How to Connect Cisco switch using console cable and putty

Today I will be talking about a very basic and important topic which is a part of CCNA syllabus. I will cover how to connect the Cisco switch using console cable and putty.

In this article I will cover below points:

?++How and where to connect console cable (USB to RJ45) between laptop and Cisco switch.

++How to check laptop serial COM port for putty

?Here?for the demonstration purpose I am taking very old model of Cisco switch that is Catalyst 3560?its 24 port switch ( currently I have only this switch at my desk for the testing purpose :) ) .?Please be noted that the console port, mgmt port?and all other ports position varies in the switch depending from model to model. In this case my console port is at the rear part of the switch and for most of the Cisco Switches you will find at the front of the switch as well.

So the very first thing which I am going to do is to power on the switch, you can see my power cord of the switch where I have connected the power cable. The moment you will power on the switch first the SYST LED will start blinking .

Also I have made a short clip while restarting my switch so that it will give you clear idea about which LED will blink first and for how long.

I am taking the Cisco - CAB-CONSOLE-RJ45= - Console Cable 6ft with RJ45 and DB9F Here you can see that one end of my cable is RJ-45 however my other end of the cable DB9F which I cant connect directly to the laptop, so I would need convertor so that I will be able to insert the another end into my laptop.

?I have connected RJ45 end of the cable to the console port .

Here is my convertor black one (USB to serial adapter) ?,I will connect my USB end to my laptop.

++?Connect the?USB to serial adapter?into the laptop USB port.

++Connect the?RJ-45 to DB-9 adapter? to the?USB to serial adapter.

From connection perspective everything is done, I have connected one end of the console cable to the switch and other end to my PC using the convertor now I will access the switch through putty.

Now in my putty you can see many other options like telnet, ssh however in our case we are not talking about the remote connection rather we are talking about accessing the switch physically through the console cable hence we would be going with the option serial.

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Now the question is which serial port we need to use here, by default its showing COM1 in above screenshot from putty . So , lets verify the same and for that goto device manager under that you will get an option called ports (COM and LPT) open this and here you can see usb serial port COM4.

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So now in putty under serial I will give the COM4 as my serial port and then click on ok. Here now you can see we have successfully enter into the device.

Switch con0 is now available

?Press RETURN to get started.

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*?????????????????????????????????????? *

*?? YOU ARE ENTERING A SECURED SYSTEM?? *

*?????????????????????????????????????? *

*???? ONLY AUTHORIZED ACCESS ALLOWED??? *

*?????????????????????????????????????? *

*???? IN CASE OF TECHNICAL PROBLEMS???? *

*???????? PLEASE CONTACT YOUR?????????? *

*???????? LOCAL ADMINISTRATOR?????????? *

*?????????????????????????????????????? *

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Press RETURN to get started.

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Switch#show version | inc IOS

Cisco IOS Software, C3560 Software (C3560-IPBASEK9-M), Version 12.2(53)SE2, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc3)

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