About This Guide

This section describes the objectives, audience, organization, and conventions of the Access and Communication Servers Getting Started Guide. For information about related publications, refer to the Documentation Roadmap.

Document Objectives

This guide describes the setup command facility and its role within the installation and configuration process. The setup command facility is a specially designed user interface for performing first-time configuration and other basic configuration procedures on all server products, including ASM-CS and 500-CS communication servers and Cisco 2500 access servers.

The guide helps you get your server product up and running quickly and uneventfully by providing preinstallation information, hardware installation information, and detailed procedures for configuration planning, first-time startup, and configuration implementation.

If you plan to set up your access or communication server to function with protocol translation, use this book in conjunction with the Protocol Translation Configuration Guide and Command Reference publication.

Note In many places throughout this book, the term server product appears. This term refers globally to communication server (ASM-CS and 500-CS) and access server (Cisco 2500) products. If you have a Cisco 2500 model that supports routing only, refer to the Router Products Getting Started Guide.

Audience

The Access and Communication Servers Getting Started Guide is for customers who are responsible for the initial setup and configuration of their server product. These users may have little or no experience with communication or access servers. They could be completely new to networking, or they could be familiar with basic concepts and terminology. However, this guide assumes that users

Understand the purpose for which their server product was purchased
Know which protocols they will route
Are familiar with the interfaces they will use
Know whether they will use bridging
Know how their asynchronous lines will be used

This guide complements the Access and Communication Servers Configuration Guide, the Access and Communication Servers Command Reference, and the Cisco Access Connection Guide. References to these publications are made where appropriate.

Document Organization

The organization of this guide reinforces the ease-of-use of the setup command facility and reflects the order in which you perform the tasks. It is organized as a step-by-step planning tool that walks you through the process of setting up your server product for the first time. Use the worksheets as planning and information-gathering tools. To make advanced configuration changes to your server product, refer to the Access and Communication Servers Configuration Guide and the Access and Communication Servers Command Reference publications. To make advanced configuration changes to router functionality on the Cisco 2500, refer to the Router Products Configuration Guide and the Router Products Command Reference publications.

The guide is organized as follows:

Chapter 1, "Overview," provides a general description of the hardware installation and software configuration process.
Chapter 2, "Preparing for First-Time Startup," helps you plan your configuration by providing worksheets and instructions for filling out the worksheets.
Chapter 3, "First-Time Startup," explains how to use the worksheets to run through a setup session.
Chapter 4, "Where to Go from Here," provides information about using the setup command facility to alter a basic configuration after first-time startup; how and when to use the streamlined setup command facility; and where to find advanced configuration information.
Appendix A, "Blank Worksheets," provides blank worksheets to complete during the planning phase and to use during a setup command facility session.

Document Conventions

This document uses the following conventions to convey instructions and information:

Ctrl- represents the key labeled Control. For example, the key combination Ctrl-C means hold down the Control key while you press the C key.
A string is defined as a nonquoted set of characters. For example, when setting up a community string for SNMP to "public," do not use quotes around the string, or the string will include the quotation marks.

Command descriptions use these conventions:

Vertical bars ( | ) separate alternative, mutually exclusive, elements.
Square brackets ([ ]) indicate optional elements.
Braces ({ }) indicate a required choice.
Braces within square brackets ([{ }]) indicate a required choice within an optional element.
Boldface indicates commands and keywords that are entered literally as shown.
Italics indicate arguments for which you supply values; in contexts that do not allow italics, arguments are enclosed in angle brackets (< >).

Examples use these conventions:

Terminal sessions and information the system displays are in screen font.
Information you enter is in boldface screen font.
Nonprinting characters, such as passwords, are in angle brackets (< >).
Default responses to system prompts are in square brackets ([ ]).
Exclamation points (!) at the beginning of a line indicate a comment line.
Examples that contain system prompts denote interactive sessions, indicating that the user enters commands at the prompt. The system prompt indicates the current command mode. For example, the prompt cs(config)# indicates global configuration mode.

Caution Means reader be careful. You are performing a task during which you might do something that could result in equipment damage or loss of data.

Note Means reader take note. Notes contain helpful suggestions or references to materials not contained in this manual.

Table of Contents

About This Guide

Document Objectives

Audience

Document Organization

Document Conventions