Specifications

4-3
Catalyst 2970 Switch Software Configuration Guide
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Chapter 4 Assigning the Switch IP Address and Default Gateway
Assigning Switch Information
Use a DHCP server for centralized control and automatic assignment of IP information once the server
is configured.
Note If you are using DHCP, do not respond to any of the questions in the setup program until the switch
receives the dynamically assigned IP address and reads the configuration file.
Use the manual method of configuration if you are an experienced user familiar with the switch
configuration steps; otherwise, use the setup program described earlier.
This section contains this configuration information:
• Default Switch Information, page 4-3
• Understanding DHCP-Based Autoconfiguration, page 4-3
• Manually Assigning IP Information, page 4-10
Default Switch Information
Table 4-1 shows the default switch information.
Understanding DHCP-Based Autoconfiguration
The DHCP provides configuration information to Internet hosts and internetworking devices. This
protocol consists of two components: one for delivering configuration parameters from a DHCP server
to a device and a mechanism for allocating network addresses to devices. DHCP is built on a
client-server model, in which designated DHCP servers allocate network addresses and deliver
configuration parameters to dynamically configured devices. The switch can act as both a DHCP client
and a DHCP server.
During DHCP-based autoconfiguration, your switch (DHCP client) is automatically configured at
startup with IP address information and a configuration file.
With DHCP-based autoconfiguration, no DHCP client-side configuration is needed on your switch.
However, you need to configure the DHCP server, or the DHCP server feature on your switch, for various
lease options associated with IP addresses. If you are using DHCP to relay the configuration file location
on the network, you might also need to configure a Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server and a
Domain Name System (DNS) server.
Table 4-1 Default Switch Information
Feature Default Setting
IP address and subnet mask No IP address or subnet mask are defined.
Default gateway No default gateway is defined.
Enable secret password No password is defined.
Host name The factory-assigned default host name is Switch.
Telnet password No password is defined.
Cluster command switch functionality Disabled.
Cluster name No cluster name is defined.