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Cisco Catalyst 2950 Series Switches

Release Notes for the Catalyst 2940, Catalyst 2950, and Catalyst 2955 Switches, Cisco IOS Release 12.1(20)EA1

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Table Of Contents

Release Notes for the Catalyst 2940, Catalyst 2950, and Catalyst 2955 Switches, Cisco IOS Release 12.1(20)EA1

Contents

System Requirements

Hardware Supported

Hardware Not Supported

Software Compatibility

Windows

Solaris

Cluster Compatibility

Downloading Software

Finding the Software Version and Feature Set

Deciding Which Files to Use

Upgrading a Switch by Using CMS

Upgrading a Switch by Using the CLI

Downloading the Software

Copying the Current Startup Configuration from the Switch to a PC or Server

Using the CLI to Upgrade a Catalyst 2940 or Catalyst 2950 LRE Switch

Using the CLI to Upgrade a Catalyst 2955 Switch or Non-LRE Catalyst 2950 Switch

Recovering from Software Failure

Installation Notes

New Features

New Hardware Features

New Software Features

Limitations and Restrictions

Cisco IOS Limitations and Restrictions

LRE Limitations and Restrictions

Cluster Limitations and Restrictions

CMS Limitations and Restrictions

Catalyst 2950 Hardware and Software Compatibility Matrixes

Important Notes

Cisco IOS Notes

CMS Notes

Open Caveats

Open Cisco IOS Caveats

Open CMS Caveats

Resolved Caveats

Cisco IOS Caveats Resolved in Cisco IOS Release 12.1(20)EA1

CMS Caveats Resolved in Cisco IOS Release 12.1(20)EA1

Documentation Updates

References to the Cisco Documentation CD-ROM

Catalyst 2940 and 2950 Software Configuration Guide Corrections and Additions

Getting Started with CMS Chapter

Clustering Switches Chapter

Administering the Switch Chapter

Configuring 802.1x Port-Based Authentication Chapter

Configuring SmartPort Macros Chapter

Configuring DHCP Features Chapter (only Catalyst 2950)

Configuring Port-Based Traffic Control Chapter

Supported MIBs Appendix

Catalyst 2940 and 2950 Switch Command Reference Corrections and Additions

macro apply

show flowcontrol

switchport host

Catalyst 2940 Hardware Installation Guide Corrections and Additions

Quick Setup Chapter

Overview Chapter

Managing the Switch by Using the Cluster Management Suite Chapter

Catalyst 2950 Hardware Installation Guide Corrections and Additions

Quick Setup Chapter

Installation Chapter

Related Documentation

Obtaining Documentation

Cisco.com

Ordering Documentation

Documentation Feedback

Obtaining Technical Assistance

Cisco TAC Website

Opening a TAC Case

TAC Case Priority Definitions

Obtaining Additional Publications and Information


Release Notes for the Catalyst 2940, Catalyst 2950, and Catalyst 2955 Switches, Cisco IOS Release 12.1(20)EA1

February 2004

Cisco IOS Release 12.1(20)EA1 runs on Catalyst 2940, Catalyst 2950, and Catalyst 2955 switches.

Review the new software features, open caveats, and resolved caveats sections for information specific to your switch. The information in this document refers to all the switches, unless otherwise noted.

These release notes include important information about this release and any limitations, restrictions, and caveats that apply to it. To verify that these are the correct release notes for your switch:

•If you are installing a new switch, refer to the Cisco IOS release label on the rear panel of your switch.

•If your switch is running, you can use the show version user EXEC command. See the "Finding the Software Version and Feature Set" section.

•If you are upgrading to a new release, refer to the software upgrade filename for the Cisco IOS version.

For the complete list of Catalyst 2940, Catalyst 2950, and Catalyst 2955 switch documentation, see the "Related Documentation" section.

You can download the switch software from these sites:

•http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/sw-lan.shtml

(for registered Cisco.com users with a login password)

•http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/sw-lan.shtml

(for nonregistered Cisco.com users)

This release is part of a special release of Cisco IOS software that is not released on the same 8-week maintenance cycle that is used for other platforms. As maintenance releases and future releases become available, they will be posted to Cisco.com (previously Cisco Connection Online [CCO]) in the Cisco IOS software area.

Contents

This information is in the release notes:

•"System Requirements" section

•"Downloading Software" section

•"Installation Notes" section

•"New Features" section

•"Limitations and Restrictions" section

•"Important Notes" section

•"Open Caveats" section

•"Resolved Caveats" section

•"Documentation Updates" section

•"Related Documentation" section

•"Obtaining Documentation" section

•"Documentation Feedback" section

•"Obtaining Technical Assistance" section

•"Obtaining Additional Publications and Information" section

System Requirements

The system requirements for this release are described in these sections:

•"Hardware Supported" section

•"Hardware Not Supported" section

•"Software Compatibility" section

•"Cluster Compatibility" section

Hardware Supported

The Catalyst 2950 switch is supported by either the standard software image (SI) or the enhanced software image (EI). The Catalyst 2950 Long-Reach Ethernet (LRE) and Catalyst 2955 switches are supported only by the EI. The Catalyst 2940 switch supports some of the features supported by a Catalyst 2950 switch running the SI.

The EI provides a richer set of features, including access control lists (ACLs), enhanced quality of service (QoS) features, extended-range VLANs, the IEEE 802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP), and the IEEE 802.1s Multiple STP (MSTP). The enhanced cryptographic software image supports the Secure Shell (SSHv2) protocol.

For information about the software releases that support the switches listed in Table 1, see the "Catalyst 2950 Hardware and Software Compatibility Matrixes" section.

