Configuring VLAN Trunks

• Prerequisites for VLAN Trunks, on page 1

• Information About VLAN Trunks, on page 2
• How to Configure VLAN Trunks, on page 4
• Configuration Examples for VLAN Trunking, on page 16
• Feature History for VLAN Trunks, on page 17

Prerequisites for VLAN Trunks

The IEEE 802.1Q trunks impose these limitations on the trunking strategy for a network:
• In a network of Cisco devices connected through IEEE 802.1Q trunks, the devices maintain one
spanning-tree instance for each VLAN allowed on the trunks. Non-Cisco devices might support one
spanning-tree instance for all VLANs.
When you connect a Cisco device to a non-Cisco device through an IEEE 802.1Q trunk, the Cisco device
combines the spanning-tree instance of the VLAN of the trunk with the spanning-tree instance of the
non-Cisco IEEE 802.1Q device. However, spanning-tree information for each VLAN is maintained by
Cisco device separated by a cloud of non-Cisco IEEE 802.1Q devices. The non-Cisco IEEE 802.1Q
cloud separating the Cisco devices is treated as a single trunk link between the devices.
• Make sure the native VLAN for an IEEE 802.1Q trunk is the same on both ends of the trunk link. If the
native VLAN on one end of the trunk is different from the native VLAN on the other end, spanning-tree
loops might result.
• Disabling spanning tree on the native VLAN of an IEEE 802.1Q trunk without disabling spanning tree
on every VLAN in the network can potentially cause spanning-tree loops. We recommend that you leave
spanning tree enabled on the native VLAN of an IEEE 802.1Q trunk or disable spanning tree on every
VLAN in the network. Make sure your network is loop-free before disabling spanning tree.

General Restrictions
• Native VLAN tagging is not supported, and the vlan dot1q tag native command is not available.

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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 Configuring VLAN Trunks
Information About VLAN Trunks

Information About VLAN Trunks

Trunking Overview
A trunk is a point-to-point link between one or more Ethernet switch interfaces and another networking device
such as a router or a switch. Ethernet trunks carry the traffic of multiple VLANs over a single link, and you
can extend the VLANs across an entire network.

Note You can configure a trunk on a single Ethernet interface or on an EtherChannel bundle.

Trunking Modes
Ethernet trunk interfaces support different trunking modes. You can set an interface as trunking or nontrunking
or to negotiate trunking with the neighboring interface. To autonegotiate trunking, the interfaces must be in
the same VTP domain.
Trunk negotiation is managed by the Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP), which is a Point-to-Point Protocol
(PPP). However, some internetworking devices might forward DTP frames improperly, which could cause
misconfigurations.

Layer 2 Interface Modes

Table 1: Layer 2 Interface Modes

Mode Function

switchport mode access Puts the interface (access port) into permanent nontrunking mode and negotiates
to convert the link into a nontrunk link. The interface becomes a nontrunk
interface regardless of whether or not the neighboring interface is a trunk
interface.

switchport mode dynamic Makes the interface able to convert the link to a trunk link. The interface
auto becomes a trunk interface if the neighboring interface is set to trunk or
desirable mode. The default switchport mode for all Ethernet interfaces is
dynamic auto.

switchport mode dynamic Makes the interface actively attempt to convert the link to a trunk link. The
desirable interface becomes a trunk interface if the neighboring interface is set to trunk,
desirable, or auto mode.

switchport mode trunk Puts the interface into permanent trunking mode and negotiates to convert the
neighboring link into a trunk link. The interface becomes a trunk interface
even if the neighboring interface is not a trunk interface.

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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 Configuring VLAN Trunks
Allowed VLANs on a Trunk

Mode Function

switchport nonegotiate Prevents the interface from generating DTP frames. You can use this command
only when the interface switchport mode is access or trunk. You must
manually configure the neighboring interface as a trunk interface to establish
a trunk link.

