Configure PROFINET

PROFINET protocol

PROFINET is the PROFIBUS international open industrial Ethernet standard that

  • uses TCP/IP and IT standards for automation control

  • enables scalable communication for industrial automation systems and process control networks, and

  • emphasizes data exchange and defines communication paths to meet speed requirements.

PROFINET communication levels

PROFINET communication is scalable on three levels:

  • Normal non-real-time communication that uses TCP/IP and enables bus cycle times of approximately 100 ms.

  • Real-time communication which enables cycle times of approximately 10 ms.

  • Isochronous real-time communication which enables cycle times of approximately 1 ms.

PROFINET I/O is a modular communication framework for distributed automation applications. It uses cyclic data transfer to exchange data, alarms, and diagnostic information with programmable controllers, input/output (I/O) devices, and other automation controllers such as motion controllers.

PROFINET I/O recognizes three classes of devices.

  1. I/O devices

  2. I/O controllers

  3. I/O supervisors

Restrictions to configure PROFINET

  • PROFINET feature set is available with Network-Essentials license.

  • Cisco IOS XE IE 9300 Rugged Series Switches support only PROFINET I/O, RT (Real-Time) but not IRT (isochronous real-time) communication.

  • PROFINET can be enabled only on standalone IE-9300 series switches. PROFINET is not supported when Cisco IOS XE IE 9300 Rugged Series Switch are stacked.

  • MRP-Client mode is not supported.

Supported switch models

Cisco Cisco IOS XE IE 9300 Rugged Series Switches are supported for PROFINET configuration with specific requirements and limitations that must be understood before implementation.

Supported switch models

Table 1. Cisco IOS XE IE 9300 Rugged Series Switch support matrix

Switch model

Supported release

IE-9310-26S2C

17.8.1

IE-9320-26S2C

17.8.1

IE-9320-22S2C4X

17.11.1

Rest of the PIDs

17.12.1 and later

PROFINET device roles

A PROFINET device role is a system component category that

  • defines the function of each device in the PROFINET I/O system

  • determines how devices exchange configuration, diagnostic, and I/O data, and

  • enables communication and automation through Ethernet networking.

PROFINET device role reference information

PROFINET is designed to be the sole or primary management system platform. The I/O controller detects the switch with the Discovery and Configuration Protocol (DCP), and sets the device name and IP address, so you do not need to enter Cisco IOS commands for the basic configuration. For advanced configurations (for example, QoS, DHCP, and similar features), you must use Cisco IOS commands on the switch because these features cannot be configured by using PROFINET.

  • PROFINET I/O devices communicate over an Ethernet communication network to meet the automation industry requirement for bus cycle times of less than 100 ms.

  • The network uses switches and full-duplex data exchange to avoid data collisions.


Note

If PROFINET DCP cannot detect the switch/PLC/IO MAC addresses, temporarily disable the firewall or virus scan from the Windows PC that installed the Siemens STEP7 or TIA Portal.

PROFINET device role examples

An I/O controller is a programmable logic controller (PLC) that controls I/O devices and exchanges data such as configuration, alarms, and I/O data through an automation program. The I/O controller and the I/O supervisor exchange diagnostic information. The I/O controller shares configuration and input/output information with the I/O device and receives alarms from the I/O device.

An I/O supervisor is an engineering station, such as a human machine interface (HMI) or PC, used for commissioning, monitoring, and diagnostic analysis. The I/O supervisor exchanges diagnostic, status, control, and parameter information with the I/O device.

An I/O device is a distributed input or output device such as a sensor, an actuator, or a motion controller.

PROFINET device data exchange

After PROFINET uses DCP to discover devices, including the switch, they establish application relationships (ARs) and communication relationships (CRs). After a connection is established and information about device parameters is exchanged, input and output data is exchanged.

The switch uses non-real-time CRs to exchange the data attributes listed in the tables.

