What type of cable is used to connect to the console of a Cisco router or switch?

What type of cable is used to connect to the console of a Cisco router or switch?

Cisco console cable

Rollover cable (also known as a Yost cable, Cisco cable, or a Console cable) is a type of null-modem cable that is used to connect a computer terminal to a router's console port. This cable is typically flat (and has a light blue color) to help distinguish it from other types of network cabling. It gets the name rollover because the pinouts on one end are reversed from the other, as if the wire had been rolled over and you were viewing it from the other side.

This cabling system was invented to eliminate the differences in RS-232 wiring systems. Any two RS-232 systems can be directly connected by a standard rollover cable and a standard connector. For legacy equipment, an adapter is permanently attached to the legacy port.

See also[edit]

  • 8P8C
  • Serial cable
  • RS-232

References[edit]

  • Cisco: Cabling Guide for Console and AUX Ports Document ID: 12223
  • Zonker's Cisco Console Server Connections Guide
  • Dave Yost Serial Device Wiring Standard
  • What type of cable is used to connect to the console of a Cisco router or switch?
    Media related to Rollover cable at Wikimedia Commons

Every Cisco router or switch has a single console port that is used to connect it to a computer directly for configuration and management. A console cable or a rollover cable is used to connect to the router or switch console port and is typically used during initial configuration as there is no network connection and remote access, such as Telnet, SSH, or HTTPS, configured on the device yet.

A terminal emulation software, such as Putty, is also needed to connect to the device. It is used so that we can use a PC or a laptop as a display device for the router or switch and have access to the device’s Command Line Interface (CLI). The software is essential as we need them to be able to configure devices initially and to be able to install routers and switches onto the network and enable remote management. You should connect your device via the COM port on your computer. You can check your COM port via the device manager.

Console Port

Console Cable

The rollover cable is an RJ45 on one end and a DB9 on the other. It is the most popular console cable for older devices. You can still use it, but you’ll need an adapter if you don’t have a serial port on your device. Usually, you’ll use a DB9 to USB adapter to connect to your PC or laptop. Nowadays, there’s a direct RJ45 to USB console cable available in the market. Newer Cisco devices, usually the smaller and portable ones, have mini USB console ports. The console cable for it has a mini USB for the console port and a USB on the other end.

Console Port Configuration

With the console port, administrators can access the terminal lines of the Cisco devices’ IOS. However, this can be a potential threat in our networks because anyone can access the device freely, or a user can access the device by using the same password locally stored on the device. There is no authentication for the users.

A router or switch has one console port only. The console port has a line number of 0, thus ‘line console 0’. To secure the console port connections to our networking device, we can set a password by issuing the following commands below. In this way, we can secure our console port by requiring a password upon logging in.

Router(config)#line console 0
Router(config-line)#password StudyCCNA
Router(config-line)#login

NOTE
The management port is used for remote access only. The console port is used for local and physical access.


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What type of cable is used to connect to a Cisco console port?

The console port is an asynchronous RS-232 serial port with an RJ-45 connector. You can use the RJ-45 rollover cable and the RJ-45/DSUB F/F adapter or the DB-9F/RJ-45F PC terminal adapter to connect the console port to a computer running terminal emulation software.

What type of cable can be used to connect a Cisco router to switch?

Normal Ethernet Cables This type of cable is a “regular” or straight-through cable. You use this type of cable to connect a PC to a hub/switch or a router to a switch. You should also know that there are two standards for how the colors are arranged on this cable.

What is console cable in Cisco?

Rollover cable (also known as a Yost cable, Cisco cable, or a Console cable) is a type of null-modem cable that is used to connect a computer terminal to a router's console port. This cable is typically flat (and has a light blue color) to help distinguish it from other types of network cabling.

What type of cable is needed to connect the console port of a router to the serial port of PC?

RJ-45 to RJ-45 Rollover Cable The RJ-45 rollover cable forms the core of the connection between the router's console port and your computer's serial port.