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Catalyst 3560 Switch Software Configuration Guide
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Chapter 5 Configuring Cisco IOS Configuration Engine
Configuring Cisco IOS Agents
Enabling the Cisco IOS CNS Agent
After enabling the CNS event agent, start the Cisco IOS CNS agent on the switch. You can enable the
Cisco IOS agent with these commands:
The cns config initial global configuration command enables the Cisco IOS agent and initiates an
initial configuration on the switch.
The cns config partial global configuration command enables the Cisco IOS agent and initiates a
partial configuration on the switch. You can then use the Configuration Engine to remotely send
incremental configurations to the switch.

Enabling an Initial Configuration

Beginning in privileged EXEC mode, follow these steps to enable the CNS configuration agent and
initiate an initial configuration on the switch:
Command Purpose
Step 1 configure terminal Enter global configuration mode.
Step 2 cns template connect name Enter CNS template connect configuration mode, and
specify the name of the CNS connect template.
Step 3 cli config-text Enter a command line for the CNS connect template.
Repeat this step for each command line in the template.
Step 4 Repeat Steps 2 to 3 to configure another CNS connect
template.
Step 5 exit Return to global configuration mode.
Step 6 cns connect name [retries number] [retry-interval
seconds] [sleep seconds] [timeout seconds]
Enter CNS connect configuration mode, specify the name
of the CNS connect profile, and define the profile
parameters. The switch uses the CNS connect profile to
connect to the Configuration Engine.
Enter the name of the CNS connect profile.
(Optional) For retries number, enter the number of
connection retries. The range is 1 to 30. The default
is 3.
(Optional) For retry-interval seconds, enter the
interval between successive connection attempts to the
Configuration Engine. The range is 1 to 40 seconds.
The default is 10 seconds.
(Optional) For sleep seconds, enter the amount of time
before which the first connection attempt occurs. The
range is 0 to 250 seconds. The default is 0.
(Optional) For timeout seconds, enter the amount of
time after which the connection attempts end. The
range is 10 to 2000 seconds. The default is 120.