Table 1 and Table 2 list the hardware supported by this software release:

Table 1 Catalyst 2940, Catalyst 2950, and Catalyst 2955 Hardware Supported 

Hardware
Software Image
Description

Catalyst 2940-8TT-S

—1

8 10/100 Ethernet ports and 1 10/100/1000 Ethernet port

Catalyst 2940-8TF-S

—1

8 10/100 Ethernet ports, 1 SFP2 module slot, and 1 100BASE-FX port

Catalyst 2950-12

SI

12 fixed autosensing 10/100 Ethernet ports

Catalyst 2950-24

SI

24 fixed autosensing 10/100 Ethernet ports

Catalyst 2950C-24

EI

24 fixed autosensing 10/100 Ethernet ports and 2 100BASE-FX ports

Catalyst 2950G-12-EI

EI

12 fixed autosensing 10/100 Ethernet ports and 2 GBIC3 module slots

Catalyst 2950G-24-EI 

EI

24 fixed autosensing 10/100 Ethernet ports and 2 GBIC module slots

Catalyst 2950G-24-EI-DC

EI

24 fixed autosensing 10/100 Ethernet ports and 2 GBIC module slots with DC-input power

Catalyst 2950G-48-EI

EI

48 fixed autosensing 10/100 Ethernet ports and 2 GBIC module slots

Catalyst 2950ST-8 LRE

EI

8 LRE ports, 2 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports4 , and 2 SFP module slots

Catalyst 2950ST-24 LRE

EI

24 LRE ports, 2 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports4, and 2 SFP module slots

Catalyst 2950ST-24 LRE 997

EI

24 LRE ports, 2 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports4, and 2 SFP module slots with DC-input power

Catalyst 2950SX-24

SI

24 fixed autosensing 10/100 Ethernet ports and 2 1000BASE-SX ports

Catalyst 2950SX-48-SI

SI

48 fixed autosensing10/100 Ethernet ports and 2 1000BASE-SX ports

Catalyst 2950T-24

EI

24 fixed autosensing 10/100 Ethernet ports and 2 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports5

Catalyst 2950T-48-SI

SI

48 fixed autosensing 10/100 Ethernet ports and 2 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports

Catalyst 2955C-12

EI

12 fixed autosensing 10/100 ports and 2 MM6 100BASE-FX ports

Catalyst 2955S-12

EI

12 fixed autosensing 10/100 ports and 2 SM7 100BASE-LX ports

Catalyst 2955T-12

EI

12 fixed autosensing 10/100 ports and 2 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports4

1 The Catalyst 2940 switch supports some of the features supported by a Catalyst 2950 switch running the SI.

2 SFP = small form-factor pluggable

3 GBIC = Gigabit Interface Converter

4 The 10/100/1000 ports on a Catalyst 2950 LRE or Catalyst 2955T-12 switch operate at 10 or 100 Mbps in either full- or half-duplex mode and at 1000 Mbps only in full-duplex mode.

5 The 10/100/1000 interfaces on the Catalyst 2950T-24 switch do not support the half keyword in the duplex command.

6 MM = multimode

7 SM = single mode


Table 2 Other Hardware Supported  

Hardware
Software Image
Description

Cisco 575 LRE CPE1

—

1 fixed 10/100 port

Cisco 576 LRE CPE 997

—

1 fixed 10/100 port

Cisco 585 LRE CPE

—

4 fixed 10/100 ports

GBIC modules

—

•1000BASE-SX GBIC

•1000BASE-LX/LH GBIC

•1000BASE-ZX GBIC

•1000BASE-T GBIC (model WS-5483)

•CWDM2 fiber-optic GBIC3

•GigaStack GBIC

Redundant power system

—

•Cisco RPS 300 Redundant Power System

•Cisco RPS 675 Redundant Power System

SFP devices

—

•1000BASE-SX SFP module

•1000BASE-LX\LH SFP module

•1000BASE-ZX SFP module

•1000BASE-T SFP module

•CWDM

1 CPE = customer premises equipment

2 CDWM = Coarse Wave Division Multiplexer

3 This feature is only supported when your switch is running the EI.


Hardware Not Supported

Table 3 lists the hardware that is not supported by this release.

Table 3 Hardware Not Supported

Hardware
Description

GBIC module

1000BASE-T GBIC (model WS-G4582)

Redundant power system

Cisco RPS 600 Redundant Power System


Software Compatibility

For information about the recommended platforms for web-based management, operating systems and browser support, the Cluster Management Suite (CMS) plug-in guidelines, and installation procedures, refer to the "Getting Started with CMS" chapter of the software configuration guide.

Windows

This release uses a CMS plug-in (Windows only) to run CMS. You can download the latest CMS plug-in for Windows from this URL:

http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/Support/ClusterMgmtSuite/cms_plugin_redirect.cgi?platform=windows&version=1.1

Solaris

This release uses a CMS plug-in (Solaris only) that replaces the Java plug-in. You must download the CMS plug-in to run CMS. You can download the latest CMS plug-in for Solaris from this URL:

http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/Support/ClusterMgmtSuite/cms_plugin_redirect.cgi?platform=solaris&version=1.1

Cluster Compatibility

This section describes how to choose command and standby command switches when a cluster consists of a mixture of Catalyst switches. When creating a switch cluster or adding a switch to a cluster, follow these guidelines:

•When you create a switch cluster, we recommend configuring the highest-end switch in your cluster as the command switch. Table 4 lists the cluster capabilities and Cisco IOS releases for the switches. The switches are listed from highest- to lowest-end switch.

•If you are managing the cluster through CMS, the switch that has the latest software should be the command switch, unless your command switch is running Cisco IOS Release 12.1(19)EA1 or later.

•The standby command switch must be the same type as the command switch. For example, if the command switch is a Catalyst 3750 switch, all standby command switches must be Catalyst 3750 switches.

