Table of Contents

Release Notes for the
Catalyst 3550 Multilayer Switch
Cisco IOS Release 12.1(12c)EA1

December 2002

The Cisco IOS Release 12.1(12c)EA1 runs on all Catalyst 3550 multilayer switches.

These release notes include important information about this IOS release and any limitations, restrictions, and caveats that apply to it. Verify that these are the correct release notes for your switch:

For the complete list of Catalyst 3550 switch documentation, see the "Related Documentation" section.

You can download the switch software from these sites:

(for registered Cisco.com users with a login password)

(for nonregistered Cisco.com users)

This IOS release is part of a special release of Cisco IOS software that is not released on the same 8-week maintenance cycle that is used for other platforms. As maintenance releases and future IOS releases become available, they will be posted to Cisco.com (previously Cisco Connection Online [CCO]) in the Cisco IOS software area.

Contents

This information is in the release notes:

System Requirements

These are the system requirements for this IOS release:

Hardware Supported

Table 1 lists the hardware supported by this IOS release.

Software Compatibility

These are the software compatibility requirements for this IOS release:

Recommended Platform Configuration for Web-Based Management

Table 2 lists the recommended platforms for Web-based management.

The minimum PC requirement is a Pentium processor running at 233 MHz with 64 MB of DRAM. The minimum UNIX workstation requirement is a Sun Ultra 1 running at 143 MHz with 64 MB of DRAM.

For information about supported operating systems, see the next section.

Operating System and Browser Support

You can access the web-based interfaces by using the operating systems and browsers listed in Table 3. The switch checks the browser version when starting a session to ensure that the browser is supported. If the browser is not supported, the switch displays an error message, and the session does not start.

Note   If your browser is Internet Explorer and you receive an error message stating that the page might not display correctly because your security settings prohibit running activeX controls, this might mean that your security settings are set too high. To lower security settings, go to Tools > Internet Options, and select the Security tab. Select the indicated Zone, and move the Security Level for this Zone slider from High to Medium (the default).

Note   In Cluster Management displays, Internet Explorer versions 4.01 and 5.0 might not display edge devices that are not connected to the command switch. Other functionality is similar to that of Netscape Communicator.

Guidelines for Installing and Enabling the Java Plug-In

If CMS does not launch automatically, you might not have a supported Java Plug-In installed, or the Java Plug-In might not be enabled. CMS does not automatically detect if a supported Java plug-in is installed. If you start CMS without the required Java plug-in installed, you remain on the CMS splash screen, and CMS will not launch.

To make sure that a supported Java Plug-In is correctly installed and enabled, follow these guidelines:

Installing the Required Plug-In

A Java plug-in is required for the browser to access and run the Java-based Cluster Management Suite (CMS). Download and install the plug-in before you start CMS. Each platform, Windows and Solaris, supports three plug-in versions. For information on the supported plug-ins, see the "Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0 Plug-Ins" section and the "Solaris Platforms" section.

You can download the recommended plug-ins from this URL: http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/java

Note   Uninstall older versions of the Java plug-ins before installing the Java plug-in.

If the Java applet does not initialize after you have installed the plug-in, open the Java Plug-in Control Panel (Start > Programs > Java Plug-in Control Panel), and verify these settings:

In the Proxies tab, verify that Use browser settings is checked and that no proxies are enabled.

Note   If you are running an Internet virus checker on Windows 2000 and the plug-in takes a long time to load, you can speed up CMS operation by disabling the virus checker filter option or download option or both. On McAfee VirusScan, from the Start menu, to disable the VirusScan Internet Filter option, the Download Scan option, or both, select Start > Programs > Network Associates > Virus Scan Console > Configure. or From the taskbar, right-click the Virus Shield icon and in the Quick Enable menu, disable the options by deselecting Internet Filter or Download Scan.

Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0 Plug-Ins

These Java plug-ins are supported in Windows environments:

You can download these plug-ins from this URL:

http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/java

Solaris Platforms

These Java plug-ins are supported on the Solaris platform:

You can download these plug-ins and instructions from this URL:

http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/java

To install the Java plug-in, follow the instructions in the README_FIRST.txt file.

Creating Clusters with Different Releases of IOS Software

When a cluster consists of a mixture of other Catalyst switches, we strongly recommend using only the Catalyst 3550 switches as the command and standby command switches. When the command switch is a Catalyst 3550 switch, all standby command switches must also be Catalyst 3550 switches. The Catalyst 3550 switch that has the latest software should be the command switch. If the command switch is a Catalyst 3550 Gigabit Ethernet switch and the standby command switch is a Catalyst 3550 Fast Ethernet switch, command switch port speeds are reduced if the standby command switch takes over.

If your cluster has Catalyst 2950, Catalyst 2900 XL, and Catalyst 3500 XL switches, the Catalyst 2950 switch (with the latest software release) should be the command switch. The Catalyst 2950 switch that has the latest software should be the command switch.

If your switch cluster has Catalyst 1900, Catalyst 2820, Catalyst 2900 XL, and Catalyst 3500 XL switches, either the Catalyst 2900 XL or Catalyst 3500 XL (whichever has the latest software release) should be the command switch.

Table 4 lists the cluster capabilities and software versions for the switches.

Some versions of the Catalyst 2900 XL software do not support clustering and if you have a cluster with switches that are running different versions of IOS software, software features added on the latest release might not be reflected on switches running the older versions. For example, if you start Visual Switch Manager (VSM) on a Catalyst 2900 XL switch running Release 11.2(8)SA6, the windows and functionality can be different from a switch running Release 12.0(5)WC(1) or later.

Note   The CMS is not forward-compatible, which means that if a member switch is running a software version that is newer than the release running on the command switch, the new features are not available on the member switch. If the member switch is a new device supported by a software release that is later than the software release on the command switch, the command switch cannot recognize the member switch and it is displayed as an unknown device in the Front Panel view. You cannot configure any parameters or generate a report through CMS for that member; instead, you must launch the Device Manager application to perform configuration and obtain reports for that member.

Downloading Software

These are the procedures for downloading software:

Caution   The crypto image includes a bootloader upgrade. Do not power cycle the switch while you are copying this image to the switch. If a power failure occurs when you are copying this image to the switch, call Cisco Systems immediately.

