18/03/2025 10:12 VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) - GeeksforGeeks
VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP)
Last Updated : 05 Apr, 2023
To carry traffic of a VLAN, it must be first configured on the switch. Suppose, if the user
wants to send a frame from source to destination and the shortest path between them contains
1000 switches. To process a frame of any VLAN, VLANs should be configured first so, have
to configure the same VLANs on all the 1000 switches manually. It will not be possible for
the administrator to do that. Here comes VTP to the rescue.
VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) – VTP is CISCO proprietary protocol used to maintain
consistency throughout the network or the user can say that synchronizing the VLAN
information in the same VTP domain. VTP allows you to add, delete and rename VLANs
which is then propagated to other switches in the VTP domain. VTP advertisements can be
sent over 802.1Q, and ISL trunks.
Requirements – There are some requirements for VTP to communicate VLAN information
between switches. These are:
1. The VTP version must be same on the switches user wants to configure
2. VTP domain name must be same on the switches
3. One of the switches must be a server
4. Authentication should match if applied
VTP modes – There are 3 modes:
Server – The switches are set to this mode by default. This mode allows you to create, add
and delete VLANs. The changes you want to make should be done in this mode. Any
changes that are done on this mode(on a particular switch) will be advertised to all the
switches that are in the same VTP domain. In this mode, the configuration are saved in
NVRAM.
Configuration – User will first make the switch VTP server
Switch# config terminal
Switch(config)#vtp mode server
Now, User has to make a VTP domain and assign a password for authentication.
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Switch(config)#vtp domain geeksforgeeks
Switch(config)#vtp password hardwork
User can verify the configuration by:
Switch(config)#do should vtp password
Switch(config)#do show vtp
Client – In this mode, the switches receive the updates and can also forward the updates to
other switches(which are in the same VTP domain). The updates received here are not
saved in NVRAM so all the configuration will be deleted if the switch is reset or reloaded
i.e the switches will only learn and pass the VTP summary advertisements to the other
switches.
Configuration – As the switches are set to server mode by default, therefore user can
change it to client mode by:
Switch(config)#vtp mode client
Transparent – This mode only forwards the VTP summary advertisements through trunk
link. The transparent mode switches can make their own local database which keep secret
from other switches. The whole purpose of transparent mode is to forward the VTP
summary advertisements but not to take part in the VLAN assignments.
Configuration – User can change the mode to transparent by
Switch(config)#vtp mode transparent
Configuration Revision Number – The configuration revision number is a 32-bit number
that indicates the level of revision for a VTP packet. This configuration number is tracked by
every switch in order to find that the received information is more recent than the current
version. Everytime one modification is done on the VLANs by the server switch, and the
configuration revision number increases by one. The client mode devices receive it and check
if the configuration revision number that they received is latest or not by comparing their own
configuration number with the number received. If the configuration number is greater than
their own number then the devices update their configuration and pass it to other clients of the
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same VTP domain. If the configuration number is the same then the devices just pass it to
other clients of the same VTP domain. User can check the configuration revision number by:
switch(config)#do show vtp status
Use VTP in an Organization: As a matter of course, all switches are designed to be VTP
servers. This design is appropriate for limited-scope networks in which the size of the VLAN
data is little and the data is easily put away in all switches (in NVRAM). In an enormous
organization, the organization chairman should settle on a decision sooner or later, when the
NVRAM stockpiling that is important is inefficient in light of the fact that it is copied on each
switch. Right now, the organization overseer should pick a couple of exceptional switches and
keep them as VTP servers. All the other things that partake in VTP can be transformed into a
client. The quantity of VTP servers should be picked to give the level of overt repetitiveness
that is wanted in the organization.
Contemplations:
1. You can design VLAN(s) without the VTP area name arranged on the switch which runs
Cisco IOS.
2. If another Impetus is joined in the line of two VTP spaces, the new Impetus keeps the
space name of the principal switch that sends it a synopsis ad. The best way to join this
change to another VTP space is to physically set an alternate VTP area name.
3. Dynamic Trunking Convention (DTP) sends the VTP space name in a DTP parcel. Thusly,
in the event that you have two finishes of a connection that have a place with various VTP
spaces, the storage compartment doesn’t come up assuming that you use DTP. In this
unique case, you should design the storage compartment mode as on or negotiate, on the
two sides, to permit the storage compartment to come up without DTP discussion
understanding.
4. If the space has a solitary VTP server and it crashes, the best and most straightforward
method for reestablishing the activity is to change any of the VTP clients in that area to a
VTP server. The arrangement amendment is as yet unchanged in the other clients,
regardless of whether the server crashes. Consequently, VTP works appropriately in the
area.
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