Table 4 Switch Software and Cluster Capability 

Switch
Cisco IOS Release
Cluster Capability

Catalyst 3750

12.1(11)AX or later

Member or command switch

Catalyst 3560

12.1(19)EA1b

Member or command switch

Catalyst 3550

12.1(4)EA1 or later

Member or command switch

Catalyst 2970

12.1(11)AX or later

Member or command switch

Catalyst 2955

12.1(12c)EA1 or later

Member or command switch

Catalyst 2950

12.1(5.2)WC(1) or later

Member or command switch

Catalyst 2950 LRE

12.1(11)JY or later

Member or command switch

Catalyst 2940

12.1(13)AY or later

Member or command switch

Catalyst 3500 XL

12.0(5.1)XU or later

Member or command switch

Catalyst 2900 XL (8-MB switches)

12.0(5.1)XU or later

Member or command switch

Catalyst 2900 XL (4-MB switches)

11.2(8.5)SA6 (recommended)

Member switch only1

Catalyst 1900 and 2820

9.00(-A or -EN) or later

Member switch only

1 Catalyst 2900 XL (4-MB) switches appear in the front-panel and topology views of the Cluster Management Suite (CMS). However, CMS does not support configuration or monitoring of these switches.


CMS is not forward-compatible on command switches running Cisco IOS 12.1(14)EA1 and earlier. This means that if a member switch is running a release that is earlier than the release running on the command switch, the new features are not available on the member switch. If the member switch is a new device running a release that is later than the release on the command switch, the command switch cannot recognize the member switch, and the Front Panel view displays it as an unknown device. You cannot configure any parameters or generate a report through CMS for that member; instead, you must launch the Device Manager application to configure and to obtain reports for that member.

Some versions of the Catalyst 2900 XL software do not support clustering, and if you have a cluster with switches that are running different versions of Cisco IOS software, software features added on the latest release might not be reflected on switches running the older releases. For example, if you start CMS on a Catalyst 2900 XL switch running Release 11.2(8)SA6, the windows and functionality can be different from a switch running Release 12.0(5)WC(1) or later.

Downloading Software

Before downloading software, read this section for important information. This section describes these procedures for downloading software:

•"Finding the Software Version and Feature Set" section

•"Deciding Which Files to Use" section

•"Upgrading a Switch by Using CMS" section

•"Upgrading a Switch by Using the CLI" section

•"Recovering from Software Failure" section

For information about the software releases that support the switches, see the "Catalyst 2950 Hardware and Software Compatibility Matrixes" section.

Note The Catalyst 2950-12 and Catalyst 2950-24 switches cannot be upgraded to Cisco IOS Release 12.1(6)EA2, Cisco IOS Release 12.1(6)EA2a, or Cisco IOS Release 12.1(6)EA2b. They can be upgraded to Cisco IOS Release 12.1(6)EA2c or later.

When you upgrade a switch, the switch continues to operate while the new software is copied to flash memory. If flash memory has enough space, the new image is copied to the selected switch but does not replace the running image until you reboot the switch. If a failure occurs during the copy process, you can still reboot your switch by using the old image. If flash memory does not have enough space for two images, the new image is copied over the existing one. Features provided by the new software are not available until you reload the switch.

If a failure occurs while copying a new image to the switch, and the old image has already been deleted, refer to the "Recovering from Corrupted Software" section in the "Troubleshooting" chapter of the software configuration guide for this release.

For information about upgrading the LRE switch firmware, refer to the "Upgrading LRE Switch Firmware" section in the software configuration guide for this release.

Caution A bootloader upgrade occurs if you are upgrading Catalyst 2950 switches running Cisco IOS Release 12.1(9)EA1d or earlier to Cisco IOS Release 12.1(11)EA1 or later for both cryptographic and noncryptographic images. The bootloader can take up to 30 seconds to upgrade. Do not power cycle the switch while you are copying this image to the switch. If a power failure occurs when you are copying this image to the switch, call Cisco Systems immediately.
Caution Do not power cycle the switch while you are copying an image to the switch. If a power failure occurs while you are copying the software image to the switch, and there are no other images on the switch, refer to the "Troubleshooting" chapter in the software configuration guide for detailed recovery procedures.

Finding the Software Version and Feature Set

The image is stored as a bin file in a directory that is named with the Cisco IOS release. A subdirectory contains the files needed for web management. The image is stored on the system board flash device (flash:).

You can use the show version user EXEC command to see the software version that is running on your switch. In the display, check the line that begins with System image file is. This line shows the directory name in flash memory where the image is stored. A couple of lines below the image name, you see Running Enhanced Image if you are running the EI or Running Standard Image if you are running the SI.

You can also use the dir filesystem: privileged EXEC command to see the directory names of other software images that you might have stored in flash memory.

Deciding Which Files to Use

The upgrade procedures in these release notes describe how to perform the upgrade by using a combined tar file. This file contains both the Cisco IOS image file and the CMS files. You must use the combined tar file to upgrade the switch through the CMS.

The tar file is an archive file from which you can extract files by using the archive tar command.

Note If you are upgrading a non-LRE Catalyst 2950 switch from a release earlier than Cisco IOS Release 12.1(6)EA2, use the tar command instead of the archive tar command.

Table 5 lists the software filenames for this Cisco IOS release.

Table 5 Catalyst 2950 and Catalyst 2955 Cisco IOS Software Files 

Filename
Description

c2940-i6q4l2-tar.121-20.EA1.tar

Catalyst 2940 files. This includes the Cisco IOS image and the CMS files.

c2950-i6k2l2q4-tar.121-20.EA1.tar

Catalyst 2950 SI1 and EI files. This includes the cryptographic Cisco IOS image and the CMS files.

c2950-i6q4l2-tar.121-20.EA1.tar

Catalyst 2950 SI and EI files. This includes the Cisco IOS image and the CMS files.

c2950lre-i6k2l2q4-tar.121-20.EA1.tar

Catalyst 2950 LRE EI files. This includes the cryptographic Cisco IOS image and the CMS files.

c2950lre-i6l2q4-tar.121-20.EA1.tar

Catalyst 2950 LRE EI files. This includes the Cisco IOS image and the CMS files.

c2955-i6k2l2q4-tar.121-20.EA1.tar

Catalyst 2955 EI files. This includes the cryptographic Cisco IOS image and the CMS files.

c2955-i6q4l2-tar.121-20.EA1.tar

Catalyst 2955 EI files. This includes the Cisco IOS image and the CMS files.