Determining the Software Version and Feature Set

The IOS image is stored as a .bin file in a directory that is named with the IOS release. A subdirectory contains the HTML files needed for web management. The image is stored on the system board Flash device (flash:).

You can use the show version privileged EXEC command to see the software version that is running on your switch. The second line displays C3550-I5Q3L2 for the enhanced multilayer software image (EMI) or C3550-I9Q3L2 for the standard multilayer software image (SMI).

Note   Although the show version output always shows the software image running on the switch (Layer 2 or Layer 2/3), the model name shown at the end of this display is the factory configuration (SMI or EMI) and does not change if you upgrade the software image.

You can also use the dir filesystem: privileged EXEC command to see the directory names of other software images that you might have stored in Flash memory.

Which Files to Use

The upgrade procedures in these release notes describe how to perform the upgrade by using a combined .tar file. This file contains both the IOS image file and the HTML files (needed for the CMS). You must use the combined .tar file to upgrade the switch through the CMS.

The .tar file is an archive file from which you can extract files by using the tar command. You also use the .tar file to upgrade the system by using the archive download-sw privileged EXEC command.

Table 5 lists the software filenames for this IOS release.

The Catalyst 3550 switch is supported by either the SMI, which provides Layer 2+ features and basic Layer 3 routing, or the EMI, which provides Layer 2+ features, full Layer 3 routing, and advanced services. All Catalyst 3550 Gigabit Ethernet switches are shipped with the EMI installed. Catalyst 3550 Fast Ethernet switches are shipped with either the SMI or the EMI installed. After initial deployment, you can order the Enhanced Multilayer Software Image Upgrade kit to upgrade the Catalyst 3550 Fast Ethernet switches from the SMI to the EMI.

Upgrading a Switch by Using CMS

You can upgrade switch software by using CMS. From the menu bar, select Administration > Software Upgrade. For detailed instructions, click Help.

Caution   If you are copying the crypto image to the switch, the bootloader can take up to 30 seconds to upgrade. Do not power cycle the switch while you are copying the image to the switch. If a power failure occurs when you are copying the image, call Cisco Systems immediately.

Upgrading a Switch by Using the CLI

This procedure is for copying the combined .tar file to the Catalyst 3550 switch. You copy the file to the switch from a TFTP server and extract the files. You can download an image file and replace or keep the current image.

Caution   If you are copying the crypto image to the switch, the bootloader can take up to 30  seconds to upgrade. Do not power cycle the switch while you are copying the image to the switch. If a power failure occurs when you are copying the image, call Cisco Systems immediately.

To download software, and if necessary, the TFTP server application, follow these steps:

Step 2   Download the software image file.

http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/sw-lan.shtml

http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/sw-lan.shtml

To download the SMI and EMI files, select Catalyst 3550 software.

To obtain authorization and to download the crypto software files, select Catalyst 3550 3DES Cryptographic Software.

Step 3   Download the Cisco TFTP server from the URL link from Step 2, if necessary. The information on this page describes how to download and configure the TFTP server.

Step 4   Copy the image to the appropriate TFTP directory on the workstation, and make sure the TFTP server is properly configured.

For more information, refer to Appendix B in the Catalyst 3550 Multilayer Switch Software Configuration Guide.

Step 5   Log in to the switch through the console port or a Telnet session.

Step 6   Check your VLAN 1 configuration by using the show interfaces vlan 1 privileged EXEC command, and verify that VLAN 1 is part of the same network as the TFTP server. (Check the Internet address is line near the top of the display.)

Step 7   Download the image file from the TFTP server to the switch. If you are installing the same version of software that is currently on the switch, overwrite the current image by using this privileged EXEC command:

The /overwrite option overwrites the software image in Flash memory with the downloaded one.

The /reload option reloads the system after downloading the image unless the configuration has been changed and not been saved.

For //location, specify the IP address of the TFTP server.

For /directory/image-name.tar, specify the directory (optional) and the image to download. Directory and image names are case sensitive.

This example shows how to download an image from a TFTP server at 198.30.20.19 and to overwrite the image on the switch:

You can also download the image file from the TFTP server to the switch and keep the current image by replacing the /overwrite option with the /leave-old-sw option.

Upgrading with a Nondefault System MTU Setting

If the switch was running Release 12.1(8)EA1c or earlier and you had used the system mtu global configuration command to configure a nondefault system maximum transmission unit (MTU) size on your switch, follow these steps to upgrade your switch to Release 12.1(11)EA1 or later:

Step 2   If a system MTU size of greater than 2000 is configured on the Catalyst 3550-12T or Catalyst 3550-12G, use the system mtu global configuration command to set it to the maximum supported MTU size.

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Note    The maximum allowable system MTU for Catalyst 3550 Gigabit Ethernet switches is 2000 bytes; the maximum system MTU for Fast Ethernet switches is 1546 bytes.

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Step 3   Save the running configuration by entering the copy running-config startup-config privileged EXEC command.

Step 4   Reload the switch by using the new IOS software.

Step 5   When the switch comes back up with Release 12.1(11)EA1 or later, reload the switch a second time by using the reload privileged EXEC command so that the system mtu command takes effect.

Recovering from Software Failure

If the software fails, you can reload the software. For detailed recovery procedures, refer to the "Troubleshooting" chapter in the Catalyst 3550 Multilayer Switch Software Configuration Guide.

Installation Notes

You can assign IP information to your switch by using the setup program, the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)-based autoconfiguration (refer to the Catalyst 3550 Multilayer Switch Software Configuration Guide), or by manually assigning an IP address (refer to the Catalyst 3550 Multilayer Switch Software Configuration Guide).

These are the installation procedures:

Setting Up the Catalyst 3550 Initial Configuration

The first time that you access the switch, it runs a setup program that prompts you for an IP address and other configuration information necessary for the switch to communicate with the local routers and the Internet. This information is also required if you plan to use the CMS to configure and manage the switch.

Note   If the switch will be a cluster member managed through the IP address of the command switch, it is not necessary to assign IP information or a password. If you are configuring the switch as a standalone switch or as a command switch, you must assign IP information.

Follow these steps to create an initial configuration for the switch:

Step 2   Enter a host name for the switch, and press Return.

On a command switch, the host name is limited to 28 characters; on a member switch to 31 characters. Do not use -n, where n is a number, as the last character in a host name for any switch.

Step 3   Enter a secret password, and press Return.

