IT31-Net2 (Advanced Networking)
PAMBAYANG DALUBHASAAN NG MARILAO
College of Computer Studies
I. INTRODUCTION
This module discusses Virtual Trunking Protocol,
from concept through troubleshooting. The first
major section discusses VTP concepts, while the
second section shows how to configure and verify
VTP.
Module 2
II. OBJECTIVES
VLAN TRUNKING 1. Configure, verify, and troubleshoot
interswitch connectivity
PROTOCOL
III. PRELIMINARY ACTIVITIES
IV. LESSON PROPER
VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) Concepts
The Cisco-proprietary VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) provides a means by which Cisco switches can
exchange VLAN configuration information. In particular, VTP advertises about the existence of each
VLAN based on its VLAN ID and the VLAN name.
Basic VTP Operation
Think for a moment about what has to happen in a small network of four switches when you need to
add two new hosts, and to put those hosts in a new VLAN that did not exist before. Figure 1.1 shows
some of the main configuration concepts.
Figure 1.1 Commands to Add Support for VLAN 10 in a Sample LAN
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IT31-Net2 (Advanced Networking)
PAMBAYANG DALUBHASAAN NG MARILAO
College of Computer Studies
VTP Configuration and Verification
VTP configuration requires only a few simple steps, but VTP has the power to cause significant problems,
either by accidental poor configuration choices or by malicious attacks. This second major section of the
chapter focuses on configuring VTP correctly and verifying its operation. The third major section then
looks at troubleshooting VTP, which includes being careful to avoid harmful scenarios.
Using VTP: Configuring Servers and Clients
Before configuring VTP, the network engineer needs to make some choices. In particular, assuming that
the engineer wants to make use of VTP’s features, the engineer needs to decide which switches will be
in the same VTP domain, meaning that these switches will learn VLAN configuration information from
each other. The VTP domain name must be chosen, along with an optional but recommended VTP
password. (Both the domain name and password are case sensitive.) The engineer must also choose
which switches will be servers (usually at least two for redundancy) and which will be clients.
After the planning steps are completed, the following steps can be used to configure VTP:
Step 1. Use the vtp mode {server | client} command in global configuration
mode to enable VTP on the switch as either a server or client.
Step 2. On both clients and servers, use the vtp domain domain-name
command in global configuration mode to configure the case-sensitive
VTP domain name.
Step 3. (Optional) On both clients and servers, use the vtp password
password-value command in global configuration mode to configure the
case-sensitive password.
Step 4. (Optional) On servers, use the vtp pruning global configuration
command to make the domain-wide VTP pruning choice.
Step 5. (Optional) On both clients and servers, use the vtp version {1 | 2}
command in global configuration mode to tell the local switch whether
to use VTP version 1 or 2.
V. PRACTICE EXERCISES/ACTIVITIES
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IT31-Net2 (Advanced Networking)
PAMBAYANG DALUBHASAAN NG MARILAO
College of Computer Studies
Addressing Table
Device Interface IP Address Subnet Mask Default Gateway
(Hostname)
S1 VLAN 99 [Link] [Link] N/A
S2 VLAN 99 [Link] [Link] N/A
S3 VLAN 99 [Link] [Link] N/A
PC1 NIC [Link] [Link] [Link]
PC2 NIC [Link] [Link] [Link]
PC3 NIC [Link] [Link] [Link]
PC4 NIC [Link] [Link] [Link]
PC5 NIC [Link] [Link] [Link]
PC6 NIC [Link] [Link] [Link]
Port Assignments (Switches 2 and 3)
Ports Assignment Network
Fa0/1 – 0/5 802.1q Trunks (Native VLAN 99) [Link] /24
Fa0/6 – 0/10 VLAN 30 – Guest (Default) [Link] /24
Fa0/11 – 0/17 VLAN 10 – Faculty/Staff [Link] /24
Fa0/18 – 0/24 VLAN 20 – Students [Link] /24
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this lab, you will be able to:
• Cable a network according to the topology diagram
• Erase the startup configuration and reload a switch to the default state
• Perform basic configuration tasks on a switch
• Configure VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) on all switches
• Enable trunking on inter-switch connections
• Verify trunk configuration
• Modify VTP modes and observe the impact
• Create VLANs on the VTP server, and distribute this VLAN information to switches in the
network
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IT31-Net2 (Advanced Networking)
PAMBAYANG DALUBHASAAN NG MARILAO
College of Computer Studies
• Explain the differences in operation between VTP transparent mode, server mode, and client
mode
• Assign switch ports to the VLANs
• Save the VLAN configuration
• Enable VTP pruning on the network
• Explain how pruning reduces unnecessary broadcast traffic on the LAN
Task 1: Prepare the Network
Step 1: Cable a network that is similar to the one in the topology diagram.
You can use any current switch in your lab as long as it has the required interfaces shown in the
topology. The output shown in this lab is based on 2960 switches. Other switch types may
produce different output. If you are using older switches, then some commands may be
different or unavailable. You will notice in the Addressing Table that the PCs have been
configured with a default gateway IP address. This would be the IP address of the local router
which is not included in this lab scenario. The default gateway, the router would be needed for
PCs in different VLANS to be able to communicate. This is discussed in a later chapter. Set up
console connections to all three switches.
Step 2: Clear any existing configurations on the switches.
If necessary, refer to Lab 2.5.1, Appendix 1, for the procedure to clear switch configurations and
VLANs. Use the show vlan command to confirm that only default VLANs exist and that all ports
are assigned to VLAN 1.
Step 3: Disable all ports by using the shutdown command.
