To start your switch, you need to follow the procedures in the hardware installation guide for installing and powering on the switch and setting up the initial switch configuration (IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, secret and Telnet passwords, and so forth).

The normal boot process involves the operation of the boot loader software and includes these activities:

• Performs low-level CPU initialization. It initializes the CPU registers, which control where physical memory is mapped, its quantity, its speed, and so forth.

• Performs power-on self-test (POST) for the CPU subsystem and tests the system DRAM.

• Initializes the file systems on the system board.

• Loads a default operating system software image into memory and boots up the switch.

The boot loader provides access to the file systems before the operating system is loaded. Normally, the boot loader is used only to load, decompress, and start the operating system. After the boot loader gives the operating system control of the CPU, the boot loader is not active until the next system reset or power-on.

The boot loader also provides trap-door access into the system if the operating system has problems serious enough that it cannot be used. The trap-door mechanism provides enough access to the system so that if it is necessary, you can reinstall the operating system software image by using the Xmodem Protocol, recover from a lost or forgotten password, and finally restart the operating system.

Before you can assign switch information, make sure you have connected a PC or terminal to the console port or a PC to the Ethernet management port, and make sure you have configured the PC or terminal-emulation software baud rate and character format to match these of the switch console port:

• Baud rate default is 9600.

• Data bits default is 8.

  Note	If the data bits option is set to 8, set the parity option to none.

• Stop bits default is 2 (minor).

• Parity settings default is none.

The following software installer features are supported on your switch:

• Software bundle installation on a standalone switch, a switch stack, or a subset of switches in a stack. The default is installation on all the switches if a switch stack is configured.

• In a stack of switches, Cisco recommends all switches in install mode.

• Software rollback to a previously installed package set.

• Emergency installation in the event that no valid installed packages reside on the boot flash.

• Auto-upgrade of a switch that joins the switch stack with incompatible software.

• Installation using packages on one switch as the source for installing packages on another switch in the switch stack.

Note	Software installation and rollback must be performed while running only in installed mode. You can use the software expand EXEC command to convert bundle boot mode to install mode.

Your switch supports two modes to boot the software packages:

• Installed mode

• Bundle mode

All the switches in a stack must be running in installed mode or bundle boot mode. A mixed mode stack is not supported. If a new switch tries to join the stack in a different boot mode then the active switch, the new switch is given a V-mismatch state.

If a mixed mode switch stack is booted at the same time, then all the switches except for the active switch is given a V-mismatch state. If the boot mode does not support auto-upgrade, then the switch stack members must be re-booted in the same boot mode as the active switch.

If the stack is running in installed mode, the auto-upgrade feature can be used to automatically upgrade the new switch that is attempting to join the switch stack.

The auto-upgrade feature changes the boot mode of the new switch to installed mode. If the stack is running in bundle boot mode, the auto-upgrade feature is not available. You will be required to use the bundle mode to boot the new switch so that it can join the switch stack.

Switch# show switch

Switch/Stack Mac Address : 6400.f125.1100 - Local Mac Address
Mac persistency wait time: Indefinite
H/W Current
Switch#   Role   Mac Address    Priority Version   State
------------------------------------------------------------
 1       Member 6400 f125.1a00   1        0        V-Mismatch
*2       Active 6400.f125.1100   1        V01      Ready
Switch

 

You can assign IP information through the switch setup program, through a DHCP server, or manually.

Use the switch setup program if you want to be prompted for specific IP information. With this program, you can also configure a hostname and an enable secret password.

It gives you the option of assigning a Telnet password (to provide security during remote management) and configuring your switch as a command or member switch of a cluster or as a standalone switch.

Use a DHCP server for centralized control and automatic assignment of IP information after the server is configured.

Note	If you are using DHCP, do not respond to any of the questions in the setup program until the switch receives the dynamically assigned IP address and reads the configuration file.

If you are an experienced user familiar with the switch configuration steps, manually configure the switch. Otherwise, use the setup program described in the Boot Process section.

DHCP provides configuration information to Internet hosts and internetworking devices. This protocol consists of two components: one for delivering configuration parameters from a DHCP server to a device and an operation for allocating network addresses to devices. DHCP is built on a client-server model, in which designated DHCP servers allocate network addresses and deliver configuration parameters to dynamically configured devices. The switch can act as both a DHCP client and a DHCP server.

During DHCP-based autoconfiguration, your switch (DHCP client) is automatically configured at startup with IP address information and a configuration file.

With DHCP-based autoconfiguration, no DHCP client-side configuration is needed on your switch. However, you need to configure the DHCP server for various lease options associated with IP addresses.

If you want to use DHCP to relay the configuration file location on the network, you might also need to configure a Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server and a Domain Name System (DNS) server.

Note	We recommend a redundant connection between a switch stack and the DHCP, DNS, and TFTP servers. This is to help ensure that these servers remain accessible in case one of the connected stack members is removed from the switch stack.

The DHCP server for your switch can be on the same LAN or on a different LAN than the switch. If the DHCP server is running on a different LAN, you should configure a DHCP relay device between your switch and the DHCP server. A relay device forwards broadcast traffic between two directly connected LANs. A router does not forward broadcast packets, but it forwards packets based on the destination IP address in the received packet.

DHCP-based autoconfiguration replaces the BOOTP client functionality on your switch.

You can use the DHCP image upgrade features to configure a DHCP server to download both a new image and a new configuration file to one or more switches in a network. Simultaneous image and configuration upgrade for all switches in the network helps ensure that each new switch added to a network receives the same image and configuration.

There are two types of DHCP image upgrades: DHCP autoconfiguration and DHCP auto-image update.

