A Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) allows you to logically segment a Local Area Network (LAN) into different broadcast domains. In scenarios where sensitive data may be broadcast on a network, VLANs can be created to enhance security by designating a broadcast to a specific VLAN. Only users that belong to a VLAN are able to access and manipulate the data on that VLAN. VLANs can also be used to enhance performance by reducing the need to send broadcasts and multicasts to unnecessary destinations.
Networking devices on which multiple protocols are running cannot be grouped to a common VLAN. Non-standard devices are used to pass traffic between different VLANs in order to include the devices participating in a specific protocol. For this reason, you cannot take advantage of the many features of VLAN.
VLAN groups are used to load balance the traffic on a Layer 2 network. The packets are distributed with respect to different classifications and are assigned to VLANs. Many different classifications exist, and if more than one classification scheme is defined, the packets are assigned to the VLAN in this order:
To configure VLAN groups on your switch, follow these guidelines:
1. Create the VLANs. To learn how to configure the VLAN settings on your switch through the web-based utility, click here. For CLI-based instructions, click here.
2. Configure interfaces to VLANs. For instructions on how to assign interfaces to VLANs through the web-based utility of your switch, click here. For CLI-based instructions, click here.
Note: If the interface does not belong to the VLAN, the MAC-based groups to VLAN configuration setting will not take effect.
3. Configure MAC-based VLAN groups on your switch. For instructions on how to configure MAC-based VLAN Groups through the web-based utility of your switch, click here.
4. (Optional) You can also configure the following:
The MAC-based VLAN classification enables packets to be classified according to their source MAC address. You can then define MAC-to-VLAN mapping per interface. You can also define several MAC-based VLAN groups, which each group containing different MAC addresses. These MAC-based groups can be assigned to specific ports or LAGs. MAC-based VLAN groups cannot contain overlapping ranges of MAC addresses on the same port.
Forwarding of packets based on the MAC addresses of the devices requires setting up groups of MAC addresses and then mapping these groups to VLANs. You can configure up to 256 MAC addresses, host or range, which can be mapped to one or many MAC-based VLAN groups.
This article provides instructions on how to configure MAC-based groups on a switch through the CLI.
Step 1. Log in to the switch console. The default username and password is cisco/cisco. If you have configured a new username or password, enter the credentials instead.
Note: The commands may vary depending on the exact model of your switch. In this example, the CBS350 switch is accessed through Telnet.
Step 2. From the Privileged EXEC mode of the switch, enter the Global Configuration mode by entering the following:
CBS350#configureStep 3. In the Global Configuration mode, configure a MAC-based classification rule by entering the following:
CBS350(config)#vlan databaseStep 4. To map a MAC address or range of MAC addresses to a group of MAC addresses, enter the following:
CBS350(config-vlan)#map mac [mac-address][prefix-mask | host]macs-group [group-id]The options are:
Step 5. To exit the Interface Configuration context, enter the following:
CBS350(config-vlan)#exitYou should now have configured the MAC-based VLAN groups on your switch through the CLI.
Step 1. In the Global Configuration mode, enter the Interface Configuration context by entering the following:
CBS350#interface [interface-id | range interface-range]The options are:
Step 2. In the Interface Configuration context, use the switchport mode command to configure the VLAN membership mode:
CBS350(config-if)#switchport mode generalStep 3. (Optional) To return the port to the default VLAN, enter the following:
CBS350(config-if)#no switchport mode generalStep 4. To configure a MAC-based classification rule, enter the following:
CBS350(config-if)#switchport general map macs-group [group] vlan [vlan-id]The options are:
Step 5. To exit the Interface Configuration context, enter the following:
CBS350(config-if)#exitStep 6. (Optional) To remove the classification rule from the port or range of ports, enter the following:
CBS350(config-if)#no switchport general map mac-groups groupStep 7. (Optional) Repeat steps 1 to 6 to configure more general ports and assign to the corresponding MAC-based VLAN groups.
Step 8. Enter the end command to go back to the Privileged EXEC mode:
CBS350(config-if-range)#endYou should now have mapped MAC-based VLAN groups to the VLANs on your switch through the CLI.
Step 1. To display the MAC addresses that belong to the defined MAC-based classification rules, enter the following in the Privileged EXEC mode:
CBS350#show vlan macs-groupsStep 2. (Optional) To display the classification rules of a specific port on the VLAN, enter the following:
CBS350#show interfaces switchport [interface-id]Note: Each port mode has its own private configuration. The show interfaces switchport command displays all these configurations, but only the port mode configuration that corresponds to the current port mode displayed in Administrative Mode area is active.
Step 3. (Optional) In the Privileged EXEC mode of the switch, save the configured settings to the startup configuration file, by entering the following:
CBS350#copy running-config startup-configStep 4. (Optional) Press Y for Yes or N for No on your keyboard once the Overwrite file [startup-config]… prompt appears.
You should now have displayed the MAC-based VLAN group and port configuration settings on your switch.
Important: To proceed with configuring the VLAN group settings on your switch, follow the guidelines above.
Revision | Publish Date | Comments |
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1.0 |
17-Jul-2020 |
Initial Release |