Cisco Catalist Upgrading 2900, 5500 and 3700 Stacks
Dec23

Cisco Catalist Upgrading 2900, 5500 and 3700 Stacks

KB ID 0001630 Problem People are often nervous about doing this, I’m not sure why because Cisco have made it painfully simple now. That’s because instead of the old /bin files we used to use, you can now upgrade a switch (or a switch stack) using a .tar file with one command, (and it will also upgrade all the stack members and the firmware on any other network modules you have in the switches at the same time). Yes it does...

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Cisco IOS: Ether-Channel Trunks
Apr08

Cisco IOS: Ether-Channel Trunks

KB ID 0001533 Problem This is a subject that every time I need to create an Ether-Channel I end up checking beforehand, so it’s about time I wrote it up. We are combining two different things, an Ether-channel, (an aggregation of links) and a Trunk (the ability to carry many VLANS). If you are NOT from a Cisco background then you might want to read though the following post first to avoid confusion about the world...

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Cisco Stacking 2960-X Catalyst Switches
Jun05

Cisco Stacking 2960-X Catalyst Switches

KB ID 0001444 Problem You can stack up to 8 2960-X Switches*, you will require the stack modules and cables, (shown below).  *Note: If you are studying for an exam, and the question is StackWize the answer is 9. Solution Stack Modules: Power down the switch, remove the blanking plate and fit the module, then when powered on you can use a show inventory command to make sure the module has been detected correctly. Switch#show inventory...

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Cisco Error ‘%PHY-4-SFP_NOT_SUPPORTED’
Sep13

Cisco Error ‘%PHY-4-SFP_NOT_SUPPORTED’

KB ID 0001347  Problem This is another question I see getting asked a lot in forums! You see something like the following; 000032: *Sep 28 09:35:32.507 UTC: %PHY-4-SFP_NOT_SUPPORTED: The SFP in Gi3/0/50 is not supported (PNL-3750-Stack) 000033: *Sep 28 09:35:32.507 UTC: %PM-4-ERR_DISABLE: gbic-invalid error detected on Gi3/0/50, putting Gi3/0/50 in err-disable state (PNL-3750-Stack) The usual response is ‘Enable unsupported...

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Setup RANCID and ViewVC (Part Two) Adding Cisco Devices
Jul28

Setup RANCID and ViewVC (Part Two) Adding Cisco Devices

KB ID 0001332  Problem Before on Part One we setup our RANCID and ViewVC server ready to start backing up our devices, now we will look at adding the devices, and automating the backup process. Solution To add a Cisco device you need to do TWO things*. Firstly you need to add and entry in the ‘router.db’ file that lives in the ‘Group’ folder you created back in part one. Secondly you need to add the access...

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Setup RANCID and ViewVC (Part One)
Jul21

Setup RANCID and ViewVC (Part One)

KB ID 0001331 Problem There are couple of good posts out there on setting up Rancid (Really Awesome New Cisco Config Differ). Some even show you how to set it up with ViewVC (Formally ViewVCS, basically a nice web based GUI front end, that does version control and highlights differences). It does this using a system called CVS (Concurrent Version System, hence the original name.) Then I had to do some more searching to get it to back...

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