, the command mode changes and the IOS commands then operate as usual.
See the "Starting a Telnet Session from the Browser" section for instructions on starting a Telnet session to the switch.
Setting Passwords
Because many privileged EXEC commands are used to set operating parameters, you should password-protect these commands to prevent unauthorized use.
There are two commands for setting passwords:
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You must enter one of these commands to gain access to privileged EXEC mode. It is recommended that you use the enable secret command.
If you enter the enable password command, the text is written as entered to the config.text file where you can read it. If you enter the enable secret command, the text is encrypted before it is written to the config.text file, and it is unreadable.
Note
Both types of passwords can contain from 1 to 25 uppercase and lowercase alphanumeric characters, and both can start with a number. Spaces are also valid password characters; for example, two words is a valid password. Leading spaces are ignored; trailing spaces are recognized.
When Cluster Management suggests a candidate to add to a cluster, there is a field where you can enter the enable password of the candidate. If you enter the password that has already been defined for the candidate, the switch joins the cluster and then inherits the enable password of the command switch. See the "Automatically Discovering Cluster Candidates" section for more information on managing enable passwords in Cluster Management.
To unset a password, use the no version of the commands: no enable password or no enable secret.
If you lose or forget your enable password, see the "Recovering from a Lost or Forgotten Password" section.
Getting Help
You can use the question mark (?) and arrow keys to help you enter commands.
For a list of available commands in a command mode, enter a question mark:
switch> ?To complete a command, enter a few known characters followed by a tab (with no space):
switch# sh conf<tab> switch#sh configurationFor a list of command variables, enter the command followed by a space and a question mark:
switch> show ?To redisplay a command you previously entered, press the up-arrow key. You can continue to press the up-arrow key for more commands.
Abbreviating Commands
You only have to enter enough characters for the switch to recognize the command as unique. This example shows how to enter the show configuration command:
switch# show confUsing no Commands
The word no can be used to create a no form of a command. The no form of a command does the following:
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or
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Understanding Command-Line Error Messages
lists some error messages that you might encounter while using the CLI to configure your switch.
Configuring the Switch for Telnet
The following procedure describes one way to configure a password for Telnet.
Starting a Telnet Session from the Browser
Follow this procedure to start a Telnet session via a browser:
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Working with Files in Flash Memory
You can use the file system in Flash memory to copy files and to troubleshoot configuration problems. Use the privileged EXEC dir flash: command to display the contents of Flash memory:
Switch# dir flash:Directory of flash:2 -rwx 843947 Mar 01 1993 00:02:18 C2900XL-h-mz-112.8-SA4 drwx 3776 Mar 01 1993 01:23:24 html66 -rwx 130 Jan 01 1970 00:01:19 env_vars68 -rwx 1296 Mar 01 1993 06:55:51 config.text1728000 bytes total (456704 bytes free)The file system uses a URL-based file specification. The following example uses the TFTP protocol to copy the file conffile.txt from the host arno to switch Flash memory with the name bootfile:
switch# copy tftp://arno//2900/conffile.txt flash:bootfileYou can enter the following parameters as part of a filename:
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Use the copy running-config startup-config command to save your configuration changes to Flash memory so that they are not lost if there is a system reload or power outage. This example shows how to use this command to save your changes:
Switch# copy running-config startup-configBuilding configuration...It might take a minute or two to save the configuration to Flash memory. After it has been saved, the following message appears:
[OK]switch#SNMP Management
This section describes how to access Management Information Base (MIB) objects to configure and manage your switch. It provides the following information:
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MIB Files
The MIB files contain variables that can be set or read to provide information about the switch, such as the traps generated by the switch.
The following MIB files contain the MIB and trap information for the switch:
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Using FTP to Access the MIB Files
You can obtain each MIB file with the following procedure:
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Using CCO to Access the MIB Files
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:
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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.
Instead of defining a large set of commands, 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 software 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.
As shown in Figure 2-8, the SNMP agent gathers data from the MIB, which is the repository for information about device parameters and network data. The agent can send traps, or notification of certain events, to the manager.
The SNMP manager uses information in the MIB to perform the operations described in .
Figure 2-8 SNMP Network
Table 2-14 SNMP Operations
get-request
Retrieve a value from a specific variable.
get-next-request
Retrieve a value from a variable within a table.1
get-response
The 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
An unsolicited message sent by an SNMP agent to an SNMP manager indicating that some event has occurred.
1 With this operation, an SNMP manager does not need to know the exact variable name. A sequential search is performed to find the needed variable from within a table
Managing Clusters via SNMP
SNMP must be enabled for the Cluster Management reporting and graphing features to function properly. When you power-up your switch for the first time, SNMP is enabled if you enter the IP information via the setup program and accept its proposed configuration. If you did not use the setup program to enter the IP information, and SNMP was not enabled, you can enable it on the SNMP page described in the "Disabling and Enabling SNMP" section.
When a cluster is created, the command switch manages the exchange of messages between member switches and an SNMP application by appending the host name of the member switch to the first configured RW and RO community strings. The command switch uses this community string to control the forwarding of messages, such as traps, between the SNMP management station and the member switches, as shown in Figure 2-9. However, if a member switch has its own IP address and community strings, they can be used in addition to the access provided by the command switch.
Figure 2-9 SNMP Management for a Cluster