Table 2. PROFINET I/O switch attributes

PROFINET I/O switch configuration attributes

Value or action

Device name

Configures a name for the device

TCP/IP

IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, SVI

Primary temperature alarm

Enables or disables monitoring for specified alarm

Secondary temperature alarm

Enables or disables monitoring for specified alarm

RPS failed alarm

Enables or disables monitoring for specified alarm

Relay major alarm

Enables or disables monitoring for specified alarm

Reset to factory defaults

Uses the PROFINET I/O controller to reset the switch to factory defaults. This action removes the startup configuration and reloads the switch.

Relay major configuration

Specifies the type of port alarm (for example, link fault) that triggers the major relay. Any port configured with the specified alarm type can trigger the major relay.

Table 3. PROFINET I/O port attributes

PROFINET I/O port configuration attributes

Value or action

Speed

10/100/1000/auto

Duplex

Half/full/auto

Port mode

Access/trunk

Link status

Shut down/no shut down

Configure rate limiting

Broadcast, unicast, multicast threshold exceeds configured levels

Port link fault alarm

Enables or disables monitoring for specified alarm

Port not forwarding alarm

Enables or disables monitoring for specified alarm

Port not operating alarm

Enables or disables monitoring for specified alarm

Port FCS threshold alarm

Enables or disables monitoring for specified alarm

VLAN

VLAN Information

PROFINET devices are integrated by using a general station description (GSD) file that contains the data for engineering and data exchange between the I/O controller, the I/O supervisor, and the I/O devices, including the switch. Each PROFINET I/O field device must have an associated GSD file that describes the properties of the device and contains all this information required for configuration:

  • Device identification information (device ID, vendor ID and name, product family, number of ports)

  • Number and types of pluggable modules

  • Error text for diagnostic information

  • Communication parameters for I/O devices, including the minimum cycle time, the reduction ratio, and the watch dog time

  • Configuration data for the I/O device modules, including speed, duplex, VLAN, port security information, alarms, and broadcast-rate-limiting thresholds

  • Parameters configured for I/O device modules for the attributes listed in the Profinet I/O Port Attributes table.

The GSD file is on the switch, but the I/O supervisor uses this file.


Note
You must use the GSD file that is associated with the Cisco IOS release on the switch to manage your PROFINET network. Both the I/O supervisor and the Cisco IOS software alert you to a mismatch between the GSD file and the switch Cisco IOS software version.

PROFINET configuration

You can use either the PROFINET software on the I/O supervisor or the Cisco IOS software for basic switch configuration.

After you enable PROFINET, LLDP is automatically enabled on the switch because PROFINET relies on LLDP to fully function. If you disable PROFINET, you can enable or disable LLDP as needed.

PROFINET is enabled by default on all switches. The default configuration operates on VLAN 1, but you can assign it to another VLAN ID if required. By default, VLAN 1 is in a shutdown state when the switch is first powered on. To activate PROFINET on an out-of-the-box switch, you must unshut VLAN 1.

VLAN 0 tags in PROFINET

To configure VLAN 0 tags in IOS XE IE 9300 Rugged Series Switches, you must add the voice vlan dot1p command to the interface to allow VLAN 0 tagged packets. 

Switch(config)# Interface gi1/0/2
Switch(config-if)# switchport access vlan 10
Switch(config-if)# switchport mode access
Switch(config-if)# switchport voice vlan dot1p

The switchport voice vlan dot1p command allows VLAN 0 tagged packets to be accepted on VLAN 10 along with the COS values of ingress frames.

VLAN 0 priority tagging

You can prioritize traffic without assigning it to a specific VLAN.

Starting with Cisco IOS XE Release 17.18.1, the VLAN 0 priority tagging feature allows you to prioritize traffic without assigning it to a specific VLAN. This feature enables the transmission and reception of 802.1Q Ethernet frames with the VLAN ID set to zero, by retaining the 802.1P priority bits of the VLAN 0 Ethernet packets. These Ethernet frames are known as priority tagged frames. As a result, critical traffic receives higher processing priority.

