How to add a Cisco Switch

  1. Enable your serial port in the bios to '3FN8'.
  2. apt-get install minicom
  3. as root run: 'minicom -s'
  4. Select Serial port setup
  5. Change Bps/Par/Bits to '9600 8N1' which stands for 9600 baud, 8 Data Bits,No Parity, and 1 stop bit.
  6. Select option 'A' from main menu and change device to '/dev/ttyS0'
  7. Select 'Save setup as df1'
  8. Select 'Exit'
  9. Connect a standard (not a crossover!!) RJ-45 cable from your DHCP server to one of the 24 ports in the front of the switch
  10. Connect Cisco supplied RJ-45 cable to back of switch and to smaller serial adaptor. Connect the serial connection to your computer.
  11. Now run minicom as a normal user and you should come up with "Continue with configuration Dialog? [yes/no]...select yes.
  12. Enter IP address of your switch...note: Switch does not do DHCP so make sure you assign a value that is not within your INTRANET DHCP range.
  13. Enter your netmask address...probably 255.255.255.0, but check your /etc/network/interfaces file on whichever computer is handling the intranet.
  14. Answer 'Yes' to adding default gateway and set it to the IP of whichever computer is handling your INTRANET.
  15. Choose your name of the switch
  16. Enter password for switch
  17. If configuration is correct choose 'YES'
  18. You should now see the port light on the front of the switch where your RJ-45 cable is connected turn green (if not already green).
  19. To test...ping the ip of your switch

Special Notes:

  • Be sure to use a non-crossover cable from your switch to your server
  • If you use the larger serial adaptor from Cisco...you will probably have to change the device in minicom
  • You may need to run setserial if you run into problems with the device and serial port not matching up
  • You can run 'dmesg' to see if your serial port came up. Look for /dev/ttyS0 to see if it came up...if not you probably need to go into the bios again
    • Don Graver
    Last modified: Sun May 27 00:29:00 PDT 2001