CHAPTER
4-1
Catalyst 2950 Desktop Switch Software Configuration Guide
78-14982-01
4

Assigning the Switch IP Address and Default

Gateway

This chapter describes how to create the initial switch configuration (for example, assign the switch IP
address an d default gateway informa tion) by using a variety of au tomati c and manua l methods.
Note For comple te syntax and us age inform ation for the co mmands used in this chapter, refer to th e command
refere nce fo r thi s r ele ase.
This chapter consists of these sections:
•Understa nding the Boot Proc ess, page 4-1
•Assigning Swi tch In for mat ion, page 4-2
•Checking a nd Saving the Running Configurati on, page 4-10

Understandin g the Boot Proces s

Before you can assign switch information (IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, secret and Telnet
passwords, and so forth ), yo u need t o in stall and power on t he s witc h a s descr ibed in the hard ware
installa tio n guide th at s hi pped with yo ur swi tch.
The nor ma l b oot p ro cess i nvolves the ope rat ion of the bo ot lo ade r sof twar e, w hic h pe rfo rms t hes e
activities:
•Performs lo w-le vel CPU initializa tion. It initializes the CPU r egisters, which contr ol where physical
memory is mapped, its quantity, its speed, and so forth.
•Performs po wer -on self-test (POST) for the CPU subsystem. I t tests the CPU DRAM and th e portion
of the Flash device that makes up the Flash file system.
•Initializes the Flash file system on the system board.
•Loads a default operating system software image into memory and boots the switch.
The boot load er provides a ccess to the Flash f ile system before the o perating system is load ed. Normally,
the boot loader is used only to load, uncompress, and launch the operating system. After the boot loader
gives the operating system control of the CPU, the boot loader is not active until the next system reset
or power-on.