Step 4: Re-enable the user ports on S2 and S3.
Configure the user ports in access mode. Refer to the topology diagram to determine which
ports are connected to end-user devices.
Task 2: Perform Basic Switch Configurations
Configure the S1, S2, and S3 switches according to the following guidelines and save all your
configurations:
• Configure the switch hostname as indicated on the topology.
• Disable DNS lookup.
• Configure an EXEC mode password of class.
• Configure a password of cisco for console connections.
• Configure a password of cisco for vty connections.
Task 3: Configure the Ethernet Interfaces on the Host PCs
Configure the Ethernet interfaces of PC1, PC2, PC3, PC4, PC5, and PC6 with the IP addresses and
default gateways indicated in the addressing table at the beginning of the lab.
Verify that PC1 can ping PC4, PC2 can ping PC5, and that PC3 can ping PC6.
Task 4: Configure VTP on the Switches
VTP allows the network administrator to control the instances of VLANs on the network by creating VTP
domains. Within each VTP domain, one or more switches are configured as VTP servers. VLANs are then
created on the VTP server and pushed to the other switches in the domain. Common VTP configuration
tasks are setting the operating mode, domain, and password. In this lab, you will be using S1 as the VTP
server, with S2 and S3 configured as VTP clients or in VTP transparent mode.
Step 1: Check the current VTP settings on the three switches.
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IT31-Net2 (Advanced Networking)
PAMBAYANG DALUBHASAAN NG MARILAO
College of Computer Studies
Note that all three switches are in server mode. Server mode is the default VTP mode for most
Catalyst Switches
Step 2: Configure the operating mode, domain name, and VTP password on all three switches.
Set the VTP domain name to Lab4 and the VTP password to cisco on all three switches.
Configure S1 in server mode, S2 in client mode, and S3 in transparent mode.
Note: The VTP domain name can be learned by a client switch from a server switch, but only if the client
switch domain is in the null state. It does not learn a new name if one has been previously set.
For that reason, it is good practice to manually configure the domain name on all switches to
ensure that the domain name is configured correctly. Switches in different VTP domains do not
exchange VLAN information
Step 3: Configure trunking and the native VLAN for the trunking ports on all three switches.
Use the interface range command in global configuration mode to simplify this task.
Step 4: Configure port security on the S2 and S3 access layer switches.
Configure ports fa0/6, fa0/11, and fa0/18 so that they allow only a single host and learn the
MAC address of the host dynamically.
Step 5: Configure VLANs on the VTP server.
There are four additional VLANS required in this lab:
• VLAN 99 (management)
• VLAN 10 (faculty/staff)
• VLAN 20 (students)
• VLAN 30 (guest)
Configure these on the VTP server.
Verify that the VLANs have been created on S1 with the show vlan brief command.
Step 6: Check if the VLANs created on S1 have been distributed to S2 and S3.
Use the show vlan brief command on S2 and S3 to determine if the VTP server has pushed its
VLAN configuration to all the switches.
Step 7: Create a new VLAN on switch 2 and 3.
Step 8: Manually configure VLANs.
Configure the four VLANs identified in Step 5 on switch S3.
Here you see one of the advantages of VTP. Manual configuration is tedious and error prone,
and any error introduced here could prevent intra-VLAN communication. In addition, these
types of errors can be difficult to troubleshoot.
Step 9: Configure the management interface address on all three switches.
Verify that the switches are correctly configured by pinging between them. From S1, ping the
management interface on S2 and S3. From S2, ping the management interface on S3.
Were the pings successful? ___________________________________________
If not, troubleshoot the switch configurations and try again.
Step 10: Assign switch ports to VLANs.
Refer to the port assignment table at the beginning of the lab to assign ports to the VLANs. Use
the interface range command to simplify this task. Port assignments are not configured through
VTP. Port assignments must be configured on each switch manually or dynamically using a VMPS
server. The commands are shown for S3 only, but both S2 and S1 switches should be similarly
configured. Save the configuration when you are done.
Task 5: Configure VTP Pruning on the Switches
VTP pruning allows a VTP server to suppress IP broadcast traffic for specific VLANs to switches
that do not have any ports in that VLAN. By default, all unknown unicasts and broadcasts in a
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IT31-Net2 (Advanced Networking)
PAMBAYANG DALUBHASAAN NG MARILAO
College of Computer Studies
VLAN are flooded over the entire VLAN. All switches in the network receive all broadcasts, even
in situations in which few users are connected in that VLAN. VTP pruning is used to eliminate or
prune this unnecessary traffic.
Pruning saves LAN bandwidth because broadcasts do not have to be sent to switches that do
not need them. Pruning is configured on the server switch with the vtp pruning command in
global configuration mode. The configuration is pushed to client switches. However, because S3
is in transparent mode, VTP pruning must be configured locally on that switch. Confirm VTP
pruning configuration on each switch using the show vtp status command. VTP pruning mode
should be enabled on each switch.
Task 6: Clean Up
Erase the configurations and reload the switches. Disconnect and store the cabling. For PC hosts
that are normally connected to other networks (such as the school LAN or to the Internet),
reconnect the appropriate cabling and restore the TCP/IP settings.
VI. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
[Link]
VII. ASSESSMENT
The instructions for the assessment will be posted in the LMS or to be given in a separate
worksheet.
VIII. REFERENCES
Wendell Odom, CCNA Routing and Switching ICND2 200-105 Official Cert Guide,
Academic Edition
Jon Buhagiar, CCNA Routing and Switching Practice Tests: Exam 100-105, Exam 200-
105, and Exam 200-125
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