Perform these steps to configure the default PROFINET settings on a switch:

Procedure

Step 1

Use the configure terminal command to enter global configuration mode.

Example:

Switch# configure terminal

Step 2

Use the interface vlan 1 command to access the VLAN 1 interface.

Example:

Switch(config)# interface vlan 1

Step 3

Use the no shut command to enable VLAN 1.

Example:

Switch(config-if)# no shut

Step 4

Use the end command to exit the configuration mode.

Example:

Switch(config-if)#end

Step 5

To enable PROFINET on the switch, refer to Enabling PROFINET.

Note

 

Cisco devices undergo the Profinet Certification process to ensure compliance with industrial automation standards. During this process, the use of non-standard protocols such as CDP results in test failures, preventing certification. As a result, Cisco devices intended for Profinet environments must use IEEE standard LLDP instead of CDP.

Prepare and assign a switch for PROFINET network integration

This task enables you to prepare and assign a Cisco switch for integration into a PROFINET network using TIA Portal or STEP7. Completing this ensures the switch is recognized and managed correctly within the automation environment.

Use this task to prepare the files for integrating a switch into a PROFINET network using TIA Portal or STEP7.

Before you begin

  • Ensure that the GSD file version matches the one bundled with your Cisco IOS software.

  • Verify the GSD file is available and accessible on your PC.

    For more information on what a GSD file is, what information it contains about PROFINET devices, where Cisco stores these files on its switches, how to load them, and how to verify that the correct GSD is in use, see General Station Description File.

  • PROFINET is enabled by default on all switches. Hence, do not use the CLI to configure or modify the switch when PROFINET and TIA are in use.

Perform these steps to prepare and assign a switch for PROFINET network integration.

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the latest version of the TIA Portal or STEP7.

Step 2

Click Create new project and enter a name in the Project name field. Click Create.

Step 3

From the STEP7/TIA dashboard, choose Options > Manage general station description files.

Step 4

Browse to the latest version of the GSD file location on your PC and click Install.

Wait for the Hardware catalog to update.

Step 5

From the Hardware catalog, choose the PLC and the switch.

The PLC and the switch appear in the Devices & networks window.

Step 6

Assign the switch to the PLC.

Configure a switch for PROFINET integration using STEP7 or TIA

Configuring a switch for PROFINET integration allows it to communicate with the PLC and participate in the network. This task ensures the switch is properly set up for device discovery and assignment.

Use this task to configure a switch for integration into a PROFINET network using either STEP7 or the TIA portal.

Before you begin

Ensure the GSD file is installed and the switch is assigned to the PLC.

Perform these steps to configure a switch for PROFINET integration using STEP7 or TIA:

Procedure

Step 1

Double-click on the switch icon and assign the IP address and name.

Figure 1. Ethernet addresses

Note

 

These settings are for STEP7 or the TIA Portal only; the actual switch configuration occurs during discovery.

  1. In the General tab, under the Profinet interface, choose Ethernet addresses.

  2. In the IP protocol section, enter the IP address and click Save.

  3. In the General tab, enter the name of the switch in the Name field.

Step 2

From the Hardware catalog, add any required expansion or pluggable modules to the switch.

Step 3

Discover the device on the network.

  1. From the main menu, choose Online > Accessible devices.

  2. From the PG/PC interface choose the PC which is connected to the PROFINET. This uses LLDP (enabled by default) and initiates the device discovery.

  3. Click Show to verify the switch appears in the Accessible device section with its MAC address listed.

Step 4

Assign the IP address and device name to the switch.

Figure 2. Assign IP address

  1. In the Devices pane, go to Online & diagnostics.

  2. Locate Assign IP address in Functions and enter the IP address in the field.

  3. In the Assign PROFINET device name and enter the name in the field.

Step 5

Save, compile, and download the project.