1 Switches that support only the SI cannot run the cryptographic image. For more information, see the SI-only switches listed in Table 1 and the "Cisco IOS Limitations and Restrictions" section.


Upgrading a Switch by Using CMS

You can upgrade switch software by using CMS. From the menu bar, select Administration > Software Upgrade. For detailed instructions, click Help.

Upgrading a Switch by Using the CLI

To upgrade the switch software by using the CLI, see Table 5 to decide which software files that you need, and then follow these procedures in this order:

1. Download the tar files from Cisco.com, as described in the "Downloading the Software" section.

2. Copy the current startup configuration file, as described in the "Copying the Current Startup Configuration from the Switch to a PC or Server" section.

3. Use the CLI to extract the image and the CMS files from the tar file:

–If your switch is a Catalyst 2940 or Catalyst 2950 LRE switch, see the "Using the CLI to Upgrade a Catalyst 2940 or Catalyst 2950 LRE Switch" section

–If your switch is a Catalyst 2955 or non-LRE Catalyst 2950, switch, see the "Using the CLI to Upgrade a Catalyst 2955 Switch or Non-LRE Catalyst 2950 Switch" section.

Downloading the Software

This procedure is for copying the combined tar file to a switch. You copy the file to the switch from a TFTP server and extract the files. You can download an image file and replace or keep the current image.

Follow these steps to download the software from Cisco.com to your management station:

Step 1 Download the files from one of these locations:

•If you have a SmartNet support contract, go to this URL and log in to download the appropriate files:

http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/sw-lan.shtml

•If you do not have a SmartNet contract, go to this URL follow the instructions to register on Cisco.com, and download the appropriate files:

http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/sw-lan.shtml

To download the files, click the link for your switch platform, and then follow the links on the page to select the correct tar image file.

Step 2 Use the CLI or web-based interface to perform a TFTP transfer of the file or files to the switch after you have downloaded them to your PC or workstation.

New features provided by the software are not available until you reload the software.

Copying the Current Startup Configuration from the Switch to a PC or Server

When you make changes to a switch configuration, your changes become part of the running configuration. When you enter the command to save those changes to the startup configuration, the switch copies the configuration to the config.text file in flash memory. To ensure that you can recreate the configuration if a switch fails, you might want to copy the config.text file from the switch to a TFTP server.

Beginning in privileged EXEC mode, follow these steps to copy a switch configuration file to the TFTP server.

Step 1 Copy the file in flash memory to the root directory of the TFTP server: 

switch# copy flash:config.text tftp

Step 2 Enter the IP address of the device where the TFTP server resides: 

Address or name of remote host []? ip_address

Step 3 Enter the name of the destination file (for example, config.text): 

Destination filename [config.text]? yes/no

Step 4 Verify the copy by displaying the contents of the root directory on the TFTP server.

Using the CLI to Upgrade a Catalyst 2940 or Catalyst 2950 LRE Switch

Use this procedure for upgrading your Catalyst 2940 or Catalyst 2950 LRE switch by using the archive download-sw privileged EXEC command to automatically extract and download the Cisco IOS image and the CMS files to the switch. The archive download-sw command initiates this process:

•It verifies adequate space on the flash memory before downloading the new set of images.

•If there is insufficient space on the flash memory to hold both the old and the new images, it deletes the old set of images. The images are always stored in a subdirectory on the flash memory. The subdirectory name is the same as the image release name, for example, flash:/c2940-i6q412-tar.121.20.EA1/

•It replaces the old set of images with the new set of images. The set includes the Cisco IOS image and the CMS files and, on Catalyst 2950 LRE switches, the LRE firmware files. You do not have to manually delete the CMS directory from flash memory.

•After the new set of files is downloaded, it automatically sets the BOOT environment variable.

•If you enter the command with the /reload or the /force-reload option, it automatically reloads the switch after the upgrade.

For further information on this command, see the command reference for this release.

Follow these steps to upgrade the switch software by using a TFTP transfer:

Step 1 If your PC or workstation cannot act as a TFTP server, copy the file to a TFTP server to which you have access.

Step 2 Log into the switch by starting a Telnet session or by connecting to the switch console port through the RS-232 connector.

To start a Telnet session on your PC or workstation, enter this command: 

server% telnet switch_ip_address

Enter the Telnet password if you are prompted to do so.

Step 3 Enter privileged EXEC mode: 

switch> enable 
switch#

Enter the password if you are prompted to do so.

Step 4 Ensure that you have IP connectivity to the TFTP server by using this privileged EXEC command: 

Switch# ping tftp-server-address

For more information about assigning an IP address and default gateway to the switch, refer to the software configuration guide for this release.

Step 5 Download the image file from the TFTP server to the switch. If you are installing the same version of software that is currently on the switch, overwrite the current image by using this privileged EXEC command: 

archive download-sw /overwrite /reload tftp:[[//location]/directory]/image-name.tar

The /overwrite option overwrites the software image in flash memory with the downloaded one.

Note You must use the /overwrite option when upgrading a Catalyst 2940 switch.

The /reload option reloads the system after downloading the image unless the configuration has been changed and not saved.

For //location, specify the IP address of the TFTP server.

For /directory/image-name.tar, specify the directory (optional) and the image to download. Directory and image names are case-sensitive.

