I have:

Cisco Catalyst 3548 XL Switch
12.0.5-WC17(ED) IOS
Console cable
USB to Comport

Lets start to configure the switch!

Basic Configuration:

In this tutorial we are going to configure the following things:

1. Securing the configuration modes and ports
2. Making a banner

1 – Securing the configuration modes and ports

When it comes to basic password security, there are three basic types:

• Line Passwords
• Privileged mode Passwords (enable mode)
• Username Passwords (optional)

At the switch prompt, type en to enter enable mode.

Switch>en
 Switch#

Enter the configure terminal mode, by typing conf t.

Switch# conf t
 Switch(config)#

Set the Secret Password

Switch(config)#enable secret <new_secret_password>

Set the Enable Password

Switch(config)#enable password <new_enable_password>

Set the VTY Password

Sw1(config)#line vty 0 15
Sw1(config-line)#password <new_vty_password>
Sw1(config-line)#login

Set the Console password

Switch(config-line)#line con 0
 Switch(config-line)#password <new_console_password>

2 – Making the banner

Stay in the configure terminal mode (conf t)

type the following command

Switch(Config)# banner motd #
 ******************************************
 * Unauthorized access prohibited
 ******************************************
 #

Thats all folks the basic configuration of a switch! Not that hard!