Using the Web Console (if possible) to manage a 2960 switch

[Kevin Melton]

Forum

I have a client whom has asked me to enable web management on some of his 2960 switches. I did not think this was going to be an issue, and so I told the customer I would set this up for him.

Much to my dismay, I have been able to get http and https enabled, and then authenticating locally for the HTTP access.  I then come to the screen once authenticated which is shown below:

The issue is that when I select "Web Console", it gives me a "Web Page Cannot be found".    Please tell me what I am missing here.  Thanks.

Kevin

[Richard Burts]

Kevin

If my memory is correct it may be an issue of a missing software module for the switch. I think that I remember that there is the switch image file and also several other optional modules which provide things like the web console. It might help if we could see what is in flash for the switch. Can you post the output of show flash? And if the entry for the switch image is a directory instead of a file then please post the output of show flash commands that get down the directory structure to the individual files.

HTH

Rick

[Kevin Melton]

Sure thing.  Below is the output of "sho flash" on the 2960.

tbh7>en
Password:
tbh7#sho flash

Directory of flash:/

    2  -rwx    10887038  Feb 28 1993 20:37:43 -04:00  c2960s-universalk9-mz.122-55.SE.bin
    3  -rwx        3096  Nov 14 2011 16:57:41 -04:00  multiple-fs
    5  -rwx        3820  Nov 14 2011 16:57:41 -04:00  private-config.text
    6  -rwx        1856  Oct 27 2011 11:02:43 -04:00  vlan.dat
    7  -rwx        9663  Nov 14 2011 16:57:41 -04:00  config.text

57931776 bytes total (46934016 bytes free)
tbh7#

Do we have files we need to install in flash to get the HTML interface working?

Also I wanted to ask about managing old 2950 switches.  I was reading some old documentation that was referencing a "Cisco Device Manager" ,but when I google it, everything points to the newer Cisco Security Device Manager, which i dont beleive will manage a switch.  Is this correct? 

Thanks

Kevin

[egain.com]

how about using cisco network assistance software - http://www.cisco.com/cisco/software/navigator.html?mdfid=279230132&i=rp

regards

Rakesh

=====

[amikat · Accepted solution]

Hi,

The story is the same for both Cat2960 and Cat2950: to support web based management you need to have embedded web based device manager. When downloading the system image file from Cisco you need to choose combined tar file which includes both the IOS and web based device manager. The simple indication whether you have downloaded (and extracted) the proper file is the presence (or absence) of "html" directory within your flash. As there is none in your flash you have installed just the IOS image without the web console support.

The former name for the device manager was Cisco Device Manager (earlier Cat2950 terminology).

Best regards,

Antonin

[Richard Burts]

Kevin

I believe that Antonin has correctly supplied some details identifying the issue as software modules that are not present on the switch. To get the software modules you would need to re-do the code upgrade process on the switch (it is not as simple as just copy another module into flash).

HTH

Rick

[Kevin Melton]

Thanks for the answer.  Is there anything I have to with the tar file prior to TFTP'ing it to flash?

Hope you are well.

Kevin

[Richard Burts]

Kevin

There is not anything you have to do prior to copying it to flash (other than having copied it from Cisco).

Be aware that copying the tar to flash is not just a simple copy tftp flash command. You use the archive download-software command which will do the copy (using a transport protocol like tftp that you will specify) and do the software install (including creating the several directories including the html directory that Antonin refers to).

HTH

Rick

[amikat]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. You can find the correct procedure in the appropriate Release Notes. URL for the Cat2960 Release Notes is this:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6406/prod_release_notes_list.html

For the case you cannot access Cisco Release Notes please find an excerpt from the 12.2(58)SE1 release beneath:

Upgrading a Switch by Using the CLI

This procedure is for copying the combined tar file to the 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.

To download software, follow these steps:

Step 1 Identify the file that you want to download.

Step 2 Download the software image file.

Caution If you are upgrading a Catalyst 3750 switch that is running a release earlier than Cisco IOS Release 12.1(19)EA1c, this release includes a bootloader upgrade. The bootloader can take up to 1 minute to upgrade the first time that the new software is loaded. Do not power cycle the switch during the bootloader upgrade.