This example shows how to download an image from a TFTP server at 198.30.20.19 and to overwrite the image on the switch: 

Switch# archive download-sw /overwrite tftp://198.30.20.19/c2940-i612-tar.121-20.EA1.tar

You can also download the image file from the TFTP server to the switch and keep the current image by replacing the /overwrite option with the /leave-old-sw option.

Your Telnet session ends when the switch reloads.

After the switch reboots, use Telnet to return to the switch, and enter the show version user EXEC command to verify the upgrade procedure. If you have a previously opened browser session to the upgraded switch, close the browser, and start it again to ensure that you are using the latest HTML files.

Using the CLI to Upgrade a Catalyst 2955 Switch or Non-LRE Catalyst 2950 Switch

Use this procedure for upgrading your Catalyst 2955 or non-LRE Catalyst 2950 switch by copying the tar file to the switch. You copy the Cisco IOS image and the CMS files to the switch from a TFTP server and then extract the files by entering the archive tar command, with these results:

•Changes the name of the current image file to the name of the new file that you are copying and replaces the old image file with the new one. Perform this step only if you have space available on your switch.

•Disables access to the CMS pages and deletes the existing CMS files before the software upgrade to avoid a conflict if users access the web pages during the software upgrade.

•Reenables access to the CMS pages after the upgrade is complete.

Caution A bootloader upgrade occurs if you are upgrading Catalyst 2950 switches running Cisco IOS Release 12.1(9)EA1d or earlier to Cisco IOS Release 12.1(11)EA1 or later for both cryptographic and noncryptographic images. The bootloader can take up to 30 seconds to upgrade. Do not power cycle the switch while you are copying this image to the switch. If a power failure occurs when you are copying this image to the switch, call Cisco Systems immediately.

Follow these steps to upgrade the switch software by using a TFTP transfer:

Step 1 If your PC or workstation cannot act as a TFTP server, copy the file to a TFTP server to which you have access.

Step 2 Log into the switch by starting a Telnet session or by connecting to the switch console port through the RS-232 connector.

To start a Telnet session on your PC or workstation, enter this command: 

server% telnet switch_ip_address

Enter the Telnet password if you are prompted to do so.

Step 3 Enter privileged EXEC mode: 

switch> enable 
switch#

Enter the password if you are prompted to do so.

Step 4 Remove the CMS files: 

switch# delete flash:html/*

Press Enter to confirm the deletion of each file. Do not press any other keys during this process.

Step 5 Enter this command to copy the new image and the CMS files to flash memory:

Caution In this step, the archive tar command copies the tar file that contains both the image and the CMS files. If you are upgrading from a release earlier than Cisco IOS Release 12.1(6)EA2, use the tar command instead of the archive tar command. 
switch# archive tar /x tftp://server_ip_address/path/filename.tar flash: 
Loading /path/filename.tar from server_ip_address (via VLAN1):!) 
extracting info (110 bytes)

extracting c2950-i6q4l2-mz.121-13.EA1c.bin (2239579 bytes)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

html/ (directory)

extracting html/Detective.html.gz (1139 bytes)!

extracting html/ieGraph.html.gz (553 bytes)

extracting html/DrawGraph.html.gz (787 bytes)

extracting html/GraphFrame.html.gz (802 bytes)!

...

Depending on the TFTP server being used, you might need to enter only one slash (/) after the server_ip_address in the archive tar command.

Step 6 Display the name of the running (default) image file (BOOT path-list). This example shows the name in italic: 

switch# show boot 
BOOT path-list:    flash:current_image 
Config file:       flash:config.text 
Enable Break:      1 
Manual Boot:       no 
HELPER path-list:  
NVRAM/Config file 
buffer size: 32768

Step 7 Enter global configuration mode: 

switch# configure terminal 
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.

Step 8 Enter the boot command with the name of the new image filename: 

switch(config)# boot system flash:new_image

For example: 

switch(config)# boot system flash:c2950-i6q4l2-mz.121-13.EA1c.bin

Note If the show boot command entered in Step 6 displays no image name, you do not need to enter this command; the switch automatically finds the correct file to use when it resets.

Step 9 Return to privileged EXEC mode: 

switch(config)# end

Step 10 Reload the new software with this command: 

switch# reload 
System configuration has been modified. Save? [yes/no]:y 
Proceed with reload? [confirm]

Step 11 Press Return to confirm the reload.

Your Telnet session ends when the switch reloads.

After the switch reboots, use Telnet to return to the switch, and enter the show version user EXEC command to verify the upgrade procedure. If you have a previously opened browser session to the upgraded switch, close the browser, and start it again to ensure that you are using the latest CMS files.

Recovering from Software Failure

If the software fails, you can reload the software. For detailed recovery procedures, refer to the "Troubleshooting" chapter in the software configuration guide for your switch.

Installation Notes

You can assign IP information to your switch by using one of these methods:

•The Express Setup program on Catalyst 2940 and Catalyst 2950 switches (including Catalyst 2950 LRE switches). The Express Setup program is not supported on Catalyst 2955 switches.

Refer to the "Quick Setup" chapter in the Catalyst 2940 and Catalyst 2950 hardware installation guides for more information about Express Setup.

•The CLI-based setup program.

This procedure is described in the Catalyst 2940, Catalyst 2950, and Catalyst 2955 hardware installation guides.

•The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)-based autoconfiguration. Refer to the software configuration guide for your switch.

•Manually assigning an IP address. Refer to the software configuration guide for your switch.

New Features

These are the new supported hardware and the new software features provided in Cisco IOS Release 12.1(20)EA1.

New Hardware Features

For a complete list of supported hardware, see the "Hardware Supported" section.

New Software Features

Cisco IOS Release 12.1(20)EA1 contains this new enhancement:

User-defined and Cisco-default Smartports macros for creating custom switch configurations for simplified deployment across the network.

