Need help with Cisco Catalyst Express 500 switch trunking to 3560G switch

I was hoping someone could help me out with an issue I'm having concerning Cisco Catalyst Express 500 series switches and trunking. I have a Cisco 3560G switch configured with VLANs and I have a trunk port connected via fiber from the 3560G switch to a Cisco Catalyst Express 500 switch. I have reset the Catalyst Express 500 switch back to default settings and wiped the config. I then went into the initial setup on the 500 switch and configured both the fiber ports on the 500 switch to the "Switch" SmartPort role using the GUI. I left the other ports as "Access" ports. The 500 series switch is showing that the trunk connection to the 3560 switch is up, the link is good, and the speed is 1000 Mbps on the trunk link back to the 3560.

The problem is that the 500 series switch is not picking up the VLAN information from the 3560 switch, even with the fiber ports set to the "Switch" role in the Smartport settings. I can plug my laptop directly into the 3560 series switch, set my NIC to DHCP, and get an IP address from the 3560. However, when I plug my laptop into the 500 series switch I don't get an IP address via DHCP. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I think the 500 series switch is not picking up the VLAN information from the 3560, even though the trunk link appears to be up and working between the two switches. All ports on the 500 series switch are members of VLAN 1. The Native VLAN on the 500 is VLAN1, but I'm not sure what it is on the 3560. Could this be a Native VLAN mismatch between the two switches?

What do I need to do on the 500 series switch to get it to pick up the VLAN info from the 3560 switch? I know that the 500 switch only supports Transparent Mode, but is this what's causing the problem or could it be a Native VLAN mismatch? Would changing the Smartport role of the trunking port on the 500 switch to something other than "Switch" fix this issue? If so, what should I change it to? Would changing the Smartport role of the trunk connection port on the 500 switch from "Switch" to "Router" or "Server" fix this problem?

Thanks very much to anyone who is able to give me any advice on this.

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Comments

networker050184

How is the switch supposed to pick up the VLANs if it only supports transparent mode? Are you familiar with how VLANs are automatically propagated?

dead_p00l

I haven't worked with the 500 series switch but if it ONLY supports VTP transparent mode then you would have to manually add the vlans that you want to the switch I would think.

MAC_Addy

Change the 500 switch to VTP client mode.

AD227529

Is client mode even an option on the Catalyst Express 500 switches? I looked for that option in the setup, but couldn't find it, and from what I found on Cisco's website it only supports Transparent Mode. Would changing the Smartport roles to something other than "Switch" on the trunk port enable it to change from Transparent mode to Client mode?

networker050184

I'm finding the same info as you that it only supports transparent. Looks like you need to manually configure the VLANs.

AD227529

Thanks guys! I'll manually configure the VLANs and get back to you. Was hoping there was a way to change the 500 to Client mode, but I don't believe there is.

boolve

And? Just only option to configure vlans you found with Cisco C express500 switch? And how that switch is for CCNA certificate is plus to use for home network?