Configuring CUCME from the Ground Up: Network Configuration

I know that Cisco has a very nice SRND & Administration Guide for CUCME, but I have found at time searching through them can be a little challenging when you are just wanting to get your equipment up and running so your phones can register. I am not sure how many parts this series of posts will include, but I am planning on starting with a new router with no configuration and going from there.

Here is the equipment I will be using during this series of articles:

2811ISR router running IOS c2800nm-spservicesk9-mz.124-24.T2
Catalyst 3550 switch running IOS c3550-i5q3l2-mz.121-22.EA8
Cisco 7940 IP phone
Cisco 7912 IP phone
Cisco 7970 IP phone
Laptop for a TFTP server, also running Cisco IP Communicator

Step 1: Configure the routers hostname

This is a very basic and simple step, but also very important. This will help you identify your equipment very easily when you are swapping your console cable back and forth between devices.

Router>enable
Router#config t
Router(config)#hostname HQ-CUCME
HQ-CUCME(config)#^Z
HQ-CUCME#

Step 2: Configure Router Interfaces

On this particular router, I have two FastEthernet interfaces. One I will configure as a trunk port for switch connectivity, and the other I will configure for direct access to my laptop. For the time being, I will be using this connection to transfer files back and for via TFTP.

FastEthernet 0/0 Configuration:

This interface will be the trunk port between the router and the switch. This is also where I will be configuring the Data and Voice VLANs. I will be utilizing Vlan 25 for voice and Vlan 50 for data.

HQ-CUCME#conf t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
HQ-CUCME(config)#interface FastEthernet 0/0
HQ-CUCME(config-if)#duplex full
HQ-CUCME(config-if)#speed 100
HQ-CUCME(config-if)#no shut
HQ-CUCME(config-if)#interface FastEthernet 0/0.25
HQ-CUCME(config-subif)#description Voice VLAN
HQ-CUCME(config-subif)#encapsulation dot1Q 25
HQ-CUCME(config-subif)#ip address 192.168.25.254 255.255.255.0
HQ-CUCME(config-subif)#interface FastEthernet 0/0.50
HQ-CUCME(config-subif)#description Data VLAN
HQ-CUCME(config-subif)#encapsulation dot1Q 50
HQ-CUCME(config-subif)#ip address 192.168.50.254 255.255.255.0
HQ-CUCME(config-subif)#^Z
HQ-CUCME#

FastEthernet 0/1 Configuration:

This interface really won’t have much of a purpose down the line. But for now, I will be giving it an IP address so I can connect my laptop to TFTP files to the router.

HQ-CUCME#conf t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
HQ-CUCME(config)#interface FastEthernet 0/1
HQ-CUCME(config-if)#description TFTP/Laptop Access
HQ-CUCME(config-if)#ip address 192.168.4.254 255.255.255.0
HQ-CUCME(config-if)#duplex full
HQ-CUCME(config-if)#speed 100
HQ-CUCME(config-if)#^Z
HQ-CUCME#

Step 3: Configuring the DHCP Pools

Since I don’t have this router connected to any type of network, and I don’t want to take the time to hard code IP addresses into the phones, I will have the router provide DHCP to all attached devices.

HQ-CUCME#conf t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
HQ-CUCME(config)#ip dhcp pool Data_Devices
HQ-CUCME(dhcp-config)#network 192.168.50.0 255.255.255.0
HQ-CUCME(dhcp-config)#default-router 192.168.50.254
HQ-CUCME(dhcp-config)#dns-server 4.2.2.2
HQ-CUCME(dhcp-config)#ip dhcp pool Voice_Devices
HQ-CUCME(dhcp-config)#network 192.168.25.0 255.255.255.0
HQ-CUCME(dhcp-config)#default-router 192.168.25.254
HQ-CUCME(dhcp-config)#option 150 ip 192.168.25.254
HQ-CUCME(dhcp-config)#^Z
HQ-CUCME#

Step 4: Switch Configuration

With the initial network configuration complete on the router, we will not turn our attention to the connected switch. There isn’t much configuration that is necessary so this will be pretty brief. The only things we have to configure are the switch’s hostname, the access ports, and the one trunk port connecting to the router.

Configuring the Hostname:

Nothing different here, same as for the router.

Switch>enable
Switch#config t
Switch(config)#hostname HQ-IPTSW1
HQ-IPTSW1(config)#^Z
HQ-IPTSW1#

Configuring the Trunk Connection to the Router:

Also nothing too complicated here. I am using the same encapsulation as I did on the router, dot1q. I am also hard coding the switch port mode to trunk as well as the speed/duplex to 100/full.

HQ-IPTSW1#conf t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
HQ-IPTSW1(config)#interface FastEthernet 0/24
HQ-IPTSW1(config-if)#switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q
HQ-IPTSW1(config-if)#switchport mode trunk
HQ-IPTSW1(config-if)#speed 100
HQ-IPTSW1(config-if)#duplex full
HQ-IPTSW1(config-if)#^Z
HQ-IPTSW1#

Configuring the Switch Ports:

I have 23 ports left to configure for the connections to various voice and data devices. I don’t want to have to worry about what is going to be connected to what port, so I will be configuring each port to be in both VLANs.

HQ-IPTSW1#conf t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
HQ-IPTSW1(config)#vlan 50
HQ-IPTSW1(config-vlan)#name Data_Devices
HQ-IPTSW1(config-vlan)#vlan 25
HQ-IPTSW1(config-vlan)#name Voice_Devices
HQ-IPTSW1(config)#interface range FastEthernet 0/1 - 23
HQ-IPTSW1(config-if-range)#switchport access vlan 50
HQ-IPTSW1(config-if-range)#switchport mode access
HQ-IPTSW1(config-if-range)#switchport voice vlan 25
HQ-IPTSW1(config-if-range)#spanning-tree portfast
HQ-IPTSW1(config-if-range)#^Z
HQ-IPTSW1#write memory

After you have all of this completed, you should be able to plug in your phones, and get an IP address. Keep in mind this is a very basic network configuration just to get you up and running.

In the next portion of this series, I will enable a basic CME on the router, upload all of the necessary files from the TFTP server to the router’s flash, and configure the phones so they will be assigned an extension.