The password can be from 1 to 25 alphanumeric characters, can start with a number, is case sensitive, allows spaces, but ignores leading spaces.

Step 4   Enter an enable password, and press Return.

Step 5   Enter a virtual terminal (Telnet) password, and press Return.

The password can be from 1 to 25 alphanumeric characters, is case sensitive, allows spaces, but ignores leading spaces.

Step 6   (Optional) Configure Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) by responding to the prompts.

Step 7   Enter the interface name (physical interface or VLAN name) of the interface that connects to the management network, and press Return. For this release, always use vlan 1 as that interface.

Step 8   Configure the interface by entering the switch IP address and subnet mask and pressing Return:

Step 9   Enter Y to configure the switch as the cluster command switch. Enter N to configure it as a member switch or as a standalone switch.

If you enter N, the switch appears as a candidate switch in the CMS. In this case, the message in Step 10 is not displayed.

Step 10   Assign a name to the cluster, and press Return.

The cluster name can be 1 to 31 alphanumeric characters, dashes, or underscores.

The initial configuration appears:

Step 11   These choices are displayed:

Make your selection, and press Return.

After you complete the setup program, the switch can run the created default configuration. If you want to change this configuration or want to perform other management tasks, use one of these tools:

Accessing CMS

Before using the web-based CMS tools, see the "Software Compatibility" section and the "Installing the Required Plug-In" section to set up the appropriate browser options. After you have assigned an IP address to the switch and installed the plug-in, you can access the switch from your browser and use the CMS to configure other switches.

Note   If you have downloaded a new version of the CMS, you must clear your browser cache before launching the new CMS version.

The browser prompts for a username and password when you access CMS:

Configuring the HTTP Server

Beginning in privileged EXEC mode, follow these steps to configure the HTTP server interface:

After you have configured the HTTP server interface, display the CMS access page as described in the "Displaying CMS" section.

Displaying CMS

To display the CMS access page, follow these steps:

Step 2   Enter your username and password when prompted.

The Cisco Systems Access page appears. For more information on setting passwords and privilege levels, refer to the Catalyst 3550 Multilayer Switch Software Configuration Guide.

Step 3   Click Web Console to launch the CMS applet.

When you access CMS from a standalone or a cluster-member switch, Device Manager appears.

New Features

These are the new supported hardware and the new software features provided in IOS Release 12.1(12c)EA1:

New Hardware Features

Cisco IOS Release 12.1(12c)EA1 supports the Catalyst 3550-24PWR switch.

For a list of all supported hardware, see the "Hardware Supported" section.

New Software Features

Cisco IOS Release 12.1(12c)EA1 contains these new features or enhancements:

Limitations and Restrictions

You should review this section before you begin working with the switches. These are known limitations that will not be fixed, and there is not always a workaround. Some features might not work as documented, and some features could be affected by recent changes to the switch hardware or software.

These are the limitations and restrictions:

IOS Limitations and Restrictions

These limitations apply to IOS configuration:

There is no workaround. (CSCdx90515)

This happens because the MAC addresses for the original packets as well as the mirrored RSPAN packets are all learned on the tunnel VLAN, so the RSPAN traffic is no longer properly segregated on the tunneling switches.

The workaround is to not include any RSPAN VLANs in any Layer 2 Protocol tunnels unless the tunnel is dedicated to a single RSPAN VLAN. (CSCdy37188)

There is no workaround. (CSCdw27519)

As a result, the link partner might shut down the port when it detects loopback packets, or MAC addresses might be learned on the wrong ports on upstream switches. The network might be unable to deliver packets to a few devices for up to 5 minutes after rebooting the Catalyst 3550-24-FX switch when:

This problem corrects itself after five minutes or when these devices transmit a broadcast or multicast packet, whichever comes first.

The workaround is to enable spanning tree in the network and to make sure that the Port Fast feature is disabled on all ports connected to the Catalyst 3550-24-FX switch. (CSCdx45558)

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Note    The Cisco RPS 300 does not support the Catalyst 3550-24PWR switch.

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After updating a multicast boundary, the workaround is to use the clear ip mroute privileged EXEC command to delete any existing multicast routes that violate the updated boundary. (CSCdr79083)

The workaround is to make sure that you configure the DHCP server with reserved leases that are bound to each switch by the switch hardware address. (CSCds55220)

When you remove an EtherChannel group, enter the no shutdown interface configuration command on the interfaces that belonged to the port group to bring them back on line. (CSCdt10825)

The workaround is to not configure the switch to operate with more than the maximum number of supported multicast routes. You can use the show sdm prefer and show sdm prefer routing privileged EXEC commands to view approximate maximum configuration guidelines for the current SDM template and the routing template. (CSCdt63354)

The workaround is to disable the Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP) on both devices by using the channel-group channel-group-number mode on interface configuration command. PAgP negotiation between these two devices is not reliable. (CSCdt78727)

The workaround is to remain within the documented recommended and supported limits. (CSCdt79172)

When the security hardware ACL matches a packet on input, the match uses the original DSCP value. For output security ACLs, the security ACL hardware should match against the final, possibly changed, DSCP value as set by the QoS hardware. Under some circumstances, a match to a security ACL in hardware prevents the QoS hardware from rewriting the DSCP and causes the CPU to use the original DSCP.

If a security ACL is applied in software (because the ACL did not fit into hardware, and packets were sent to the CPU for examination), the match probably uses the new DSCP value as determined by the QoS hardware, regardless of whether the ACL is applied at the input or at the output. When packets are logged by the ACL, this problem can also affect whether or not a match is logged by the CPU even if the ACL fits into hardware and the permit or deny filtering was completed in hardware.

To avoid these issues, whenever the switch rewrites the DSCP of any packet to a value different from the original DSCP, security ACLs should not test against DSCP values in any of their access control elements (ACEs), regardless of whether the ACL is being applied to an IP access group or to a VLAN map. This restriction does not apply to ACLs used in QoS class maps.

If the switch is not configured to rewrite the DSCP value of any packet, it is safe to match against DSCP in ACLs used for IP access groups or for VLAN maps because the DSCP does not change as the packet is processed by the switch.