  1. In the General tab, choose the Devices & networks and click Save project from the tool bar.

  2. From the tool bar, click Compile.

  3. From the tool bar, click Download. In the Extended download to device window, choose the correct interface from the Connection to interface/subnet.

  4. Choose Show accessible devices and from the Select target device, choose PLC and click Load and Finish.

Step 6

Click Go online to establish a live connection.

Enable PROFINET

Enabling PROFINET allows the switch to support industrial automation protocols, facilitating communication between devices in a PROFINET network.

Before you begin

  • Ensure you have access to the switch with the required privileges.

  • Verify the switch is running Cisco IOS or IOS XE software that supports PROFINET.

Follow these steps to enable PROFINET on the switch:

Procedure

Step 1

Use the configure terminal command to enter global configuration mode.

Example:

Switch# configure terminal

Step 2

Use the profinet command to enable PROFINET on the switch.

Example:

Switch(config)# profinet

After PROFINET is enabled, you can configure the device as described in Configure a switch for PROFINET integration using STEP7 or TIA (recommended) or by using the Cisco IOS commands provided in the subsequent steps.

Step 3

(Optional) Use the profinet id id command to set the PROFINET device identifier (ID) by using the Cisco IOS software.

Example:

Switch(config)# profinet id Cisco

The maximum length of the ID string can be 240 characters. The only special characters allowed are period (.) and hyphen (-), and they are allowed only in specific positions within the ID string. The ID can have multiple labels within the string. Each label can be from 1 to 63 characters, and labels must be separated by a period (.). The final character in the string must not be zero (0).

For more details about configuring the PROFINET ID, see the PROFINET specification, document number TC2-06-0007a, filename PN-AL-protocol_2722_V22_Oct07, available at PROFIBUS .

This step is optional and can be done through STEP7 or TIA PORTAL STEP 7 or the TIA Portal Automation application installed on the Supervisor (recommended).

Step 4

(Optional) Use the profinet vlan 10 command to change the VLAN number. The default VLAN number is 1. The VLAN ID range is from 1 to 4096. One PROFINET VLAN is supported per switch.

Example:

Switch(config)# profinet vlan 10

Note

 

You must create a VLAN before assigning a new VLAN to PROFINET if you are using a non default VLAN.

Step 5

Use the interface interface_id command to configure the port for PROFINET.

Step 6

Use the switchport access vlan command to configure the access VLAN required for the port.

Step 7

Use the switchport voice vlan dot1p command to add the voice vlan dot1p.

This command applies to Cisco IOS XE Release 17.17.1 and earlier versions. Starting with Cisco IOS XE Release 17.18.1, the system enables the command by default.

Step 8

Use the end command to return to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Switch(config)# end

Step 9

(Optional) Use the show running-config command to verify the configuration.

Example:

Switch# show running-config

Profinet connection configuration

When a Profinet connection/session is established, the network device automatically applies and saves the CLI configurations (including SNMP) given in the table below.

Table 4. CLI for the PROFINET Configuration

CLI

Purpose

snmp-server community private RW

snmp-server community public RO

Configure two Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) community strings, each with a read-write and read-only access.

LLDP

lldp timer 5

lldp holdtime 20

lldp run

Enable the Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) with a frame transmission interval of 5 seconds and a holdtime of 20 seconds.

CDP

no cdp run

Disable the Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP).

Power-supply

power-supply dual

Set up the device to manage dual power supplies, ensuring it can operate redundantly if one power supply fails.

Prevent default gateway and CDP loss during reloads and upgrades

This task ensures network connectivity remains intact by preventing the silent disappearance of default gateway and CDP configurations when Profinet interferes with running configuration persistence.

Cisco IE switches have Profinet (PN) enabled by default to facilitate management through the Siemens TIA application portal, similar to other I/O devices, Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), and I/O devices within the Local Area Network (LAN).