Limitations and Restrictions

You should review this section before you begin working with the switches. These are known limitations that will not be fixed, and there is not always a workaround. Some features might not work as documented, and some features could be affected by recent changes to the switch hardware or software.

Note These limitations and restrictions apply to all Catalyst 2940, Catalyst 2950, and Catalyst 2955 switches unless otherwise noted.

These are the limitations and restrictions:

•"Cisco IOS Limitations and Restrictions" section

•"LRE Limitations and Restrictions" section

•"Cluster Limitations and Restrictions" section

•"CMS Limitations and Restrictions" section

•"Catalyst 2950 Hardware and Software Compatibility Matrixes" section

Cisco IOS Limitations and Restrictions

These limitations and restrictions apply to the Cisco IOS configuration:

•Root guard is inconsistent when configured on a port that is in the STP blocked state at the time of configuration. (CSCdp85954)

•Aging of dynamic addresses does not always occur exactly after the specified aging time elapses. It might take up to three times this time period before the entries are removed from the table. (CSCdr96565)

•If the switch gets configured from the dynamic IP pool, a duplicate or different IP address might be assigned.

The workaround is to make sure that the DHCP server contains reserved addresses that are bound to each switch by the switch hardware address so that the switch does not obtain its IP address from the dynamic pool. (CSCds58369)

•Internal loopback in half-duplex mode causes input errors. We recommend that you configure the PHY to operate in full duplex before setting the internal loopback. (CSCds20365)

•A source-based distribution port group does not share the broadcast with all the group members. When the destination of the packets is a broadcast or unknown unicast or multicast, the packets are forwarded only on one port member of a port group, instead of being shared among all members of the port group. (CSCdt24814)

•When you enter the show controllers ethernet-controller interface-id or show interfaces interface-id counters privileged EXEC command, if a large number of erroneous frames are received on an interface, the receive-error counts might be smaller than the actual values, and the receive-unicast frame count might be larger than the actual frame count. (CSCdt27223)

•Two problems occur when a switch is in transparent mode:

–If the switch is a leaf switch, any new VLANs added to it are not propagated upstream through VTP messages. As a result, the switch does not receive flooded traffic for that VLAN.

–If the switch is connected to two VTP servers, it forwards their pruning messages. If the switch has a port on a VLAN that is not requested by other servers through their pruning messages, it does not receive flooded traffic for that VLAN.

There is no workaround. (CSCdt48011)

•The receive count output for the show controllers ethernet-controller interface-id privileged EXEC command shows the incoming packets count before the ASIC makes a decision of whether to drop the packet or not. Therefore, for ports in the STP blocking states, even though the receive count shows incoming frames, the packet is not forwarded to the other port. (CSCdu83640)

•In some network topologies, when UplinkFast is enabled on all switches and BackboneFast is not enabled on all switches, a temporary loop might be caused when the STP root switch is changed.

The workaround is to enable BackboneFast on all switches. (CSCdv02941)

•At times, the Window XP pop-up window might not appear while authenticating a client (supplicant) because the user information is already stored in Windows XP. However, the Extensible Authentication Protocol over LAN (EAPOL) response to the switch (authenticator) might have an empty user ID that causes the 802.1x port to be unauthenticated.

The workaround is to manually re-initiate authentication by either logging off or detaching the link and then reconnecting it. (CSCdv19671)

•If two Catalyst 2950 switches are used in a network and if access ports are used to connect two different VLANs whose VLAN IDs are separated by the correct multiple of 64, it is possible to create a situation where the two switches use the same bridge ID in the same spanning-tree instances. This might cause a loss of connectivity in the VLAN as the spanning tree blocks the ports that should be forwarding.

The workaround is to not cross-connect VLANs. For example, do not use an access port to connect VLAN 1 to VLAN 65 on either the same switch or from one switch to another switch. (CSCdv27247)

•A command switch might not show the Catalyst 1900, Catalyst 2820, and Catalyst 2900 XL 4-MB (models C2908-XL, C2916M-XL, C2924C-XL, and C2924-XL) switches as candidates even though their management VLAN is the same as the command switch. This occurs only when their management VLAN is not VLAN 1. (CSCdv34505)

•You can configure up to 256 Multicast VLAN Registration (MVR) groups by using the mvr vlan group interface configuration command, but only 255 groups are supported on a Catalyst 2950 switch at one time. If you statically add a 256th group, and 255 groups are already configured on the switch, it continues trying (and failing) to add the new group.

The workaround is to set the mode to dynamic for Catalyst 2950 switches that are connected to IGMP-capable devices. The new group can join the multicast stream if another stream is dynamically removed from the group. (CSCdv45190)

•A Catalyst 2950 command switch can discover only the first Catalyst 3550 switch if the link between the Catalyst 3550 switches is an 802.1Q trunk and the native VLAN is not the same as the management VLAN of the Catalyst 2950 switch or if the link between the Catalyst 3550 switches is an Inter-Switch Link (ISL) trunk and the management VLAN is not VLAN 1.

The workaround is to connect Catalyst 3550 switches by using the access link on the command switches management VLAN or to configure an 802.1Q trunk with a native VLAN that is the same as the management VLAN of the command switch. (CSCdv49871)

•There might be a link on the Fast Ethernet port of the Catalyst 2950 switch when it is forced to 10 Mbps and full-duplex mode and its link partner is forced to 100 Mbps and forced duplex mode. The LED on the Catalyst 2950 switch might display the link, and the error counters might increment.

The workaround is to configure both sides of a link to the same speed or use autonegotiation. (CSCdv62271)

•The ip http authentication enable global configuration command is not saved to the configuration file because this is the default configuration. Therefore, this configuration is lost after a reboot.