Allowed VLANs on a Trunk

By default, a trunk port sends traffic to and receives traffic from all VLANs. All VLAN IDs, 1 to 4094, are
allowed on each trunk. However, you can remove VLANs from the allowed list, preventing traffic from those
VLANs from passing over the trunk.
To reduce the risk of spanning-tree loops or storms, you can disable VLAN 1 on any individual VLAN trunk
port by removing VLAN 1 from the allowed list. When you remove VLAN 1 from a trunk port, the interface
continues to send and receive management traffic, for example, Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP), Port
Aggregation Protocol (PAgP), Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP), DTP, and VTP in VLAN 1.
If a trunk port with VLAN 1 disabled is converted to a nontrunk port, it is added to the access VLAN. If the
access VLAN is set to 1, the port will be added to VLAN 1, regardless of the switchport trunk allowed
setting. The same is true for any VLAN that has been disabled on the port.
A trunk port can become a member of a VLAN if the VLAN is enabled, if VTP knows of the VLAN, and if
the VLAN is in the allowed list for the port. When VTP detects a newly enabled VLAN and the VLAN is in
the allowed list for a trunk port, the trunk port automatically becomes a member of the enabled VLAN. When
VTP detects a new VLAN and the VLAN is not in the allowed list for a trunk port, the trunk port does not
become a member of the new VLAN.

Load Sharing on Trunk Ports

Load sharing divides the bandwidth supplied by parallel trunks connecting switches. To avoid loops, STP
normally blocks all but one parallel link between switches. Using load sharing, you divide the traffic between
the links according to which VLAN the traffic belongs.
You configure load sharing on trunk ports by using STP port priorities or STP path costs. For load sharing
using STP port priorities, both load-sharing links must be connected to the same switch. For load sharing
using STP path costs, each load-sharing link can be connected to the same switch or to two different switches.

Network Load Sharing Using STP Priorities

When two ports on the same switch form a loop, the switch uses the STP port priority to decide which port
is enabled and which port is in a blocking state. You can set the priorities on a parallel trunk port so that the
port carries all the traffic for a given VLAN. The trunk port with the higher priority (lower values) for a VLAN
is forwarding traffic for that VLAN. The trunk port with the lower priority (higher values) for the same VLAN
remains in a blocking state for that VLAN. One trunk port sends or receives all traffic for the VLAN.

Network Load Sharing Using STP Path Cost

You can configure parallel trunks to share VLAN traffic by setting different path costs on a trunk and associating
the path costs with different sets of VLANs, blocking different ports for different VLANs. The VLANs keep
the traffic separate and maintain redundancy in the event of a lost link.

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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 Configuring VLAN Trunks
Feature Interactions

Feature Interactions
Trunking interacts with other features in these ways:
• A trunk port cannot be a secure port.
• Trunk ports can be grouped into EtherChannel port groups, but all trunks in the group must have the
same configuration. When a group is first created, all ports follow the parameters set for the first port to
be added to the group. If you change the configuration of one of these parameters, the switch propagates
the setting that you entered to all ports in the group:
• Allowed-VLAN list.
• STP port priority for each VLAN.
• STP Port Fast setting.
• Trunk status:
If one port in a port group ceases to be a trunk, all ports cease to be trunks.

• If you try to enable IEEE 802.1x on a trunk port, an error message appears, and IEEE 802.1x is not
enabled. If you try to change the mode of an IEEE 802.1x-enabled port to trunk, the port mode is not
changed.
• A port in dynamic mode can negotiate with its neighbor to become a trunk port. If you try to enable IEEE
802.1x on a dynamic port, an error message appears, and IEEE 802.1x is not enabled. If you try to change
the mode of an IEEE 802.1x-enabled port to dynamic, the port mode is not changed.

Default Layer 2 Ethernet Interface VLAN Configuration

The following table shows the default Layer 2 Ethernet interface VLAN configuration.

Table 2: Default Layer 2 Ethernet Interface VLAN Configuration

Feature Default Setting

Interface mode switchport mode dynamic auto

Allowed VLAN range VLANs 1 to 4094

VLAN range eligible for pruning VLANs 2 to 1001

Default VLAN (for access ports) VLAN 1

Native VLAN (for IEEE 802.1Q trunks) VLAN 1

How to Configure VLAN Trunks

To avoid trunking misconfigurations, configure interfaces connected to devices that do not support DTP to
not forward DTP frames, that is, to turn off DTP.

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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 Configuring VLAN Trunks
Configuring an Ethernet Interface as a Trunk Port

• If you do not intend to trunk across those links, use the switchport mode access interface configuration
command to disable trunking.
• To enable trunking to a device that does not support DTP, use the switchport mode trunk and switchport
nonegotiate interface configuration commands to cause the interface to become a trunk but to not generate
DTP frames.