The DSCP field of an IP packet encompasses the two fields that were originally designated precedence and TOS (type of service). Statements relating to DSCP apply equally to either IP precedence or IP TOS. (CSCdt94355)

This problem has been fixed in hardware on Catalyst 3550-24 switches with motherboard assembly number 73-5700-08 or later. To determine the board level on your switch, enter the show version privileged EXEC. Motherboard information appears toward the end of the output display. (CSCdv68158)

If you use the ip igmp max-groups interface configuration command to set the maximum number of IGMP groups for an interface to 0, the port still receives group reports from reserved multicast groups (224.0.0.x) and their Layer 2 aliases (y.0.0.x). (CSCdv79832)

The workaround is to ensure that the target host or the next-hop gateway to that host is in the ARP cache (for example, by using a ping command) before removing it from the SNMP configuration. Alternatively, disable all SNMP traps and informs before removing any hosts from the SNMP configuration. (CSCdw44266)

The workaround is to use the value 1 to represent module 0. (CSCdw71848)

The workaround is to configure the Catalyst 3550 switch for PVST by using the spanning-tree mode pvst global configuration command bridge, and then change it to MSTP by using the spanning-tree mode mst global configuration command. (CSCdx10808)

The workaround, when QoS rate limiting is configured on an interface, is to configure applied ACLs so that packets are not forwarded by the CPU or reduce the number of ACEs in the ACL so that it can fit into the TCAM. (CSCdx30485)

The workaround is to use the delete flash:vlan.dat privileged EXEC command to delete the corrupted VLAN database. Then reload the switch by using the reload privileged EXC command. (CSCdx19540)

There is no workaround. However, we recommend that you reload the switch by using the reload privileged EXEC command. To avoid this problem, configure the system with fewer VLANs and fewer trunk ports, or use the switchport trunk allowed vlan interface configuration command to reduce the number of active VLANs on each trunk port. (CSCdx20106)

Cluster Limitations and Restrictions

These limitations apply to cluster configuration:

CMS Limitations and Restrictions

These limitations apply to CMS configuration:

The workaround is to close the browser, reopen it, and launch CMS again. (CSCds29230)

The workaround is to close the browser, re-open it, and launch CMS again. Before you perform any other task, bring up the view that you want to print, and click Print in the CMS menu.(CSCds80920)

The workaround is to relaunch CMS. (CSCdv88724)

The workaround is to use the CLI. It is the only method for specifying multiple VLANs for filtering in a SPAN session. (CSCdw93904)

Important Notes

These are the important notes related to this IOS release:

IOS Notes

These notes apply to IOS configuration:

The workaround is to change the number of seconds between re-authentication attempts by using the dot1x timeout re-authperiod seconds global configuration command. (CSCdz38483)

The workaround is to configure the port as a static access port. (CSCdz32330)

The result is that packets received on that physical port will be permitted or denied based on the port ACL action without regard to any permit or deny statements in any router ACL or VLAN map, while packets received on other physical ports in the VLAN will still be permitted or denied based on any router ACLs or VLAN maps applied to the VLAN. If the port ACL is applied to a trunk port, it overrides any other input ACLs applied to all VLANs on the trunk port.

Cluster Notes

This note applies to cluster configuration:

The cluster setup privileged EXEC command and the standby mac-address interface configuration command have been removed from the CLI and the documentation because they did not function correctly.

CMS Notes

These notes apply to CMS configuration:

Resize the browser window again when CMS is not busy.

The workaround is to remove all the jar_cache*.tmp files from the temporary directory. The path to the directory is different for different operating systems:

Solaris: /var/tmp
Windows NT and Windows 2000: \TEMP
Windows 95 and 98: \Windows\Temp

Read-Only Mode in CMS

CMS provides two levels of access to the configuration options. If your privilege level is 15, you have read-write access to CMS. If your privilege level is from 1 to 14, you have read-only access to CMS. In the read-only mode, some data is not displayed, and an error message appears when these switches are running these software releases:

In the Front Panel view or Topology view, CMS does not display error messages. In the Front Panel view, if the switch is running one of the software releases listed previously, the device LEDs do not appear. In Topology view, if the member is a Long-Reach Ethernet (LRE) switch, the customer premises equipment (CPEs) connected to the switch do not appear. The Bandwidth and Link graphs also do not appear in these views.

To view switch information, you need to upgrade the member switch software. For information about upgrading switch software, see the "Downloading Software" section.

Open Caveats

These are the open caveats with possible unexpected activity in this IOS release:

Open IOS Caveats

These are the severity 3 IOS configuration caveats:

SNMP queries that are run on the ciscoFLASHPartitionTable do not show all the attributes defined by the MIB.

There is no workaround.

If a stack contains both Catalyst 3550 switches and Catalyst 3500 XL or Catalyst 2900 XL switches, cross-stack UplinkFast does not function if the management VLAN on the Catalyst 3500 XL or Catalyst 2900 XL switches is changed to other than VLAN 1 (the default).

The workaround is to make sure that the management VLAN of all Catalyst 3500 XL or 2900 XL switches in the stack is set to VLAN 1.

When a Catalyst 6000 SSH client connects to a Catalyst 3550 SSH server, the Catalyst 6000 switch halts at the enable-password prompt from which to enter privileged EXEC mode. This problem occurs when the Catalyst 6000 switch is running the c6sup1_rp-JK2SV-M crypto-image as a client and the Catalyst 3550 switch is running the crypto-image as the SSH server.

There is no workaround.

The VLAN Query Protocol (VQP) might not work correctly when the switch has multiple switch virtual interfaces (SVIs) configured with IP addresses. If the VLAN Membership Policy Server (VMPS) does not have routes configured to reach all subnets on the Catalyst 3550 switch, it might not assign dynamic access ports on the switch to a VLAN. This is because the switch randomly selects one of the configured SVI IP addresses (instead of the IP address configured on the VLAN interface used to reach the VMPS) when it sends VQP requests to the VMPS server. The server responds with the VLAN assignment only if the IP address used in the VQP request is in the VMPS database.

The workaround is to configure the VMPS server to have routes to reach all subnets on the Catalyst 3550 switch.

The SYS-3-CPUHOG message might appear when you enter a no switchport trunk allowed vlan interface range command to remove the allowed list for all trunk ports on the switch.

The workaround is to enter the same command in the interface configuration mode for each trunk port individually.

Ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) generation might fail when there are multiple ACLs in a policy-map. If you add an entry that checks Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) flags to an access list that is used for QoS classification, the system might report that a hardware limitation has been reached for the policy map. This can occur when the policy map already contains several other access list entries that check different TCP flags, or that check TCP or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) port numbers using an operation different from equal (eq), such as not equal (ne), less than (lt), greater than (gt), or range. When the hardware limitation is reached, the service-policy input policy-map-name interface configuration command is removed from the running configuration of the interface.

Checking for TCP flags and TCP/UDP port numbers using operators other than eq share some of the same hardware resources. The switch supports no more than six checks within a single policy map. An identical check repeated in multiple entries in the same policy map counts as a single instance. If this limit is reached during a TCP or UDP port number check, the software can often work around the problem by allocating extra entries in the TCAM, but there is no workaround if the limit is reached during a check against the TCP flags in the packet. Similar checks in a port ACL applied to the same physical interface as the policy map also count toward the limit.

Because these resources are allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis, rearranging the order of ACLs within a policy map or the order of entries within a single ACL, placing the TCP flags checks as early as possible, might enable the policy map to be loaded into the hardware.

Similar limits apply for any combination of input VLAN maps, input router ACLs, output VLAN maps, and output router ACLs that share the same VLAN label. The switch supports eight checks for all features on the same VLAN label. When the limit is reached, the system might forward packets by using the CPU rather than through hardware, greatly reducing system performance. To determine the VLAN label assigned to a VLAN or interface on input or output, use the show fm vlan or show fm interface privileged EXEC commands. Then use the show fm vlan-label privileged EXEC command to determine which set of features (input VLAN map, input router ACL, output VLAN map, or output router ACL) share this label.

These are the workarounds:

If the other workarounds fail, avoid combining any check against the TCP flags with gt, lt, ne, or range checks within the policy map and port ACL configured on the interface or within the VLAN maps and router ACLs that share the same VLAN label.

On an interface with excessive traffic, if one of the queue sizes is set to 0 or if the queue sizes are set to high values such as 1, 100, 100, and 100 by using the wrr-queue queue-limit 1 100 100 100 interface configuration command, the switch might reset.

The workaround is to change the queue size from 0 to a nonzero value or to follow these steps:

When the MAC address aging time is set for more than ten minutes, the addresses do not age out.

The workaround is to set the MAC address aging time to less than ten minutes.

If you apply a large ACL and it fills the entire ternary content addressable memory (TCAM), the multicast VLAN registration (MVR) IP multicast data packets are sent to the switch CPU and are not forwarded to the MVR receiver ports.

There is no workaround.

If you create a policy map by using the policy-map policy-map-name global configuration command, enter the class class-map-name policy-map configuration command and then you immediately exit from the policy-map class configuration mode, the policy map does not show its class-map association.

The workaround is to configure another command (such as the police, trust, or set policy-map class configuration command) after entering the class class-map-name policy-map configuration command.

When the switch runs out Layer 4 operation (L4op) resources, the ACL that you are configuring or modified is not applied.

There is no workaround.

A Catalyst 3550 switch per-port per-VLAN QoS traffic classification might fail if the hardware resource limit is reached. When you try to attach a per-port per-VLAN QoS policy map to an interface, exceeding the hardware resource limit, this syslog message appears:

This means that the specific policy map has VLAN entries overlapped with existing policy maps already attached to other interfaces.

The workaround is to not attach per-port per-VLAN QoS policy maps that could result in reaching the hardware resource limit. If this has already occurred, then detach and re-attach the other policy maps in the system by entering the no service-policy input policy-map-name interface configuration command followed by the service-policy input policy-map-name interface configuration command.

If you try to attach a a large per-port per-VLAN QoS policy map with many classes to an interface, the Catalyst 3550 switch might generate this syslog message:

This can occur when the policy map has more than 128 classes and the VLANs in the classes overlap.

The workaround is to modify the policy map so that there are fewer classes or so that fewer classes have overlapping VLANs.

The switch utilization might be unusually high when you try to remove a match criteria common to per-port per-VLAN QoS policy-maps that are already attached to interfaces. These policy-maps have a large number of VLANs specified in the match clauses.

The workaround is to detach the policy-maps from the interfaces, change the match clause, and then re-attach the policy-map to the interfaces.

When a community string is assigned by the cluster command switch, you cannot get any dot1dBridge MIB objects using a community string with a VLAN entity from a cluster member switch.

The workaround is to manually add the cluster community string with the VLAN entity on the member switches for all active VLANs shown in the show spanning-tree summary display. This is an example of such a change, where cluster member 3 has spanning-tree on vlan 1-3 and the cluster commander community string is public@es3.

When you enter an snmp-server host global configuration command with a non-existent community-string value, the Community Strings tag shows a non-existent community string. This creates a community with only notification-view access.

---

Note    When you remove the command, the configuration needs to be checked for any other instances of snmp-server host for a given community. If there are none, the community (view) should be deleted.

---

The workaround is to:

An assertion error message occurs when you apply a VLAN map to a list of VLANs after entering the service-policy interface configuration command for a per-port, per-VLAN quality of service (QoS) policy. This error message occurs only if the list of VLANs in the QoS policy overlaps with list in the VLAN map.

There is no workaround.

The switch LEDs on a Catalyst 3550-24PWR switch do not function correctly during POST.

The workaround is to view the POST results from the console.

The IEEE8023-LAG-MIB is not supported by Release 12.1(12c)EA1.

There is no workaround.

When SNMP traps are enabled and a switch runs out of I/O memory, a software-forced reload can occur on a switch, and this message is displayed:

There is no workaround.

If ports in an EtherChannel do not meet specific conditions, you might not be able to create or modify the EtherChannel.

The workaround is to follow these guidelines:

If the ports are set to a PAgP mode, set the port priority from 0 to 255.

If the ports are set to an LACP mode, set the port priority from 1 to 65535.

If the ports are set to on mode, do not set a port priority.

If two switch ports in two different VLANs are connected to each other, both switch ports continue forwarding. This is the expected behavior. However, if two additional ports in the two different VLANs are connected together, a loop is formed.

The workaround is to remove the loop from the switch.

When a port channel becomes active between two Catalyst 3550 switches, these messages might be displayed:

These messages cause traffic-forwarding delays when the port-channel link becomes active or inactive.

There is no workaround.

When you use the VLAN database configuration mode, pressing Ctrl-Z might not return you to privileged EXEC mode.

