So, the first thing I need to do is set up a base switch, which will in effect, act as my starting point for my data VLAN. Remember, this switch won’t support Voice data, so I’m going to need another switch for that later.

This switch has been loaned to me, and already had a bunch of pre-done configuration, VLANs etc, which I wanted to remove. More than that, it already had some security and IP addressing set up, so I’d need to get rid of all that. There was two ways I could do this. Reconfigure whats there, or delete the lot and start again!

I consoled into it, (using PuTTY) and knowing the password for the PRIV level I needed to configure it,

• Type show running-config.The show running-config command shows the configuration of the switch.
• Type configure terminal.The hostname(config)# prompt   appears.
• By default, all the ports on the switch are set to however VLAN1 has been configured:
  

  hostname(config)#int vlan1
  hostname(config)#ip address 192.168.0.88 255.255.255.248
  hostname(config)#no shutdown
  hostname(config)#end

• Above I’ve set the VLAN1 to the IP address and mask that I want (using 248 as I only have a few devices in the lab)
• Issue the no shutdown command on every   interface that you use.If you issue a show ip interface brief  command, every interface that you want to use should display up  up.

You can see below you can access these switches using the inbuilt CDM management console, but its pretty poor on these models, (maybe its the version) but anyway, I much prefer the console.

I then wanted to configure the first port on the switch so I could TELNET into it from a TELNET session if I wanted, so;

• Type configure terminal.The hostname(config)# prompt   appears.
• By default, all the ports on the switch are set to however VLAN1 has been configured:
  

  hostname(config)#int f0/1
  hostname(config)#no shutdown
  hostname(config)#switchport mode access
  hostname(config)#switch access vlan1
  hostname(config)#ip default-gateway 192.168.0.1
  hostname(config)#end
  

I set the default Gateway (changed here for security) to match the gateway on my primary ADSL modem, (see topology post) so I could use this switch for Internet access too! I then finally wanted to call my switch something useful, and also change the banner text. So I used the following commands;

• Type configure terminal.The hostname(config)# prompt   appears.

• hostname(config)#banner motd $marios 2900xl Cisco switch$
  hostname(config)#hostname cisco2900xlswitch1
  hostname(config)#end
   

 Wiping it & starting again

There’s more than one way to skin a cat, and there’s more than one way to clear out this router. If I wanted to go through the initial setup configuration I can just run ‘setup‘ from the elevated prompt but its also worth wiping the unit by issuing the following commands;

• Type configure terminal.The hostname(config)# prompt   appears.

• hostname(config)#write erase
  hostname(config)#reload