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Catalyst 3750 SwitchSoftware Configuration Guide
OL-8550-09
Chapter3 Assigning the Switch IP Address and Default Gateway
Assigning Switch Information
Obtaining Configuration Files
Depending on the availability of the IP address and the configuration filename in the DHCP reserved
lease, the switch obtains its configuration information in these ways:
•The IP address and the configuration filename is reserved for the switch and provided in the DHCP
reply (one-file read method).
The switch receives its IP address, subnet mask, TFTP server address, and the configuration
filename from the DHCP server. The switch sends a unicast message to the TFTP server to retrieve
the named configuration file from the base directory of the server and upon receipt, it completes its
boot-up process.
•The IP address and the configuration filename is reserved for the switch, but the TFTP server
address is not provided in the DHCP reply (one-file read method).
The switch receives its IP address, subnet mask, and the configuration filename from the DHCP
server. The switch sends a broadcast message to a TFTP server to retrieve the named configuration
file from the base directory of the server, and upon receipt, it completes its boot-up process.
•Only the IP address is reserved for the switch and provided in the DHCP reply. The configuration
filename is not provided (two-file read method).
The switch receives its IP address, subnet mask, and the TFTP server address from the DHCP server.
The switch sends a unicast message to the TFTP server to retrieve the network-confg or cisconet.cfg
default configuration file. (If the network-confg file cannot be read, the switch reads the cisconet.cfg
file.)
The default configuration file contains the hostnames-to-IP-address mapping for the switch. The
switch fills its host table with the information in the file and obtains its hostname. If the hostname
is not found in the file, the switch uses the hostname in the DHCP reply. If the hostname is not
specified in the DHCP reply, the switch uses the default Switch as its hostname.
After obtaining its hostname from the default configuration file or the DHCP reply, the switch reads
the configuration file that has the same name as its hostname (hostname-confg or hostname.cfg,
depending on whether network-confg or cisconet.cfg was read earlier) from the TFTP server. If the
cisconet.cfg file is read, the filename of the host is truncated to eight characters.
If the switch cannot read the network-confg, cisconet.cfg, or the hostname file, it reads the
router-confg file. If the switch cannot read the router-confg file, it reads the ciscortr.cfg file.
Note The switch broadcasts TFTP server requests if the TFTP server is not obtained from the DHCP replies,
if all attempts to read the configuration file through unicast transmissions fail, or if the TFTP server
name cannot be resolved to an IP address.