Upon reloading an Industrial Ethernet (IE) switch operating on Cisco IOS XE 17.x or performing an upgrade from version 16.x, you may experience unexpected network connectivity disruptions. This phenomenon arises because the default gateway configuration fails to persist in the running configuration, resulting in its silent disappearance. Moreover, the Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) may also be disabled during this process.

When the Profinet feature is active, the Profinet subsystem conducts several critical checks to ensure proper configuration:

  • Non-Zero Values: The switch IP address configured on the Profinet VLAN, gateway address, and netmask must all be non-zero.

  • Subnet Consistency: The IP address and gateway address must reside within the same subnet.

  • Uniqueness: The IP address and gateway address must not be identical.

If any of these conditions are not met while the Profinet feature is enabled, the default gateway configuration is removed from the running configuration. Additionally, if you save this incomplete configuration to the startup configuration using the write mem command, the erroneous settings will persist through power cycles.

Before you begin

While both the default gateway and CDP configurations are retained in the startup configuration, they do not appear in the running configuration post-reload or upgrade.

Follow these steps to prevent default gateway and CDP loss during reloads and upgrades:

Procedure

Step 1

Disable Profinet.

Enter the no profinet command to disable the Profinet feature.

Step 2

Reconfigure settings.

Manually re-enter the CDP and default gateway configurations.

Step 3

Save configuration.

Use the write mem command to save the updated configuration.

Step 4

Verify configuration.

Optionally, reload the switch to confirm that the configurations are correctly reflected in the running configuration post-reload.

Step 5

Check Profinet status.

Use the show profinet status to ensure that Profinet is disabled.

PROFINET monitoring and maintenance

Use these commands to monitor PROFINET sessions, check subsystem status, and view adjacent interface information for maintaining PROFINET connectivity.

Table 5. Commands for displaying the PROFINET Configuration

Command

Purpose
show profinet sessions

Displays the currently connected PROFINET sessions.
show profinet status

Displays the status of the PROFINET subsystem.
show lldp neighbor interface x/x detail

Displays information about the adjacent interface.

Example:

Switch#show profinet status
                Profinet : Enabled
                Connection Status : Connected
                Vlan : 1
                Profinet ID : Switch
                GSD version : Match
                Reduct Ratio : 128

PROFINET troubleshooting

The PLC has LEDs that display red for alarms, and the I/O supervisor software monitors those alarms.

To troubleshoot PROFINET use the debug profinet privileged EXEC command with the keywords shown in Commands for Troubleshooting the PROFINET Configuration. Be aware that the output of a debug command might cause a serial link to fail. You should use these commands only under the guidance of a Cisco Technical Support engineer. When you use this command, use Telnet to access the Cisco IOS command-line interface (CLI) by using Ethernet rather than a serial port.

Table 6. PROFINET troubleshooting commands

Command

Purpose

debug profinet alarm

Displays the alarm status (on or off) and content of PROFINET alarms.

debug profinet cyclic

Displays information about the time-cycle-based PROFINET Ethernet frames.

debug profinet error

Displays the PROFINET session errors.

debug profinet packet ethernet

Displays information about the PROFINET Ethernet packets.

debug profinet packet udp

Displays information about the PROFINET Upper Layer Data Protocol (UDP) packets.

debug profinet platform

Displays information about the interaction between the Cisco IOS software and PROFINET.

debug profinet topology

Displays the PROFINET topology packets received.

debug profinet trace

Displays a group of traced debug output logs.

Technical assistance

This reference provides access to technical support resources available through Cisco.

Description

Link

The Cisco Technical Support website contains thousands of pages of searchable technical content, including links to products, technologies, solutions, technical tips, and tools. Registered Cisco.com users can log in from this page to access even more content.

http://www.cisco.com/techsupport

Feature history for PROFINET configuration

Table 7. Feature History Table

Feature

Release information

Feature description

VLAN 0 priority tagging

Release 17.18.1

This feature enables prioritization of critical traffic using 802.1Q frames with a VLAN ID of zero, ensuring higher processing priority without VLAN assignment.