The workaround is to use the abort VLAN configuration command to abort the pending VLAN database changes and to return you to privileged EXEC mode.

When an IP phone or a device that is connected to a Catalyst 3550-24PWR switch is also connected to AC power through a 10-Mbps, half-duplex link, if the AC power supply is turned off, the port on the Catalyst 3550-24PWR switch is error-disabled.

The workaround is to disconnect the Ethernet cable after the AC power is removed and reconnect the Ethernet cable.

When configuring 802.1X with dynamic VLAN assignment on a switch, the Tunnel-Private-Group-ID field in the Radius server must be configured with a VLAN number.

The Catalyst 3550 switch does not support the Tunnel-Private-Group-ID field when it is configured as a VLAN name.

There is no workaround.

When you remove a port ACL from an interface to which a per-port per-VLAN policy map is attached, if that policy map is already attached to other interfaces, the switch fails.

The workaround is to follow these steps:

When RSPAN is configured to use a Fast Ethernet port as the reflector port, traffic from the SPAN session might not be forwarded to the RSPAN VLAN.

The workaround is to set the reflector port to 100 Mbps, full duplex, by using the speed 100 and duplex full interface configuration commands prior to configuring it as a reflector port.

When a neighboring switch directly connected to a Fast Ethernet port of a Catalyst 3550-24-FX switch reboots, that port might be place in an administratively down state, and this error message might appear:

The workaround is to shut down the port and re-enable it by using the shutdown and no shutdown interface configuration commands.

When you change a dynamic-access port to a static-access port, the switch port might still operate as a dynamic-access port.

The workaround is to shut down the port and re-enable it by using the shutdown and no shutdown interface configuration commands.

When a Catalyst 3550-24PWR switch is connected to a 10/100/1000 port on another switch that has the speed and duplex modes set to auto, the link between the switches might be down.

The workaround is to set the speed and the duplex mode to auto on the Catalyst 3550-24PWR port and to manually set the speed to 10 or 100 Mbps and the duplex mode to auto on the 10/100/1000 port of the other switch.

Open CMS Caveats

These are the severity 3 CMS configuration caveats:

If you click the list of switches in CMS and press the Page Down key on the keyboard, the entire list moves to the bottom of the window. This only happens with Windows NT.

The workaround is to collapse the list into a single icon, which returns the list to the top of the window.

If you use the command switch Domain Name System (DNS) server name to start CMS for a member that is running an earlier software release than the command switch, CMS might not display the switch image, or it might display the command switch image. This can also occur when a standby group is configured for a cluster and you access CMS by entering the command-switch IP address and not the virtual IP address.

The workaround is to always use the command-switch IP address to access CMS. If a standby group is configured for a cluster, always use the virtual IP address to access CMS.

The CMS Time Management window supports the configuration of the Network Time Protocol (NTP) and system time. When you make changes on this window from a command switch, Java propagates the changes to all cluster members. A conflict can arise if you configure NTP and also use the Set Daylight Saving Time and Set Current Time tabs.

To avoid a possible conflict, either set the system time for the entire cluster on the command switch, or configure NTP on the command switch to use an NTP server to provide time to the cluster. Do not use both methods at the same time.

There is no workaround.

If you try to enable Port Fast on an interface that does not accept it—a trunk port, for example—no message warns you that Port Fast was not enabled.

If you select multiple FastEthernet ports on a Catalyst 3550 switch, the speed of 1000 Mbps is shown as an option in the Modify Port Settings window. Ignore this speed option.

You cannot modify the multicast groups that are shown in the IGMP Snooping window.

The workaround is to delete the group that you want to modify and then recreate it with the change that you want.

You cannot switch modes (for example, from Guide Mode to Expert Mode) for an open CMS window.

The workaround is to close the open window, select the mode that you want, and then reopen the CMS window.

---

Note    For the mode change to take effect on any other CMS window that is open, you need to close that window and then reopen it after you select the new mode.

---

If both a port ACL and a VLAN map are already configured on the Catalyst 3550 switch and you try to attach a port ACL through the CMS Security Wizard, you can use the Security Wizard to attach the port ACL to a switch port. The attached port ACL conflicts with the existing VLAN map and this is not a allowed configuration.

The workaround is to verify that both a port ACL and a VLAN map are not configured on the switch before using the Security Wizard.

The data that is displayed by using the Stack Bar and Stack Area options in the Link Graph window is incorrect.

The workaround is to use the Line, Bar, or Area options instead.

In read-only mode, time ranges are not displayed. See the "Read-Only Mode in CMS" section for more information about CMS modes.

There is no workaround.

The cursor is not displayed in the text-entering areas in CMS. However, in some cases you can still enter text. This problem occurs with certain combinations of both the browser and the Java Plug-In. For example, it can occur when Netscape Communicator 6.2.3 is used with Java Plug-In 1.3.1_02 or 1.3.1_03.

These are the workarounds:

You cannot add a switch that does not have Terminal Access Control Access System Plus (TACACS+) configured on it to a cluster if all the other cluster members are configured with TACACS+.

The workaround is to configure TACACS+ on the switch before adding it to the cluster.

If you are using Netscape Communicator version 4.75 or 4.73, this error message appears when you launch CMS:

The workaround is to close the error message and continue as normal. This is a known error with these versions of Netscape Communicator. The error message does not affect CMS functionality.

If you try to create a time-range entry that specifies multiple days with the same time, CMS displays only the first day in the list of days. This is an example of such a time-range entry:

periodic Monday Wednesday Friday 8:00 to 17:00.

The periodic time-range entries with specific days use this syntax:

periodic Monday 8:00 to Tuesday 17:00.

or

periodic Monday 8:00 to Monday 17:00

The workaround is to create a specific time-range entry for each day.

When a Catalyst 3550 switch becomes a command switch, it automatically creates an IP extended ACL called CMP-NAT-ACL that specifies a set of IP addresses subject to cluster-NAT address translation. Although CMS allows you to modify or delete this ACL, do not modify or delete this ACL.

There is no workaround.

A red border appears around the text-entering area of some CMS dialogs. The color of the border changes to green when text is entered. This is only a cosmetic error. The colored border does not prevent you from entering text.

There is no workaround.

---

Note    This error only occurs with Java plug-in 1.4.0.

---

When there are no CMS windows open, the CMS keyboard shortcuts do not work.

