Cisco

Cisco CBS350

Controls Cisco CBS350 switches via SNMP: read the VLAN of each port, change the access VLAN of a port, switch ports between access and trunk mode, control PoE, and recall complete port layouts (profiles).

Tested on a CBS350-8P-2G with firmware 3.5.3.2.

Prerequisite: enable SNMP on the switch

SNMP is disabled by factory default. The module needs SNMP enabled and an SNMP v2c community with Read-Write access. Choose one of the two methods below.

Web interface

1. Log in to the switch web interface.

2. In the page header, switch the Display Mode from Basic to Advanced. In Basic mode, the SNMP menu is hidden.

3. Security > TCP/UDP Services: check SNMP Service, then click Apply.

4. SNMP > Communities: click Add, then set:

   • SNMP Management Station: User Defined with the IP address of the Companion computer (recommended), or All
   • Community String: a name of your choice, e.g. companion
   • Basic, Access Mode: Read Write (leave View Name unchecked)

5. Click Apply.

   

6. Click the Save icon at the top of the page so the settings survive a reboot.

CLI (SSH or console)

configure terminal
snmp-server server
snmp-server community companion rw 192.168.1.10
end
write memory

Replace companion with your community name and 192.168.1.10 with the IP address of the Companion computer. Without the IP address, any device can use the community.

SNMP v2c sends the community in clear text, and a Read-Write community allows changing the switch configuration. Restrict it to the Companion IP address and keep the switch management on a trusted network.

Configuration

• Switch IP: management IP address of the switch.
• SNMP v2c community (Read-Write): the community created above.
• Polling interval: how often the switch state is read (default 10 s).
• Save running-config to startup-config after each change: when checked, every change is saved immediately. When unchecked, changes stay in the running-config until the Save config action is used, and are lost if the switch reboots.
• Protected ports: ports that are never modified, reset or power-cycled by the module, e.g. the uplinks 9,10. Protect at least the port that connects the switch to Companion.
• Profiles 1-8: name and content of the profile slots (see Profiles below).

Presets

The presets work with a selected port: press a port button first, then the buttons of the VLANs and Selected port sections act on that port. The Ports and VLANs presets are generated from the switch, so they appear once the module has read it.

Quick start

1. Press a Ports button to select a port.
2. Press a VLANs button to move the selected port to that VLAN.
3. Press Save config when you want to keep the changes (it turns orange when there are unsaved changes).

Ports: one button per port, showing the port name and its VLAN (1013 for an access port, T 1 for a trunk with native VLAN 1). Pressing it selects the port.

Color	Meaning
Red	Link down
Green	Link up
Yellow text	Link up below 1 Gb/s (100 Mb/s device, bad cable...)
Grey	Port disabled (shutdown)
Orange	Selected port (takes priority over the other colors)

VLANs: one button per VLAN of the switch, showing its id and name. Pressing it puts the selected port in access mode on that VLAN (also from trunk mode). The button is light blue when the selected port is on that VLAN.

Selected port

Preset	Shows	On press	Colors
Selected port info	Port name and speed, VLAN name, LLDP neighbor	-	Red = link down, green = up, yellow text = below 1 Gb/s
Description	Port name and description	-	-
LLDP neighbor	Name of the connected device and its port	-	-
TRUNK	-	Trunk mode, all VLANs tagged, native VLAN 1	White when the port is a trunk
ACCESS	-	Back to access mode on the previous access VLAN	White when the port is in access mode
Reset Link	-	Shut / no shut, the device renews its DHCP lease	-
Reset PoE	-	Cuts the PoE power for 5 s to restart the device	-
PoE on/off	PoE state and power	Toggles PoE (off is power inline never)	Dark green = PoE on, green = delivering power, grey = off or no PoE
Port enable/disable	Whether the port is enabled	Toggles the port (disabled is shutdown)	Green = enabled, grey = disabled

To use another native VLAN for TRUNK, or another power off duration for Reset PoE, edit the action options of the button.

Profiles: one select button per profile slot, showing the profile name, plus STORE and RECALL buttons acting on the selected slot (see Profiles below).

Preset	On press	Colors
Profile 1 to 8	Selects the profile slot	Orange = selected, blue = the switch matches the profile
STORE	Stores the current layout of all non-protected ports in the selected slot	-
RECALL	Applies the selected profile	Blue when the switch already matches the profile

Switch: Save config saves the running-config to the startup-config (write memory). It is orange when the module made changes that are not saved yet.

Actions

Most port actions exist for a given port and for the selected port.

• Select port
• Set access VLAN: puts the port in access mode on the VLAN, also from trunk mode.
• Set mode (access/trunk): access keeps the previous access VLAN; trunk carries all VLANs tagged, with a selectable native (untagged) VLAN.
• Reset link (shut / no shut): renews the link, which forces the device to renew its DHCP lease.
• Reset PoE: power-cycles the connected device (PoE off for a configurable duration, then on).
• Set PoE: on / off / toggle. Off is power inline never.
• Enable / disable: on / off / toggle. Disable is shutdown.
• Set description: port description, supports variables. Empty clears it.
• Apply profile, Select / Store / Recall / Rename profile: see Profiles below.
• Save running-config to startup-config
• Refresh status

The VLAN changing actions also have a Reset link after change option.

Profiles

A profile describes the VLAN of several ports, one entry per line or comma separated:

Port 5=1013, Port 6=1013, Port 7=1012, Port 3=T1

<port>=<vlan> puts the port in access mode on that VLAN, <port>=T<vlan> in trunk mode with that native VLAN. The port can also be written 5 or gi5.

• Profile slots: 8 slots are stored in the module configuration. Select a slot with its preset button, then press STORE to save the current layout of all non-protected ports into it, or RECALL to apply it. The slot buttons are orange when selected and blue when the switch matches the profile. Slots can be renamed with an action or edited by hand in the module configuration.
• Apply profile: applies a profile typed in the action.

A profile is validated entirely before being applied: if an entry refers to an unknown port, a protected port or a VLAN that does not exist, nothing is changed and the reason is logged. Ports already in the right state are skipped.

Feedbacks

• Port: selected, link up, enabled, link speed below, on VLAN, mode, PoE (enabled / delivering power)
• The same for the selected port
• Profile active, profile slot active, profile slot selected, selected profile active
• Unsaved changes on the switch

Variables

• model_name, system_name, port_count, unsaved_changes (Yes/No), last_save
• current_profile: current port layout in profile syntax
• selected_port_id, selected_profile, selected_profile_name, profile_N_name, profile_N
• Per port (port_N_..., N = port number) and for the selected port (selected_port_...):
  • name, alias (description), status (Up/Down), enabled (Yes/No), speed (1G/100M/10M)
  • mode (access/trunk), vlan (native VLAN for trunks), vlan_name, summary (1013 for access, T 1 for a trunk with native VLAN 1)
  • poe (delivering/searching/fault/off), poe_power (e.g. 3.1 W)
  • neighbor, neighbor_port: device connected to the port, from LLDP

Notes

• Only VLANs that exist on the switch can be assigned (the switch itself would silently accept unknown VLANs).
• The PoE state fault is also reported for devices that are not PoE powered.
• Unsaved changes only tracks the changes made by this module, not the ones made in the switch web interface or CLI.