SF300 Switches lose IP, Subnet & Gateway

[andrenel1961]

I have a 100+ Small Business 300 Switches (different models) out in the field. Firmware versions range from 1.3.7.18 to 1.4.5.02. They are all L2. Recently I started experiencing some of the Switches (random sites) losing their IP, Subnet and Gateway. The rest of the configuration remains intact. The only way to fix it is to go to the site, connect via console cable and re-configure it. I suspected that the SNMP Community String with Read/Write privileges may play a role in this and removed it yet the problem persisted and I ruled it out. I did however remove the Read/Write string on all the devices as it is not being used anymore.

With the SNMP ruled out I suspected possible power issues to the units. I have tried to emulate this problem in our lab by dropping the power to a unit numerous times and powering it up again without success. It powers up fine and the configuration is fine.

Any ideas out there as to what the problem may be?

Andre

[andrenel1961]

We have logged a TAC with Cisco to investigate.

[Michal Bruncko]

• do I understand you correctly that you are losing switch IP configuration which was configured manually (by admin) and not DHCP-received IP config? 
• do you have GVRP active in your network? I would try to disable it on all ports. 
• did you checked switch logging for possible event/error?
• what kind of management IP configuration did you use? are you using specific management VLAN on each location and assign switch IP within that VLAN or are you use loopbacks for reaching switch management? If you use first option then I would suggest you to try to use loopback interface instead. this interface is always UP and could be reachable, besides that  VLAN interface is UP only if at least one assigned switch port (either tagged or untagged) is UP which could make switch unreachable.

[andrenel1961 · Accepted solution]

Morning Michal

My appologies for only replying to your query now.

I think I now know what my problem was with the loss of management IP's on some of the Switches. It seems to have been software related. On all the Switches where I lost my Management IP's, I upgraded the software to versions 1.4.7.06 and more recently to 1.4.8.06. Since then this problem seems to be resolved as I have not encountered the problem again. I am now working through all my Switches to ensure the software is on the latest version.

Regards,

André