unmanaged switch for years needs changes.

[haryla_82]

Hi,

I have a catalyst 2960-Series switch sitting on  the rack and has been unmanaged for about 3 years.

Now i wanna take the first step to get into the switch and see whats in there. 

- No console cable available.

-This switch connects to about 4 different routers which serves as access points, where clients connect to.

-One port on switch serves as ingress for the border router(one interface to ISP another to my switch).

That said, (1) can i connect into this switch using a Cat5 or 6 ethernet cable to a downlink port on the switch

front panel to gain access? or absolutely only with console cable ?

(2) Interesting traffic is to two ports to a router(access point) that users abuse use. Where would you look ?

thnx.

[Richard Burts]

You have not told us whether this 2960 was configured with an IP address or not. If there is no IP address configured then your only access would be via console. If there is an IP address configured then you may be able to access the switch using Telnet or SSH (depending on what is configured on the switch). If you are not sure whether there is an IP address or what address it might be then show cdp neighbor from one of the connected routers might be helpful.

HTH

Rick

[haryla_82]

@Rick tnx for the quick response... I'm not sure if an admin IP was configured on this or not. Sorry i did not mention also that, the connect routers are other vendors.

[Richard Burts · Accepted solution]

If the routers are other vendors then CDP is not an option. I believe that the rest of my answer is still valid. If there is an IP address configured, and if you can figure out what the address is then there is a possibility of Telnet or SSH access. Access by IP is not guaranteed and depends on how the switch was configured.

Since you are not sure if an IP was configured then from a realistic perspective it looks like your only option for accessing this switch is to obtain a console cable.

HTH

Rick

[Joseph W. Doherty]

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Posting

If the routers are other vendors then CDP is not an option.

BTW, that's not always true.  I know of at least one other vendor will accept/show CDP being received if configured to do so.  (Unlikely to be the case here.)

Also, what Rick suggested, might be possible using LLDP.  Later Cisco devices, and other vendors, support it.  (Again, your 2960 might not, and I believe it's off, by default, on may Cisco devices that do support it.)

[haryla_82]

@Rock @Joe thnx for the suggestions...I will try access with a

console cable. 

[Richard Burts]

I am glad that our responses were helpful. Thank you for using the rating system to mark this question as answered. This will help other readers of the forum to identify discussions that have helpful information.

HTH

Rick