The workaround is to leave one CMS window open. For example, leave the Help > About window open.

If you open a window in which you can enter text, open another window, and return to the first window, right-clicking in the text field might make the cursor in this field disappear. You can still enter text in the field.

There is no workaround.

After you configure a cluster standby group, the configured standby command switches appear in the Current Candidates list.

The workaround is to refresh the Standby Command Switches window. The configured standby command switches now appear in the Standby Command Group list.

If you remove a police that is applied to both the ingress and egress directions on an interface, an error message appears.

There is no workaround.

When you remove a policy that is applied to both the ingress and egress directions on multiple interfaces, the policy is only removed from the first interface. An error message also appears.

There is no workaround.

If you open the QoS Policies window and specify a policy name that is already configured, the Add Class to QoS Policy window that defines a traffic classification opens.

The workaround is to not specify a policy name that is already configured.

CMS does not work when a switch is running the crypto software image and the vty lines are configured to use only SSH by using the transport input ssh line vty 0 15 interface configuration command.

The workaround is to allow SSH and Telnet access through the vty lines by using the transport input ssh telnet interface configuration command.

In the QoS Trust Settings window, when selecting multiple interfaces in a child window, you cannot disable the interface to override the CoS value of the incoming packets.

The workaround is to use the QoS Trust Settings window instead of the child window to reconfigure the CoS value for an interface.

The switch does not show link reports between Catalyst 2900 XL switches and Catalyst 2820 switches.

There is no workaround.

When you select an ATM interface on a Catalyst 2924-LRE-XL switch and open the Link Reports window, a read-only error message appears and the MAC address field is red because the Catalyst 2924-LRE-XL switch does not show the MAC addresses on ATM links.

There is no workaround.

When you create a policy by configuring a policer, if unsupported values for the average traffic rate and normal size burst are entered, an error message appears.

The workaround is to use the supported values for the average traffic rate and the normal burst size. For the supported values, refer to the software configuration guide for this release.

In the QoS Maps window, in read-only mode, details of the DSCP mutation table are not available.

There is no workaround.

In the Ping and Trace window, when you ping another device or use traceroute to identify a Layer 2 or Layer 3 path that packets take through a network, these actions occur:

There are no workarounds.

You cannot create bridge groups on switches that are running the SMI.

---

Note    In Releases 12.1(12c)EA1 and earlier, the CMS Fallback Bridging window lists all Layer 3 devices that are running both the SMI and EMI, even though Fallback Bridging is not supported on the SMI.

---

The workaround is to not choose or configure fallback bridging in the Fallback Bridging window on switches that are running the SMI.

When an ACL is defined in a class map, if the ACL is deleted and then you open QoS Class Modify window, it shows an ACL that is not defined in the class map.

There is no workaround.

If you create a time-range entry that is active only on specific days, it might not work if you modify it later.

The workaround is to delete that time-range entry and create it again.

When you assign routed ports to a fallback bridge group, CMS does not add the routed ports to the bridge group, and an error message does not appear.

The workaround is to use the CLI to add routed ports to a fallback bridge group.

When you select and delete multiple time ranges from the ACL window, not all of the time ranges are deleted.

This is an intermittent problem. The workaround is to reselect the time ranges and try to delete them again.

If you open the Standby Command Switches window when other windows, such as the SNMP Management window and the Cisco Group Management Protocol (CGMP) window are open, a NullPointerException message might appear.

The workaround is to refresh the Standby Command Switches window. If the NullPointerException message still appears, close the others windows, re-open the Standby Command Switches window, and then re-open the other windows.

If a policer configuration that exceeds the policy-map hardware limitation is applied to a policy map, CMS shows that the policer is applied to the policy map, but the policer is not applied.

The workaround is to refresh the QoS Policies window, select the policy map that was previously configured, and click the Details button to see policy-map details.

In Runtime Status tab of the Port Settings window, if you configure an interface description by using one of these words:

CMS does not display the correct port settings in the Configuration Settings and the Runtime Status tabs of the Port Settings window. The duplex and speed settings might appear as NA.

There is no workaround.

You cannot use CMS to disable port security on cluster members.

The workaround is to use the no port security interface configuration command to disable port security on each cluster member.

In the Front Panel View, when you select a connected port other than the port that was first connected and open the Link Graph window, the graph for another port appears.

The workaround is to open the Link Graph window and select the port for which you want to see in the link graph.

When you run a link graph report on a connected port selected from the Front Panel view, the graph displays data for the first connected port, regardless of which port you select.

The workaround is to select a port from the Link Graph window instead of the Front Panel view.

When you enable UplinkFast, the maximum-update-rate field does not contain the default value.

There is no workaround.

In the UplinkFast tab of the STP window, CMS incorrectly shows the maximum update range as 0 to 1000. The correct range is 0 to 65535.

There is no workaround.

After you create a class and apply an ACL to that class, if you delete this ACL and attempt to modify the class by applying another ACL to it, the ACL is not applied to the class.

The workaround is to delete and recreate the class.

When one of two switches in a link is down, the link might appear green. This could happen when you are using any of the supported operating systems, browsers, or java plug-ins.

There is no workaround.

If an internal power supply of a cluster member switch fails and the switch is using a redundant power system, such as the RPS 300, CMS fails.

The workaround is to fix the internal power supply of the member switch or to replace the switch.

Log scaling does not appear in a link graph until the first data values appear in the graph. This happens when you are using any of the supported operating systems, browsers, or java plug-ins.

There is no workaround.

Resolved Caveats

These are the caveats that have been resolved in this release.

Resolved IOS Caveats

These IOS caveats were resolved in Release 12.1(12c)EA1:

When you disable autonegotiation on a GBIC interface by using the speed nonegotiate interface configuration command, the interface no longer indicates that the link is up, even when the link is no longer connected.

After you enter the no mls qos interface configuration command, the quality of service (QoS) counters now work correctly.

When you change the class action of an existing per-port per-VLAN QoS policy map that is already attached to an interface, the per-port per-VLAN QoS hardware entries on the switch are now modified correctly.

The Catalyst 3550 Multilayer Switch Software Configuration Guide now describes when a switch can automatically obtain an IP address from a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server and when you must manually assign an IP address to the switch.

A switch now provides fail-over protection when up to 16 Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) groups are configured or active.

