Basic switch configuration

1. Switches classification 2. Connecting to switch

3. Initial switch configuration

4. Updating switch firmware 5. Switch configuration loading and backup 6. Switches functional capabilities review

Switches classification

There are three categories of switches: Unmanaged switches; Managed switches; Smart switches. Unmanaged switches do not support management and firmware update. Managed switches are difficult devices, allowing to fulfill advanced functions of L2 and L3 of the OSI model. Switch management can be carried out through Web-interface, command line interface (CLI), SNMP protocol, Telnet etc.

Smart switches take intermediate position. They give users possibility to configure certain network parameters using intuitively clear management utilities, Web-interface, simplified command line interface, SNMP protocol.

Connecting to switch

Modern switches convenient: - Web-interface; - CLI; - Telnet; - SNMP-management. D-Link Smart series switches also support initial configuration and firmware update through D-Link SmartConsole Utility.

Connecting to switch
D-Link managed switches are equipped with a console port. Depending on switch model, console port can have DB-9 or RJ-45 connector. Connection through a console is also called Out-of-Band connection which means that console uses strategy different from usual network connection (does not use bandwidth of Ethernet ports). After getting connected to switch console port, it is necessary to launch VT100 terminal emulation program (for example, HyperTerminal in Windows). Then one should set the following connection parameters which, as a rule, are specified in device documentation:

To get connected to copper (RJ45 connector) Ethernet port of other switch one can also use any four-conjugate UTP cable of 5, 5, 6 category provided that switch ports support automatic polarity determination.

Connecting to switch

When a switch is connected to a console, the following window appears (only for switches with CLI):

Use question sign ? also if you do not know command parameters. For example, if you want to learn possible syntax variants of a show command, enter in a command line: DES-3528# show + space

Basic switch configuration

Step 1. Switch protection against unauthorized access.

Set one of the following levels of privileges: Admin, Operator or User. Admin account has the highest level of privileges. It is possible to create user account using the following CLI commands:
create account [admin | operator | user] <username 15> After that an invitation for password entry and input acknowledgement appears: Enter a case-sensitive new password: Enter the new password again for confirmation: Maximum length of login and password is from 0 to 15 characters. One can create about 10 user accounts for a switch. After the account is successfully created there will be a word Success on a screen.

Basic switch configuration

Example of the account with level of privileges admin and dlink user name creation on DES-3528 switch:

Change password

Check up the and delete created account

Basic switch configuration

Step 2. IP address adjustment. IP address can be set automatically by DHCP or BOOTP protocols or statically, by the following CLI commands:

Basic switch configuration

Step 3. Ports parameters configuration. To set such parameters as transmit speed, full duplex/half-duplex operation, flow control enable/disable, MAC addresses learning, automatic polarity determination etc., D-Link switches offer config ports command.

Basic switch configuration

Step 4. Saving current switch configuration in nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM) memory. To do this execute save command.

Basic switch configuration

Step 5. Switch reboot using reboot command.

Reset switch configuration

reset {[config | system]} {force_agree} If no parameter is specified then switch current IP address, user accounts, and log-file are not changed. All other parameters are restored to the factory default settings. Switch will not save configuration in NVRAM and will not be rebooted. If keyword config is specified, all factory default settings, including the IP address of management interface, user accounts and log-file will be restored on the switch. A switch will not save configuration in NVRAM and will not reboot. If keyword system is specified, all factory default settings will be restored on the switch. A switch will save these adjustments in NVRAM and will reboot. The force_agree parameter allows to perform silent execution of reset command. It is not necessary to enter Y/N. All factory default settings except IP address, user accounts and logfile will be restored.

Basic switch configuration

Step 6. Switch information review. To get the information about a switch (to look at its general configuration) execute show switch command.
DES-3528#show switch Command: show switch Device Type : DES-3528 Fast Ethernet Switch MAC Address : 00-1E-58-50-15-10 IP Address : 192.168.100.241 (Manual) VLAN Name : default Subnet Mask : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway : 0.0.0.0 Boot PROM Version : Build 1.00.B007 Firmware Version : Build 2.20.B028 Hardware Version : A1 Serial Number : P1UM186000004 System Name : System Location : System Contact : Spanning Tree : Disabled GVRP : Disabled IGMP Snooping : Disabled MLD Snooping : Disabled VLAN Trunk : Disabled TELNET : Enabled (TCP 23) WEB : Enabled (TCP 80) SNMP : Disabled SSL Status : Disabled

Show commands
Show commands are convenient methods of checking switch parameters and its state, giving the information required for monitoring and malfunctions detection. The list of general Show commands:

Connection to switch management Web-interface

Communication between a client and a server is usually carried out through TCP/IP connection (HTTP port number 80).

At the first connection to HTTP-server, it is necessary to do the following steps: 1. Check that IP address of a computer from which administration is exercised belongs to the same subnet as IP address of a switch if routing is not adjusted in a network. 2. Then launch web-browser and enter default IP address of management interface (as a rule it is underlined in user manual) in its address line. 3. User name and Password fields in the opened window of authentication are necessary to remain empty, after that press OK. Then switch Web-interface window will appear.

Connection to switch management Web-interface

Area 1 contains folder list uniting set of functions intended for a certain task. Area 2 represents graphical view of a front switch panel in real time. This area reflects ports, switch expansion modules and their state. Area 3 of Web-interface is a window intended for input and/or for a choice of data in area 1.

Updating switch firmware

New firmware is downloaded on a switch via TFTP protocol (Trivial File Transfer Protocol). To load firmware on a switch the following command is used (model DES-3528 is considered; syntax in other models can differ):

For example:

Updating switch firmware

To get the information about firmwares kept in switch flash-memory use show firmware information command:

Switch configuration loading and backup

Switches functional capabilities review

Many modern switches, irrespective of vendor, support a set of additional possibilities meeting the common standards. Among the most widespread and the most used today are: Virtual Local Area Networks (VLAN); Spanning Tree protocols IEEE 802.1D, 802.1w, 802.1s; Static and dynamic based on IEEE 802.3ad protocol Ethernet Link Aggregation; Traffic segmentation; Support of quality of service (QoS); Security functions, including 802.1X authentication, Port Security, IP-MAC-Port Binding

functions etc.;
Multicast protocols; Management with using of SNMP protocol, etc.