Step 3 Copy the image to the appropriate TFTP directory on the workstation, and make sure that the TFTP server is properly configured.

For more information, see Appendix B in the software configuration guide for this release.

Step 4 Log into the switch through the console port or a Telnet session.

Step 5 (Optional) Ensure that you have IP connectivity to the TFTP server by entering this privileged EXEC command:

Switch# ping tftp-server-address

For more information about assigning an IP address and default gateway to the switch, see the software configuration guide for this release.

Step 6 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 entering this privileged EXEC command:

Switch# archive download-sw /overwrite /reload

tftp:[[//location]/directory]/image-name.tar

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 saved.

The /allow-feature-upgrade option allows installation of an image with a different feature set (for example, upgrade from the IP base image to the IP services image).

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:

Switch# archive download-sw /overwrite

tftp://198.30.20.19/c3750-ipservices-tar.122-50.SE.tar

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.

Good Luck!

Best regards,

Antonin

[Kevin Melton]

Antonin

When I download an appropriate file from Cisco ( for example, c3560-ipbasek9-tar.122-55.SE4.tar), it downloads the file where I tell it to, but it shows up as a WinRar archive, and drops the .tar extension.

I have tried shipping it to the switch, but each time I run the command

archive download-sw /overwrite /reload ftp:/c3560-ipbasek9-tar.122-55.SE4.tar, the switch logs into ftp fine, but then indicates

testswitch#$/reload ftp://192.168.5.73/c3560-ipbasek9-tar.122-55.SE4.tar

Could not buffer tarfile...using multiple downloads

examining image...

%Error opening

ftp://192.168.5.73/c3560-ipbasek9-tar.122-55.SE4.tar

(No such file or directory)

%Error opening flash:update/info (No such file or directory)

ERROR: Image is not a valid IOS image archive.

I am not sure what to do next.  If i unzip it, then it is not a tarfile anymore and I get other error messages.

Thanks for any input!

Kevin

[Kevin Melton]

Antonin

here is what the file looks like in my ftp directory after downloading from Cisco:

It has a .tar extension as listed ont eh Cisco site, but for some reason it is not there when I have it in the ftp directory after the download from Cisco.   I tried simply renaming it by adding .tar, but it still gives me the error about not being a Cisco image

testswitch#archiv download-sw /reload /overwrite ftp://192.168.5.73/c3560-ipba$

Could not buffer tarfile...using multiple downloads

examining image...

%Error opening

ftp://192.168.5.73/c3560-ipbasek9-tar.122-55.SE4.tar

(No such file or directory)

%Error opening flash:update/info (No such file or directory)

ERROR: Image is not a valid IOS image archive.

thx again

[amikat]

Hi,

I am sorry to hear you are experiencing problems. There are few changes however you should consider with your next try:

1) You should choose the correct image. If your switch model is of the Cat2960 family as your post indicates then the image to download form Cisco is c2960-lanbasek9- tar.122-55.SE4.tar or c2960-lanbasek9- tar.122-55.SE4.tar if you wish to get the latest 12.2 train releases and not the one you are using.

2) Do not worry about the "loosing" the .tar extension. This is how Windows display it, the extension is indicated by the icon.

3) You should use tftp and not ftp. There are quite a few freeware tftp servers available for download for the case you have not installed one so far. Please be sure you specify correctly the parameters (e.g. directory of your downloaded file) - this is tftp server setting, not Cisco IOS.

4) The command to use is indicated in my previous e-mail, everything should go smoothly.

Should you fail again, please indicate the result in your post, I am 100% sure we together will succeed at the end.

Good Luck!

Best regards,

Antonin.

[Aspak]

i am having same problem please somebody help me !

[O K]

the web admin is the enable password by default.
no username and whatever you set the enable password to.

(config) enable password

[Nasevorn]

Same Problem here. I have installed the right ISO-File «c2960l-universalk9-tar.152-6.E1.tar» (UNIVERSAL WITH WEB BASED DEV MGR), see picture «dir_flash.png». But the link to the web gui, see picture «link_web_console.png», does not work :-(. See picture «404_not_found.png».

Thank you in advance for every advise. I am stuck without gui.