IOS vs. CatOS: Basic Configuration

CatOS

CatOS is the operating system used on Cisco's Catalyst switches before changing over to IOS. Before purchasing the technology from Crescendo in 1993, CatOS was called XDI. CatOS is a Unix-like operating system for many legacy Cisco switches. CatOS runs on the following switch series: 1200, 4000, 4500, 5000, 5500, 6000 and 6500. Some of the high end switches such as the Catalyst 6500 series still run CatOS.

On this page we will be comparing two switches; a Catalyst 2960 running IOS and a Catalyst 4006 running CatOS.

Commands

In IOS, the user is required to issue a command to save to NVRAM.

Commands entered in CatOS are committed to NVRAM instantaneously.

IOS uses different configuration modes, depending on what your currently configuring. All configurations in CatOS are done by a set command sequence. For example - if you wanted to turn a port on in IOS, you would first need to be in priviledged exec -> global configuration -> and move into interface configuration, then issue the no shutdown command. In CatOS you would need to be in priviledged mode, then issue the set port enable "mod/port".

In CatOS there are 2 configuration modes. User Mode and Priviledged Mode (enable)

User mode is used for system monitoring. Priviledged (enable) mode is used to change system configurations. All configurations in CatOS are done by a set command sequence.

	IOS Command	CatOS Command
Privileged	Enable	Enable
Interface	(config-t)interface int (which puts you into interface configuration mode)	(enable)set port command mod/port
Set Console Password	(config-line)password password	(enable)set password (you will be prompted to change password)
Turn on ports	(config-if)no shutdown	(enable)set port enable mod/port
Turn off ports	(config-if)shutdown	(enable)set port disable mod/port
Banner-MOTD	(config-t)banner-motd # banner here #	(enable)set banner motd # banner here #
Clear Banner	(config-t)	(enable)clear banner motd
System / Hostname	(config)hostname name	(enable)set system name name
Set Idle Logout time	(config-t)	(enable)set logout time (in minutes)
Bandwidth	(config-if)bandwidth number in kb	(enable)set port speed speed in megabits
Setting up a domain name for VTP	(config-t)vtp domain domain-name	(enable)set vtp domain domain-name
Enabling VLANS	(config-t)vlan number (will put switch into sub-config mode, but the vlan will become active)	(enable)set vlan number state active
VLAN names	(config-vlan)name name	(enable)set vlan vlan number name name
Delete VLANS	(config-t)no vlan number	(enable)clear vlan number
Enabling Trunking	(config-int)switchport mode trunk	(enable)set trunk mod_num/port_num [on/off/desirable/auto/nonegotiate] [vlan_range] [isl/dot1q/dot10/lane/negotiate]
Clear Trunking	(config-int)no switchport mode trunk	(enable)clear trunk mod/port vlan range
Delete files from Flash Device	(enable)delete flash:filename	(enable)delete bootflash:filename
Spanning-Tree	(config-t)spanning-tree vlan	(enable)set spantree enable all

Troubleshooting

	IOS Command	CatOS Command
	Ping
	tracert
	show ip route
	show int int
	show run
	copy run start
	erase start

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== WIP ==