The workaround is to manually enter the command again after a reboot. (CSCdv67047)

•If a stack that has Catalyst 2940, Catalyst 2950, or Catalyst 2955 switches also has Catalyst 2900 XL or Catalyst 3500 XL switches, cross-stack UplinkFast (CSUF) does not function if the management VLAN on the Catalyst 2900 XL or Catalyst 3500 XL switches is changed to a VLAN other than VLAN 1 (the default).

The workaround is to make sure that the management VLANs of all Catalyst 2900 XL or 3500 XL switches in the stack are set to VLAN 1. (CSCdv82224)

•If a port is configured as a secure port with the violation mode as restrict, the secure ports might process packets even after maximum limit of MAC addresses is reached, but those packets are not forwarded to other ports. (CSCdw02638)

•The discarded frames count of the show controllers ethernet-controller privileged EXEC command output and the ignored count of the show controller ethernet privileged EXEC command output can increment for these reasons:

–The source and destination ports are the same.

–The spanning-tree state of the ingress port is not in the forwarding state.

–Traffic is filtered because of unicast or multicast storms are on the port.

–Traffic is dropped because a VLAN has not been assigned by VLAN Query Protocol (VQP).

Note This error occurs only on switches that can run Cisco IOS Release 12.0(5)WC2b or earlier.

There is no workaround. (CSCdw48441)

•You can apply ACLs to a management VLAN or to any traffic that is going directly to the CPU, such as SNMP, Telnet, or web traffic. For information on creating ACLs for these interfaces, refer to the "Configuring IP Services" section of the Cisco IOS IP and IP Routing Configuration Guide for Cisco IOS Release 12.1 and the Cisco IOS IP and IP Routing Command Reference for Cisco IOS Release 12.1.

•The SSH feature uses a large amount of switch memory, which limits the number of VLANs, trunk ports, and cluster members that you can configure on the switch. Before you download the cryptographic software image, your switch configuration must meet these conditions:

–The number of trunk ports multiplied by the number of VLANs on the switch must be less than or equal to 128. These are examples of switch configurations that meet this condition:

If the switch has 2 trunk ports, it can have up to 64 VLANs.

If the switch has 32 VLANs, it can have up to 4 trunk ports.

–If your switch is a cluster command switch, it can only support up to eight cluster members.

Note A switch that runs the SI cannot run the cryptographic image. If a cryptographic image is loaded on an SI-only switch, the switch will perform a forced reload.

If your switch has a saved configuration that does not meet the previous conditions and you upgrade the switch software to the cryptographic software image, the switch might run out of memory. If this happens, the switch does not operate properly. For example, it might continuously reload.

If the switch runs out of memory, this message appears: 

%SYS-2-MALLOCFAIL: Memory allocation of (number_of_bytes) bytes failed ...

The workaround is to check your switch configuration and ensure that it meets the previous conditions. (CSCdw66805)

•When you use the policy-map global configuration command to create a policy map, and you do not specify any action for a class map, the association between that class map and policy map is not saved when you exit policy-map configuration mode.

The workaround is to specify an action in the policy map. (CSCdx75308)

•When the Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) Immediate Leave is configured, new ports are added to the group membership each time a join message is received, and ports are pruned (removed) each time a leave message is received.

If the join and leave messages arrive at high rate, the CPU can become busy processing these messages. For example, the CPU usage is approximately 50 percent when 50 pairs of join and leave messages are received each second. Depending on the rate at which join and leave messages are received, the CPU usage can go very high, even up to 100 percent, as the switch continues processing these messages.

The workaround is to only use the Immediate Leave processing feature on VLANs where a single host is connected to each port. (CSCdx95638)

•A switch does not use the default gateway address in the DHCP offer packet from the server during automatic-install process.

The workaround is to manually assign an IP address to the switch. (CSCdy08716)

•In a Remote Switched Port Analyzer (RSPAN) session, if at least one switch is used as an intermediate or destination switch and if traffic for a port is monitored in both directions, traffic does not reach the destination switch. (CSCdy38476)

These are the workarounds:

–Use a Catalyst 3550 or Catalyst 6000 switch as an intermediate or destination switch.

–Monitor traffic in only one direction if a Catalyst 2950 switch is used as an intermediate or destination switch.

•If you assign a nonexistent VLAN ID to a static-access EtherChannel by setting the ciscoVlanMembershipMIB:vmVlan object, the switch does not create the VLAN in the VLAN database. (CSCdy65850)

•When you configure a dynamic switch port by using the switchport access vlan dynamic interface configuration command, the port might allow unauthorized users to access network resources if the interface changes from access mode to trunk mode through Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP) negotiation.

The workaround is to configure the port as a static access port. (CSCdz32556)

•The output from the show stack privileged EXEC command might show a large number of false interrupts.

There is no workaround. The number of interrupts does not affect the switch functionality. (CSCdz34545)

•If you configure a static secure MAC address on an interface before enabling port security on the interface, the same MAC address is allowed on multiple interfaces. If the same MAC address is added on multiple ports before enabling port security and port security is later enabled on those ports, only the first MAC address can be added to the hardware database. If port security is first enabled on the interface, the same static MAC address is not allowed on multiple interfaces. (CSCdz74685)

•In Cisco IOS Release 12.1(13)EA1 or later, these are the default settings for a IP Phone connected to a switch:

–The port trust state is to not trust the priority of frames arriving on the IP Phone port from connected devices.

–The CoS value of incoming traffic is overwritten and set to zero. (CSCdz76915)

•If you press and hold the spacebar while the output of any show user EXEC command is being displayed, the Telnet session is stopped, and you can no longer communicate with the management VLAN. (CSCea12888)

These are the workarounds:

–Enter the show commands from privileged EXEC mode, and use this command to set the terminal length to zero:

switch# terminal length 0

–Telnet directly from a PC or workstation to the switch.

–Do not hold down the spacebar while scrolling through the output of a show user EXEC command. Instead, slowly press and release the spacebar.

