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Catalyst 2950 Desktop Switch Software Configuration Guide
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Chapter 4 Assigning the Swi tch IP Address and De fault Gate way Assigning Switch Information

Configuring the DHCP Server

You should configure the DHCP server with reserved leases that are bound to each switch by the switch
hardware address.
If you wa nt the switch to recei ve IP ad dress information, you mu st configure the D HCP server with the se
lease options:
•IP address of t he client (requ ired)
•Subnet ma sk of the client (re quire d)
•DNS server IP address (optional)
•Router IP a ddr ess (defau l t gateway addr es s to be us ed by the swi tch ) ( requ ired )
If you want the switch to rece ive the configuratio n file from a TFTP ser ver, you must configure the
DHCP server with these lease options:
•TFTP se rver name (requ ire d)
•Boot filename (the n ame of t he c on figuratio n file t hat the cl ien t ne eds) (r ecom me nded)
•Host nam e (o pt iona l)
Depending on the settings of the DHCP server, the switch can receive IP address information, the
configurat ion file, or b ot h.
If you do not co nfigure the DHC P server with the lease opt ions described ea rlier, it replies to clie nt
requests with only those parameters that are configured. If the IP address and subnet mask are not in the
reply, the switch is not conf igured. If the rout er IP addr ess or TFT P server name are n ot found, th e switch
might send broadcast, instead of unicast, TFTP r equests. Unavailability of other lease options does not
affect aut oconfigurat ion.
The DHC P server can be on the same LAN or on a different LAN than the switch. If the DHCP server
is runn in g on a di fferent LAN , yo u sh oul d c onfigure a DH CP r elay. For mo re i nf orm ation , see th e
“Configuring the Relay Device” section on page 4-6. If your DHCP ser v er is a Cisco device, re fer to the
“IP Addressing and Services” section in the Cisco IOS IP and IP Routing Co nfiguration Guide for
Relea se 12.1 .

Configuring the TFTP Server

Based on the DHCP server config uration, the switch attempts to download one or more configuration
files f rom the TFTP server. If you config ured the DHCP server to respond to the switch with all the
options required for IP connectivity to the TFTP server, and if you config ured the DHCP server with a
TFTP server name, address, and configuration filename, the switch attempts to download the specified
configuration file from the specified TFTP server.
If you did not specify t he configurati on filena me, the TFTP server, or if the con figura t ion file could not
be downloaded, the switch attempts to downlo ad a configu ration file by using various combinations of
fi lenames and TFTP server addresses. T he file s include the specif ied co nfig uration file name (if an y) and
these files: network-config, cisconet.cfg, hostname.config, or hostname.c fg, w he r e hostname is the
switch’s current hostname. The TFTP server addresses used include the specified TFTP server address
(if any) and the br oadca st addre ss (255.2 55.255.25 5).