Configuring an Ethernet Interface as a Trunk Port

Configuring a Trunk Port
Because trunk ports send and receive VTP advertisements, to use VTP you must ensure that at least one trunk
port is configured on the switch and that this trunk port is connected to the trunk port of a second switch.
Otherwise, the switch cannot receive any VTP advertisements.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 interface interface-id Specifies the port to be configured for

trunking, and enters interface configuration
Example:
mode.
Device(config)# interface
gigabitethernet 1/0/2
Or
Device(config)# interface fastethernet
1/0/2

Step 4 switchport mode {dynamic {auto | Configures the interface as a Layer 2 trunk
desirable} | trunk} (required only if the interface is a Layer 2
access port or tunnel port or to specify the
Example:
trunking mode).
Device(config-if)# switchport mode • dynamic auto: Sets the interface to a
dynamic desirable trunk link if the neighboring interface is
set to trunk or desirable mode. This is the
default.

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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 Configuring VLAN Trunks
Configuring a Trunk Port

Command or Action Purpose

• dynamic desirable: Sets the interface to
a trunk link if the neighboring interface
is set to trunk, desirable, or auto mode.
• trunk: Sets the interface in permanent
trunking mode and negotiate to convert
the link to a trunk link even if the
neighboring interface is not a trunk
interface.

Step 5 switchport access vlan vlan-id (Optional) Specifies the default VLAN, which
is used if the interface stops trunking.
Example:

Device(config-if)# switchport access

vlan 200

Step 6 switchport trunk native vlan vlan-id Specifies the native VLAN for IEEE 802.1Q
trunks.
Example:

Device(config-if)# switchport trunk

native vlan 200

Step 7 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Step 8 show interfaces interface-id switchport Displays the switch port configuration of the
interface in the Administrative Mode and the
Example:
Administrative Trunking Encapsulation fields
Device# show interfaces gigabitethernet of the display.
1/0/2 switchport
Or
Device# show interfaces fastethernet
1/0/2 switchport

Step 9 show interfaces interface-id trunk Displays the trunk configuration of the
interface.
Example:
Device# show interfaces gigabitethernet
1/0/2 trunk
Or
Device# show interfaces fastethernet
1/0/2 trunk

Step 10 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the

configuration file.
Example:

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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 Configuring VLAN Trunks
Defining the Allowed VLANs on a Trunk

Command or Action Purpose

Device# copy running-config

startup-config

Defining the Allowed VLANs on a Trunk

VLAN 1 is the default VLAN on all trunk ports in all Cisco switches, and it has previously been a requirement
that VLAN 1 always be enabled on every trunk link. You can use the VLAN 1 minimization feature to disable
VLAN 1 on any individual VLAN trunk link so that no user traffic (including spanning-tree advertisements)
is sent or received on VLAN 1.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 interface interface-id Specifies the port to be configured, and enters

interface configuration mode.
Example:
Device(config)# interface gigabitethernet
1/0/2
Or
Device(config)# interface fastethernet
1/0/2

Step 4 switchport mode trunk Configures the interface as a VLAN trunk port.
Example:

Device(config-if)# switchport mode trunk

Step 5 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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 Configuring VLAN Trunks
Changing the Pruning-Eligible List

Command or Action Purpose

Step 6 show interfaces interface-id switchport Verifies your entries in the Trunking VLANs
Enabled field of the display.
Example:
Device# show interfaces gigabitethernet
1/0/2 switchport
Or
Device# show interfaces fastethernet
1/0/2 switchport

Step 7 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the

configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config

startup-config

Changing the Pruning-Eligible List

The pruning-eligible list applies only to trunk ports. Each trunk port has its own eligibility list. VTP pruning
must be enabled for this procedure to take effect.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 interface interface-id Selects the trunk port for which VLANs should
be pruned, and enters interface configuration
Example:
mode.
Device(config)# interface gigabitethernet
1/0/1-48
Or
Device(config)# interface fastethernet
1/0/1-48

Step 4 switchport trunk pruning vlan {add | except Configures the list of VLANs allowed to be
| none | remove} vlan-list [,vlan [,vlan [,,,]] pruned from the trunk.

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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 Configuring VLAN Trunks
Configuring the Native VLAN for Untagged Traffic

Command or Action Purpose

For explanations about using the add, except,
none, and remove keywords, see the command
reference for this release.
Separate non-consecutive VLAN IDs with a
comma and no spaces; use a hyphen to
designate a range of IDs. Valid IDs are 2 to
1001. Extended-range VLANs (VLAN IDs
1006 to 4094) cannot be pruned.
VLANs that are pruning-ineligible receive
flooded traffic.
The default list of VLANs allowed to be pruned
contains VLANs 2 to 1001.