•When you connect a switch to another switch through a trunk port and the number of VLANs on the first switch is lower than the number on the connected switch, interface errors are received on the management VLAN of the first switch.

The workaround is to match the configured VLANs on each side of the trunk port. (CSCea23138)

•When you enable Port Fast on a static-access port and then change the port to dynamic, Port Fast remains enabled. However, if you change the port back to static, Port Fast is disabled.

The workaround is to configure Port Fast globally by using the spanning-tree portfast global configuration command. (CSCea24969)

•When a switch sends a system message to an external syslog server, the switch adds a sequence number to the system message. (CSCea26598)

•When using the SPAN feature, the monitoring port receives copies of sent and received traffic for all monitored ports. If the monitoring port is oversubscribed, it will probably become congested. This might also affect how one or more of the monitored ports forwards traffic.

•When a 10/100 switch port is connected to a 10/00 port on a hub and another 10/100 port on the hub is connected to a 10/100 port on another switch, when one of the switches restarts, the link state might transition from down to up, and these messages might appear: 

%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface FastEthernet0/1, changed state to down

%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface FastEthernet0/1, changed state to up

Then the switch that restarted does not forward traffic until the spanning-tree state enters the forwarding state. This can occur on a switch running Cisco IOS Release 12.1(13)EA1 or later. (CSCea47230)

•When MAC addresses are learned and deleted at high rates on a switch, addresses on dynamic access ports might need to be authenticated again from the VLAN Membership Policy Server (VMPS), causing traffic to drop until authentication is complete.

The workaround is to reduce the MAC address learning and MAC address movement activity. (CSCea87794)

•A Fast Ethernet port that has been configured at 10 Mbps might stay linked up or flap after the device to which it has been linked has been shut down.

The workaround is to enter the shutdown and then the no shutdown interface configuration commands on the interface. (CSCeb36925)

•When you upgrade a Catalyst 2940 switch running Cisco IOS Release 12.1(13)AY, or downgrade a Catalyst 2940 switch to Cisco IOS Release 12.1(13)AY, the archive download-sw privileged EXEC command does not work. The workaround is to use the archive tar privileged EXEC command. This limitation applies only to Cisco IOS Release 12.1(13)AY. (CSCec11178)

•After a topology change in STP, some terminals connected to the management VLAN can transfer data because the affected switch ports start forwarding before they move to the forwarding state.

Note If the terminal does not belong to management VLAN, this failure does not occur.

The workaround is to place the ports in static-access mode for a single VLAN, if possible in the topology. (CSCec13986)

•Certain combinations of features and switches create conflicts with the port security feature. In Table 6, No means that port security cannot be enabled on a port on the referenced switch if the referenced feature is also running on the same port. Yes means that both port security and the referenced feature can be enabled on the same port on a switch at the same time. A dash means not applicable.

Table 6 Port Security Incompatibility with Other Switch Features 

 
Catalyst 2940
Catalyst 2950 and Catalyst 2955
Catalyst 2970
Catalyst 3550
Catalyst 3750

DTP1 port2

No

No

No

No

No

Trunk port

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Dynamic-access port3

No

No

No

No

No

Routed port

—

—

—

No

No

SPAN source port

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

SPAN destination port

No

No

No

No

No

EtherChannel

No

No

No

No

No

Tunneling port

—

—

—

Yes

—

Protected port

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

802.1x port

—

Yes4

Yes

Yes

Yes

1 DTP = Dynamic Trunking Protocol

2 A port configured with the switchport mode dynamic interface configuration command.

3 A VLAN Query Protocol (VQP) port configured with the switchport access vlan dynamic interface configuration command.

4 The switch must be running the enhanced software image (EI).


LRE Limitations and Restrictions

These limitations only apply to Catalyst 2950 LRE switches:

•VLAN-tagged packets from multiple VLANs with the same source MAC address that are received on different Cisco 585 LRE CPE Ethernet ports create a single MAC address entry (ingress port entry). Any network designed with the assumption that MAC addresses are maintained per VLAN does not work.

There is no workaround. The Ethernet port on the Cisco 585 LRE CPE does not support VLANs. All the ports are assumed to be in the same VLAN. (CSCdx03708)

•Maximum-sized ISL frames (frames between 1537 and 1544 bytes) are discarded by the CPE device on ingress interfaces. Some chips and switches on the CPE device support a maximum frame size of 1536 bytes, which causes any maximum-sized ISL frames coming into the CPE from an end device or from an LRE switch to be discarded.

There is no workaround. You must ensure that the network does not send ISL tagged frames of sizes between 1537 and 1544 bytes to an LRE switch. (CSCdx25940)

•The system runs out of memory and fails after too many RMON buckets are requested.

There is no workaround; only 1000 buckets per interface are supported. (CSCdy38390)

•The flow control autonegotiation settles in the incorrect outcome if you use a Cisco-made 1000BASE-T GBIC with any switch not listed in Table 1 of the 1000BASE-T GBIC Switch Compatibility Matrix:

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/lan/c2900xl/1000gbic/1000comp.htm.

The workaround is to use the Cisco 1000BASE-T GBIC only with compatible switches. (CSCdy53369)

•The flash memory write operation is slower on LRE switches than on non-LRE switches. (CSCdy55897)

•The Cisco 585 LRE CPE has four Fast Ethernet ports. When the CPE is connected to an LRE switch, the default value for the maximum number of secure MAC addresses is 1. You can use the show port-security command to display the current maximum value.

The workaround is to use the switchport port-security maximum value interface configuration command to change the default value. For interfaces connected to Cisco 575 LRE and Cisco 576 LRE 997 CPEs, the default value can be 1. For interfaces connected to Cisco 585 LRE CPEs, the value can be 5 because the CPE has four Fast Ethernet ports and one additional MAC address. (CSCdy73748)

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