Follow these guidelines if you are configuring a device as a DHCP server:

• You should configure the DHCP server with reserved leases that are bound to each switch by the switch hardware address.

• If you want the switch to receive IP address information, you must configure the DHCP server with these lease options:

  • IP address of the client (required)

  • Subnet mask of the client (required)

  • DNS server IP address (optional)

  • Router IP address (default gateway address to be used by the switch) (required)

• If you want the switch to receive the configuration file from a TFTP server, you must configure the DHCP server with these lease options:

  • TFTP server name (required)

  • Boot filename (the name of the configuration file that the client needs) (recommended)

  • Hostname (optional)

• Depending on the settings of the DHCP server, the switch can receive IP address information, the configuration file, or both.

• If you do not configure the DHCP server with the lease options described previously, it replies to client requests with only those parameters that are configured. If the IP address and the subnet mask are not in the reply, the switch is not configured. If the router IP address or the TFTP server name are not found, the switch might send broadcast, instead of unicast, TFTP requests. Unavailability of other lease options does not affect autoconfiguration.

• The switch can act as a DHCP server. By default, the Cisco IOS DHCP server and relay agent features are enabled on your switch but are not configured. (These features are not operational.)

Depending on the availability of the IP address and the configuration filename in the DHCP reserved lease, the switch obtains its configuration information in these ways:

• The IP address and the configuration filename is reserved for the switch and provided in the DHCP reply (one-file read method).

  The switch receives its IP address, subnet mask, TFTP server address, and the configuration filename from the DHCP server. The switch sends a unicast message to the TFTP server to retrieve the named configuration file from the base directory of the server and upon receipt, it completes its boot up process.

• The IP address and the configuration filename is reserved for the switch, but the TFTP server address is not provided in the DHCP reply (one-file read method).

  The switch receives its IP address, subnet mask, and the configuration filename from the DHCP server. The switch sends a broadcast message to a TFTP server to retrieve the named configuration file from the base directory of the server, and upon receipt, it completes its boot-up process.

• Only the IP address is reserved for the switch and provided in the DHCP reply. The configuration filename is not provided (two-file read method).

  The switch receives its IP address, subnet mask, and the TFTP server address from the DHCP server. The switch sends a unicast message to the TFTP server to retrieve the network-confg or cisconet.cfg default configuration file. (If the network-confg file cannot be read, the switch reads the cisconet.cfg file.)

  The default configuration file contains the hostnames-to-IP-address mapping for the switch. The switch fills its host table with the information in the file and obtains its hostname. If the hostname is not found in the file, the switch uses the hostname in the DHCP reply. If the hostname is not specified in the DHCP reply, the switch uses the default Switch as its hostname.

  After obtaining its hostname from the default configuration file or the DHCP reply, the switch reads the configuration file that has the same name as its hostname (hostname-confg or hostname.cfg, depending on whether network-confg or cisconet.cfg was read earlier) from the TFTP server. If the cisconet.cfg file is read, the filename of the host is truncated to eight characters.

  If the switch cannot read the network-confg, cisconet.cfg, or the hostname file, it reads the router-confg file. If the switch cannot read the router-confg file, it reads the ciscortr.cfg file.

Note	The switch broadcasts TFTP server requests if the TFTP server is not obtained from the DHCP replies, if all attempts to read the configuration file through unicast transmissions fail, or if the TFTP server name cannot be resolved to an IP address.

With a normally operating switch, you enter the boot loader mode only through the console connection configured for 9600 bps. Unplug the switch power cord, and press the Mode button while reconnecting the power cord. You can release the Mode button after all the amber system LEDs turn on and remain solid. The boot loader switch prompt then appears.

The switch boot loader software provides support for nonvolatile environment variables, which can be used to control how the boot loader, or any other software running on the system, operates. Boot loader environment variables are similar to environment variables that can be set on UNIX or DOS systems.

Environment variables that have values are stored in flash memory outside of the flash file system.

Each line in these files contains an environment variable name and an equal sign followed by the value of the variable. A variable has no value if it is not present; it has a value if it is listed even if the value is a null string. A variable that is set to a null string (for example, “ ”) is a variable with a value. Many environment variables are predefined and have default values.

You can change the settings of the environment variables by accessing the boot loader or by using Cisco IOS commands. Under normal circumstances, it is not necessary to alter the setting of the environment variables.

You can schedule a reload of the software image to occur on the switch at a later time (for example, late at night or during the weekend when the switch is used less), or you can synchronize a reload network-wide (for example, to perform a software upgrade on all switches in the network).

You have these reload options:

• Reload of the software to take affect in the specified minutes or hours and minutes. The reload must take place within approximately 24 hours. You can specify the reason for the reload in a string up to 255 characters in length.

• Reload of the software to take place at the specified time (using a 24-hour clock). If you specify the month and day, the reload is scheduled to take place at the specified time and date. If you do not specify the month and day, the reload takes place at the specified time on the current day (if the specified time is later than the current time) or on the next day (if the specified time is earlier than the current time). Specifying 00:00 schedules the reload for midnight.

The reload command halts the system. If the system is not set to manually boot up, it reboots itself.

If your switch is configured for manual booting, do not reload it from a virtual terminal. This restriction prevents the switch from entering the boot loader mode and then taking it from the remote user’s control.

If you modify your configuration file, the switch prompts you to save the configuration before reloading. During the save operation, the system requests whether you want to proceed with the save if the CONFIG_FILE environment variable points to a startup configuration file that no longer exists. If you proceed in this situation, the system enters setup mode upon reload.

To cancel a previously scheduled reload, use the reload cancel privileged EXEC command.