Step 5 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Step 6 show interfaces interface-id switchport Verifies your entries in the Pruning VLANs
Enabled field of the display.
Example:
Device# show interfaces gigabitethernet
1/0/2 switchport
Or
Device# show interfaces fastethernet
1/0/2 switchport

Step 7 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the

configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config

startup-config

Configuring the Native VLAN for Untagged Traffic

A trunk port configured with IEEE 802.1Q tagging can receive both tagged and untagged traffic. By default,
the switch forwards untagged traffic in the native VLAN configured for the port. The native VLAN is VLAN
1 by default.
The native VLAN can be assigned any VLAN ID.
If a packet has a VLAN ID that is the same as the outgoing port native VLAN ID, the packet is sent untagged;
otherwise, the switch sends the packet with a tag.

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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 Configuring VLAN Trunks
Configuring the Native VLAN for Untagged Traffic

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 interface interface-id Defines the interface that is configured as the

IEEE 802.1Q trunk, and enters interface
Example:
configuration mode.
Device(config)# interface gigabitethernet
1/0/2
Or
Device(config)# interface fastethernet
1/0/2

Step 4 switchport trunk native vlan vlan-id Configures the VLAN that is sending and
receiving untagged traffic on the trunk port.
Example:
For vlan-id, the range is 1 to 4094.
Device(config-if)# switchport trunk
native vlan 12

Step 5 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Step 6 show interfaces interface-id switchport Verifies your entries in the Trunking Native
Mode VLAN field.
Example:
Device# show interfaces gigabitethernet
1/0/2 switchport
Or
Device# show interfaces fastethernet
1/0/2 switchport

Step 7 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the

configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config

startup-config

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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 Configuring VLAN Trunks
Configuring Trunk Ports for Load Sharing

Configuring Trunk Ports for Load Sharing

Configuring Load Sharing Using STP Port Priorities
These steps describe how to configure a network with load sharing using STP port priorities.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 vtp domain domain-name Configures a VTP administrative domain.

Example: The domain name can be 1 to 32 characters.

Device(config)# vtp domain workdomain

Step 4 vtp mode server Configures Switch A as the VTP server.

Example:

Device(config)# vtp mode server

Step 5 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Step 6 show vtp status Verifies the VTP configuration on both Switch
A and Switch B.
Example:
In the display, check the VTP Operating Mode
Device# show vtp status and the VTP Domain Name fields.

Step 7 show vlan Verifies that the VLANs exist in the database
on Switch A.
Example:

Device# show vlan

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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 Configuring VLAN Trunks
Configuring Load Sharing Using STP Port Priorities

Command or Action Purpose

Step 8 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.
Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 9 interface interface-id Defines the interface to be configured as a

trunk, and enters interface configuration mode.
Example:
Device(config)# interface
gigabitethernet 1/0/2
Or
Device(config)# interface fastethernet
1/0/2

Step 10 switchport mode trunk Configures the port as a trunk port.

Example:

Device(config-if)# switchport mode trunk

Step 11 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Device(config)# end

Step 12 show interfaces interface-id switchport Verifies the VLAN configuration.

Example:
Device# show interfaces gigabitethernet
1/0/2 switchport
Or
Device# show interfaces fastethernet
1/0/2 switchport

Step 13 Repeat the above steps on Switch A for a

second port in the switch.
Step 14 Repeat the above steps on Switch B to
configure the trunk ports that connect to the
trunk ports configured on Switch A.
Step 15 show vlan When the trunk links come up, VTP passes the
VTP and VLAN information to Switch B. This
Example:
command verifies that Switch B has learned
the VLAN configuration.
Device# show vlan

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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Configuring VLAN Trunks
Configuring Load Sharing Using STP Port Priorities

Command or Action Purpose

Step 16 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode on Switch
A.
Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 17 interface interface-id Defines the interface to set the STP port
priority, and enters interface configuration
Example:
mode.
Device(config)# interface
gigabitethernet 1/0/1
Or
Device(config)# interface fastethernet
1/0/1

Step 18 spanning-tree vlan vlan-range port-priority Assigns the port priority for the VLAN range
priority-value specified. Enter a port priority value from 0 to
240. Port priority values increment by 16.
Example:

Device(config-if)# spanning-tree vlan

8-10 port-priority 16

Step 19 exit Returns to global configuration mode.