You can create an extended VLAN after rebooting a switch. Previously, creation of an extended VLAN failed after rebooting.

802.1X security with Extensible Authentication Protocol Transport Layer Security (EAP-TLS) authentication is now supported.

If a policy map has a class map with the match vlan vlan-list criterion, when you apply that policy map to an interface, remove it, and then reapply it to that interface, this error message no longer appears:

When a port channel member is added or removed from a port channel interface, path cost on the port channel interface reverts to a non-uplinkfast path cost.

After the link status and line protocol of a Gigabit Ethernet port are up, the speed and the duplex settings displayed by the show interfaces user EXEC command change to unknown.

The switch no longer reloads during repeated interface flapping of a routed EtherChannel.

After interface-range parser debugging global configuration command is enabled by using the debug parser interface-range privileged EXEC command, if the interface range global configuration command is entered multiple times, the switch no longer reloads.

When classification occurs on a per-port per-VLAN basis by using class maps, if one of the class maps has an ACL with a permit any condition and if some of the VLANs in the VLAN list for that class map are in the VLAN list for another class map, the class map with the permit any condition no longer fails.

A switch running Release 12.1(12c)EA1 or later no longer loses the config.text file after these commands are entered:

If the aging time for dynamic MAC addresses is greater than 255 seconds, the addresses that were learned on the affected VLAN now age out at the appropriate time.

Downloading a software image by using the archive download-sw privileged EXEC command no longer causes this error message:

Entering the no snmp-server global configuration command no longer causes a switch to fail.

When you are applying a per-port per-VLAN policy map to an interface, if the match-VLAN clause in one of the classes applies to a VLAN list from VLAN 1 to VLAN 4094 and if other policy maps apply to VLANs that are already in the previous list, the switch no longer reloads.

Dynamic access ports that are also configured to carry Voice-over-IP (VoIP) traffic now send VLAN Query Protocol (VQP) requests.

Resolved Cluster Caveats

These cluster caveats were resolved in Release 12.1(12c)EA1:

When you enter a remote command on a Catalyst 3550 member switch from a command switch that is not a Catalyst 3550 switch, communication between the switches no longer halts.

When Catalyst 1900, 2820, or 2900 XL 4 MB series switches are participating in a cluster and the active command switch fails and then is restored after the standby command switch has updated the members, these legacy switches no longer miss the restoration and correctly retain the standby command switch MAC address.

When you start a switch that has a configured SPAN or RSPAN session configured to filter VLANs on source trunk ports, the VLAN filtering now works correctly.

Documentation Updates

You can access all Catalyst 3550 documentation at this URL:

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/lan/c3550/index.htm

This section provides updates to the product documentation. These changes will be included in the next version of the documentation.

Corrections to the Software Configuration Guide

These are corrections for the Catalyst 3550 Multilayer Switch Software Configuration Guide:

Assign vendor-specific tunnel attributes in the RADIUS server. The RADIUS server must return these attributes to the switch:

Attribute [64] must contain the value VLAN (type 13). Attribute [65] must contain the value 802 (type 6). Attribute [81] specifies the VLAN number assigned to the 802.1X-authenticated user.

---

Note    You can assign only one VLAN number to the 802.1X-authenticated user.

---

The Catalyst 3550 switch does not support the Tunnel-Private-Group-ID field when it is configured as a VLAN name. (CSCdz31076)

Do not use the show policy-map interface privileged EXEC command to display classification information for incoming traffic. The interface keyword is not supported, and the statistics shown in the display should be ignored. Instead, you should specify the DSCPs to be monitored by using the mls qos monitor dscp dscp1 ... dscp8 interface configuration command, and then you should use the show mls qos interface interface-id statistics privileged EXEC command. For more information about these commands, refer to the Catalyst 3550 Multilayer Switch Command Reference.

With per-port per-VLAN classification, unmatched VLANs are treated similarly to the default class, which means that the unmatched VLANs share the remaining bandwidth. You cannot modify this default-class behavior. If necessary, you can use VLAN map filters to block these VLANs.

Corrections to the Hardware Installation Guide

These are corrections for the Catalyst 3550 Multilayer Switch Hardware Installation Guide:

Lightning Activity Warning

Warning	Do not work on the system or connect or disconnect cables during periods of lightning activity.
Waarschuwing	Tijdens onweer dat gepaard gaat met bliksem, dient u niet aan het systeem te werken of kabels aan te sluiten of te ontkoppelen.
Varoitus	Älä työskentele järjestelmän parissa äläkä yhdistä tai irrota kaapeleita ukkosilmalla.
Attention	Ne pas travailler sur le système ni brancher ou débrancher les câbles pendant un orage.
Warnung	Arbeiten Sie nicht am System und schließen Sie keine Kabel an bzw. trennen Sie keine ab, wenn es gewittert.
Figyelem!	Villámlás közben ne dolgozzon a rendszeren, valamint ne csatlakoztasson és ne húzzon ki kábeleket!
Avvertenza	Non lavorare sul sistema o collegare oppure scollegare i cavi durante un temporale con fulmini.
Advarsel	Utfør aldri arbeid på systemet, eller koble kabler til eller fra systemet når det tordner eller lyner.
Aviso	Não trabalhe no sistema ou ligue e desligue cabos durante períodos de mau tempo (trovoada).
¡Advertencia!	No operar el sistema ni conectar o desconectar cables durante el transcurso de descargas eléctricas en la atmósfera.
Varning!	Vid åska skall du aldrig utföra arbete på systemet eller ansluta eller koppla loss kablar.

Related Documentation

These documents provide complete information about the switch and are available from this Cisco.com site:

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/lan/c3550/index.htm

You can order printed copies of documents with a DOC-xxxxxx= number from the Cisco.com sites and from the telephone numbers listed in the "Ordering Documentation" section.

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The Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) is available to all customers who need technical assistance with a Cisco product, technology, or solution. Two levels of support are available: the Cisco TAC Web Site and the Cisco TAC Escalation Center.

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Cisco TAC Web Site

You can use the Cisco TAC Web Site to resolve P3 and P4 issues yourself, saving both cost and time. The site provides around-the-clock access to online tools, knowledge bases, and software. To access the Cisco TAC Web Site, go to this URL:

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If you have Internet access, we recommend that you open P3 and P4 cases through the Cisco TAC Web Site.

Cisco TAC Escalation Center

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