counter errors command

VLAN troubleshooting

1. Bu default VLAN 1 will always present in all switches.

2. VLAN range is from 0-4095.
3. There is only one use of VLAN 4095 and that is when we create a virtual switch in vSphere and
there is a requirement to put any interface into trunk mode but there is not any option in that
switch to do this. So, if we tag that port into the 4095 VLAN then that port will start behaving as
a trunk port means tagging capabilities will be turned ON.
4. Suppose a switch interface f0/1 is tagged in VLAN 10 and then someone deletes that VLAN 10.
Now if you run “sh vlan” command then it will show that this interface is tagged in VLAN 1 but
this is not correct. If you run “sh interface ethernet f0/1” then you will come to know that, that
port is still tagged in VLAN 10 but the VLAN is in an inactive state.
5. Go under the VLAN and run the command “shutdown”. The interfaces on which the shutdown
VLAN is tagged, will not communicate with each other. We can check the VLAN shut/active by
running the command “sh VLAN”.
6. Go under the VLAN and run the command “state suspend”. The interfaces on which the
suspended VLAN is tagged, will not communicate with each other. We can check the VLAN
suspended/active by running the command “sh VLAN”. Use “state active” to make the VLAN
active again.
7. Go under the VLAN and run the command “media ___ (put anything other than ethernet)”. The
interfaces on which the VLAN is tagged, will not communicate with each other because that
VLAN will show as unsupported. We can check the VLAN suspended/active by running the
command “sh VLAN”.
Max age timer: - When a switch received a BPDU it will hold the BPDU for max 20 seconds. If this SWH
will not receive any more hellos for these 20 seconds, then it will mark that BPDU as “expired” and
consider that the sender SWH of the BPDU is down.

Default CAM table age in switch is 300 seconds. This time is called MAC ageing time.

STP some imp things

 Types of topologies change in STP and convergence

1. Insignificant topology change

2. Direct topology change
3. Indirect topology change

STP convergence: 2.2. Spanning-Tree Protocol 802.1D - STP Convergence after topology changes with
Example - YouTube

1. Insignificant topology change: The topology changes which does not affect the STP behavior
b/w the switches. Means a port goes down where the end user is connected or the router is
connected, that will not affect the STP. This kind of topology changes called insignificant
topology changes.
a. When an access port goes down, then the switch generates a TCN BPDU to inform the
root bridge.
i. TCN BPDUs are always generated by the non-root bridges in every 2 seconds, to
inform the root bridge about the topology change. So, TCN BPDU always sent on
RP port and received on DP port.
ii. TCN BPDU have the same fields as configuration BPDU.
iii. The TCN BPDU which is sent by the non-root bridge to rood bridge in point “a”,
will not contain any information about the actual change.
b. Root bridge received this BPDU and came to know that there is a change in the
topology, so whenever it will send its next configuration BPDU it will mark the TCN &
TCN ack bits ON into flag.
i. TCN bit to tell the other SWH that there is a change.
ii. TCN ack bit will work as an acknowledgement for the originator of the TCN
BPDU.
c. When the originator receives the ack for the TCN BPDU, then only it will stop generating
TCN BPDUs.
d. All those switches who receives this BPDU sent in step “b”, will change their MAC ageing
time equal to forward delay time (15 sec). Change the MAC ageing time from 300 sec to
15 sec.
e. NOTE: Now every SWH will clear the MAC address from their CAM table for the users
who are sitting ideal for more than 15 seconds. Now if anyone starts to communicate
with those ideal users whose MAC address got cleared by all the switches, now
switches will perform “unknown unicast flooding”, and that will cause congestion in
our network.
f. Now if that access port again came UP:
i. By default, switch also forwards BPDU on the access ports also, so the role of
every access port in default situation will be DP port.
ii. So, it will take 30 seconds to go from blocking  listing  learning 
forwarding state.
 iii. And when it came to forwarding state, the switch will again generate a TCN
BPDU and forward it to the root bridge and the whole process from point “a-to-
e” will happen again. This is very BAD.
iv. That’s why use “portfast” on access ports as much as you can because it will
stop the BPDU on that port.
v. Portfast is a cisco proprietary feature.
vi. In the o/p of “show spanning tree” command, if keyword “edge” is written in
front of any port then it means “portfast” command is enabled on that port.
vii. There is a command “spanning-tree portfast default”, this command run in
global mode and after this command, portfast will be automatically enable on
access ports.
viii. There will be only one situation where you need to enable portfast on the trunk
port, that is, if an IP phone is connected on the switch port. So to enable
portfast on the trunk interface you need to run the “spanning-tree portfast
trunk” command under the interface.
2. Direct topology change: When a RP port goes down and the switch already have the alternate
port then this kind of topology change is called direct topology changed.
a. Whenever there is a direct topology change it will take 30 seconds in the convergence.
Why?
3. Indirect topology change: When a RP port goes down and the switch does not have any
alternate port, that topology change is called Indirect topology change.
Direct topology change: When a RP port goes down and the switch already have the
alternate port then this kind of topology change is called direct topology changed.

a. Whenever there is a direct topology change it will take 30 seconds in the convergence.
Why? Refer snap.
b. Solution: Use uplink fast

UplinkFast:

 This is a Cisco proprietary feature.

 Uplinkfast is a spanning-tree feature that was created to improve the
convergence time
 The UplinkFast feature is based on the definition of an uplink group. On a given
switch, the uplink group consists in the root port and all the ports that provide
an alternate connection to the root bridge. If the root port fails, which means if
the primary uplink fails, a port with next lowest cost from the uplink group is
selected to immediately replace it.
 Now the convergence time will be 0.

Indirect topology change: When a RP port goes down and the switch does not have any
alternate port, that topology change is called Indirect topology change.
 c. Whenever there is an Indirect topology change it will take 50 seconds in the
convergence. Why? Refer snap.
d. Solution: Use Backbone-fast

Backbone-fast:

 This is a Cisco proprietary feature.

 Once enabled on all switches of a bridge network, can save a switch up to 20
seconds (max-age) when it recovers from an indirect link failure.
 To get rid of this max-age delay, backbone fast introduces the ability to detect
an indirect link failure as soon as possible. This is achieved by tracking the
inferior BPDUs that a designated bridge sends when it experiences a direct link
failure.
 Now the convergence time will be 30.

Two more cases