Example:

Device(config-if)# exit

Step 20 interface interface-id Defines the interface to set the STP port
priority, and enters interface configuration
Example:
mode.
Device(config)# interface
gigabitethernet 1/0/2
Or
Device(config)# interface fastethernet
1/0/2

Step 21 spanning-tree vlan vlan-range port-priority Assigns the port priority for the VLAN range
priority-value specified. Enter a port priority value from 0 to
240. Port priority values increment by 16.
Example:

Device(config-if)# spanning-tree vlan

3-6 port-priority 16

Step 22 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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 Configuring VLAN Trunks
Configuring Load Sharing Using STP Path Cost

Command or Action Purpose

Device(config)# end

Step 23 show running-config Verifies your entries.

Example:

Device# show running-config

Step 24 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the

configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config

startup-config

Configuring Load Sharing Using STP Path Cost

These steps describe how to configure a network with load sharing using STP path costs.

Procedure

Command or Action Purpose

Step 1 enable Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Example: • Enter your password if prompted.

Device> enable

Step 2 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 3 interface interface-id Defines the interface to be configured as a

trunk, and enters interface configuration mode.
Example:
Device(config)# interface
gigabitethernet 1/0/1
Or
Device(config)# interface fastethernet
1/0/1

Step 4 switchport mode trunk Configures the port as a trunk port.

Example:

Device(config-if)# switchport mode trunk

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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Configuring VLAN Trunks
Configuring Load Sharing Using STP Path Cost

Command or Action Purpose

Step 5 exit Returns to global configuration mode.

Example:

Device(config-if)# exit

Step 6 Repeat Steps 2 through 4 on a second interface

in Switch A.
Step 7 end Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Example:

Device(config)# end

Step 8 show running-config Verifies your entries. In the display, make sure
that the interfaces are configured as trunk
Example:
ports.
Device# show running-config

Step 9 show vlan When the trunk links come up, Switch A
receives the VTP information from the other
Example:
switches. This command verifies that Switch
A has learned the VLAN configuration.
Device# show vlan

Step 10 configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 11 interface interface-id Defines the interface on which to set the STP
cost, and enters interface configuration mode.
Example:
Device(config)# interface
gigabitethernet 1/0/1
Or
Device(config)# interface fastethernet
1/0/1

Step 12 spanning-tree vlan vlan-range cost cost-value Sets the spanning-tree path cost to 30 for
VLANs 2 through 4.
Example:

Device(config-if)# spanning-tree vlan

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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 Configuring VLAN Trunks
Configuration Examples for VLAN Trunking

Command or Action Purpose

2-4 cost 30

Step 13 end Returns to global configuration mode.

Example:

Device(config-if)# end

Step 14 Repeat Steps 9 through 13 on the other

configured trunk interface on Switch A, and
set the spanning-tree path cost to 30 for
VLANs 8, 9, and 10.
Step 15 exit Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Example:

Device(config)# exit

Step 16 show running-config Verifies your entries. In the display, verify that
the path costs are set correctly for both trunk
Example:
interfaces.
Device# show running-config

Step 17 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Saves your entries in the

configuration file.
Example:

Device# copy running-config

startup-config

Configuration Examples for VLAN Trunking

Example: Configuring a Trunk Port
The following example shows how to configure a port as an IEEE 802.1Q trunk. The example assumes that
the neighbor interface is configured to support IEEE 802.1Q trunking.

Switch# configure terminal

Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
Switch(config)# interface gigabitethernet 1/0/2
Switch(config-if)# switchport mode dynamic desirable
Switch(config-if)# end

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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 Configuring VLAN Trunks
Example: Removing a VLAN from a Port

Example: Removing a VLAN from a Port

This example shows how to remove VLAN 2 from the allowed VLAN list on a port:

Switch(config)# interface gigabitethernet 1/0/1

Switch(config-if)# switchport trunk allowed vlan remove 2
Switch(config-if)# end

Feature History for VLAN Trunks

This table provides release and related information for features explained in this module.
These features are available on all releases subsequent to the one they were introduced in, unless noted
otherwise.

Release Feature Feature Information

Cisco IOS Release 15.2(7)E1 VLAN Trunks A trunk is a point-to-point link between one
or more Ethernet interfaces and another
networking device such as a router or a
controller.

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform and software image support. To access Cisco
Feature Navigator, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/cfn.

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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 Configuring VLAN Trunks
Feature History for VLAN Trunks

Configuring VLAN Trunks

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