Finding the IP of your switch?

smidley · Post by **smidley** » Fri Sep 06, 2002 5:29 pm

Hey guys, I just got a new switch (Cisco Catalyst 1900 24 port) and I am unsure on how to find out what the IP address is on the switch. I know the IP of the computers I have plugged into port 1 and port 2.

Port one computer IP: 169.254.179.164
Port two computer IP: 169.254.23.102

I need to find what the IP of the switch is in order to configure it for certain stuff and so I can update the firmware. Thanx a lot for any help.

TEH WIN · Post by **TEH WIN** » Fri Sep 06, 2002 6:03 pm

maybe do a tracert from one computer to the other and see where it hops

smidley · Post by **smidley** » Fri Sep 06, 2002 6:06 pm

Nope that didn't give me anything....

zxc47 · Post by **zxc47** » Fri Sep 06, 2002 6:40 pm

Port one computer IP: 169.254.179.164
Port two computer IP: 169.254.23.102
A switch does not give out Ip's The modem does that for each nic card you plug into the switch port.If you have a router The Wan port get the Ip and the router give out sub-net Ip's for ever nic plug into it's ports.A switch does not have an IP so you can't ping it.

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Fri Sep 06, 2002 6:46 pm

Check this page Smidley. Lots of good info on that switch.
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc ... /index.htm
and this one
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc ... 1900qs.htm
here too
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc ... /index.htm

I believe zxc47 is correct.

smidley · Post by **smidley** » Fri Sep 06, 2002 6:58 pm

This is a switch, not a router, so will it have no ip? if that's the case, then how would I go about configuring it?

zxc47 · Post by **zxc47** » Fri Sep 06, 2002 7:05 pm

There is nothing to configure. The switch just pass info along and control network traffic

smidley · Post by **smidley** » Fri Sep 06, 2002 7:08 pm

arg... even on the cisco website they show the configuration screen so I know there is one.

zxc47 · Post by **zxc47** » Fri Sep 06, 2002 7:28 pm

Accessing the Management Interfaces
You can choose to use the default settings of the switch or to use the management interfaces to configure and monitor the switch.

This section describes how to access the following management interfaces if the switch is not a cluster member:

Catalyst 1900 Switch Manager

Management console and CLI

SNMP

Access to the management console or the CLI requires a direct connection to the switch console port or a Telnet session. Access to the Catalyst 1900 Switch Manager, Cluster Management applications, or SNMP requires a connection to one of the switch network ports.

If the switch is a cluster member, you can access its management interfaces through the command switch. For information about accessing the switch from the command switch, refer to the Cisco IOS Desktop Switch Software Configuration Guide, Catalyst 2900 Series XL and Catalyst 3500 Series XL Cisco IOS Release 12.0(5)XP.

smidley · Post by **smidley** » Fri Sep 06, 2002 7:31 pm

well... that doesn't really help me mutch... I guess I'll just leave it alone...

zxc47 · Post by **zxc47** » Fri Sep 06, 2002 7:38 pm

There is nothing you need to do with just two computers.If you had a big network with more than one switch on the network you may have to set it up . but you a long way from that.
Access to the management console or the CLI requires a direct connection to the switch console port or a Telnet session.

monty · Post by **monty** » Sat Sep 14, 2002 11:53 pm

Switches only have MAC addresses, not IP's, as more than just IP traffic can pass through them. To configure your switch, you need a console cable, which should have been included with it. If not, you should be able to find one cheap.

Ghosthunter · Post by **Ghosthunter** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 10:14 am

Wait a second do you need the IP address to telnet into the swtich to configrue it? Or do you want to know what the IP address is on a particular port? I have never used the 1900 series, but have used 6500,3500, and 2900 series, and I am pretty sure the 1900 uses a CLI.

What you want to do is on the back of the switch you will see a port called the Console port. You need to plug in an RJ-45 cable that has a special connector at the other end to connect to your serial port on your PC. Once that is done, you can use Hyperterminal, or anyother terminal program to connect to the swtich and configure it with an IP address. The settings you want in hyperterminal is 9600bps, 8 data bits, parity none, stop bits 1, flow control none

Once you are connected, turn on the swtich, and you should be at what looks like a dos prompt, or it might be a menu system, on the menu system might be an option for IP Configuration.

Before I go any further, let me know if this is what you mean, because it can get much more detailed.

Once the manangemnt port is configured with an IP address you should be able to telnet for any furutre configuration changes. But there are also a few other steps you need to before you can telnet, you need to enable telnet, and configure it with a password, as well as an enable password. Was this switch barnd new? Or has it been configured previsouly? If it is not brand new, then you are going to need to know the enable password, otherwise you will have to do a complete reset.

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 11:08 am

Any IP address of 169.254.xxx.xxx means that Windows assigned itself an IP address, because it did not find any DHCP server to get info from.

Once you get an IP in that 169.254.xxx.xxx range, you need not try to log onto anything, you need to troubleshoot IP.

Ghosthunter · Post by **Ghosthunter** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 11:20 am

It sounds like the switch has never been configured, so you are not getting a connection from the cable/dsl modem to get an ip address.

Follow my directions above and if you need more help let me know.

rpeAMP · Post by **rpeAMP** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 7:00 pm

As stated above, switches make decisions on Layer 2 (based on MAC addresses). Therefore, the switch does not have an IP itself, nor does it care about the other computers' IPs. It simply takes info and forwards it to the corresponding MAC address. YeOldeStonecat is correct about the IP addresses.

Give davy19's directions a shot and see what happens.

Ghosthunter · Post by **Ghosthunter** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 8:52 pm

Originally posted by rpeAMP
As stated above, switches make decisions on Layer 2 (based on MAC addresses). Therefore, the switch does not have an IP itself, nor does it care about the other computers' IPs. It simply takes info and forwards it to the corresponding MAC address. YeOldeStonecat is correct about the IP addresses.

Give davy19's directions a shot and see what happens.

Actually that is not entirely true.

There are cisco switches that have layer 2,3,4 switches The 6500 is one of the most advanced switches Cisco offers, and is a layer 2/3/4 switch.

As far as the Catalyst 1900 switch not having an IP address. It has to have an IP address, or you will never be able to telnet to configure it. Usually the management port which most people use is port 1, and is configured with an IP address, which is also VLAN1, the default VLAN.

Also on the Cisco switch if you do the following command:

sh arp

It will show you the arp table, and can figure out which port has which IP address, to help troubleshoot.

rpeAMP · Post by **rpeAMP** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 11:18 pm

LoL...I'm sooo sorry...don't know what I was thinking there. You are absolutely correct!!! And to think, I'm actually certified and SHOULD know this stuff off the top of my head!

Sorry for the screwup.

Ghosthunter · Post by **Ghosthunter** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 11:21 pm

If you dont work with it on a daily basis, you will tend to forget it...happens to me as well.

Btw, how hard was the CCNA? I work with cisco all the time, but never thought about getting my certification. Not sure if it is worth it?

rpeAMP · Post by **rpeAMP** » Fri Sep 20, 2002 12:15 am

The curriculum itself is not that hard. There are some hard chapters, but if you know as much as you do, you will be fine. The test is not something you don't want to study for because it is comprehensive. Some of the stuff you forget easily (like me!) if you don't keep up with things. I'm actually about to start working on my CCNP.

I'm not sure if CCNA is worth it yet (I took the Cisco classes my sophomore and junior years in HS), but I hear that CCNP and CCIE are definately worth it. CCIEs name their prices in many circumstances.

Since you already know so much about the Cisco routers themselves, I say go for as many certifications as you can get. It'll be worth your while!

Ghosthunter · Post by **Ghosthunter** » Fri Sep 20, 2002 6:02 am

I am so glad to hear that they actually teaching the cisco course in High School, that is awesome. You are getting a very sweet deal, dont know if you had to pay extra but if not that is great.

I actually heard CCIE is the hardest and the best, because you actually have to fly out to their lab, and they break their network and you actually have to put everything back together, I heard not many people pass that one.

objohn · Post by **objohn** » Fri Sep 20, 2002 7:35 am

Use a console cable and hyperterminal onto the switch. You will be able to configure an ip address from there.