First things first, here are the list of items you would need to do so.
1.
PC (You can use a desktop or a laptop, but for this guide I will be using my personal laptop, but either one would suffice for this task.)
2.
USB to serial Converter
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| Picture of the Converter taken from the top. |
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| Serial side of the converter (To be connected to the Serial Cable) |
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| USB side of the converter (To be connected to the PC) |
3. Serial Cables.
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| A picture of what a Serial Cable would look like, with its head/connectors. |
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| The picture on top is showing a serial connector, whereas the bottom picture is showing a RJ45 head (Commonly known as Ethernet Head) |
4.
PuTTY (Serial connection Software)
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| The "PuTTY" Software Logo |
You can download the PuTTY software from
here.
Once you have downloaded, installed and run the "PuTTY" software, you should be able to see something like this.
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| This is the "PuTTY" interface |
Next, ensure that you have your USB to Serial Converter inserted into any USB port on your computer. The driver would take about 1- 3 minutes to install by itself.
The following step would require you to identify your COM Port number once the driver has been installed.
You have to first enter the "Device Manager" of your computer, to do so hit the "Start / Windows Button" and search "Device manager", from there you should be able to identify the COM Port number of your USB.
Please note that not all COM port numbers will be assigned the same for all PC devices. For instance, I could be assigned COM3 , whereas your PC could have been assigned COM7.
Another thing which I have noticed as well is that, each USB individual Port for your own device will each have a unique COM Port number. So it is always good to double check on your device manager before proceeding.
Once you have successfully identified your COM Port number, you will have to ensure that the physical connection are set and ready. Ensure the connection between your PC and the Cisco product has been established, as shown here.
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| Overall Connection between your PC and the Cisco Device |
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Physical Connection of the USB - PC Side
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| On the Cisco Device, lookout for the Port which is labeled as "Console" such as this one. |
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| Physical Connection of the RJ45 - Cisco Device Side |
Once the physical connection has been made, you can return back to the Putty Software and follow these instructions to access your Cisco Device.
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When the program first starts, you will see a window like this.
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| Click on the radio button that says Serial and you would be able to see the following interface and options. |
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| Be sure to key in the correct COM Port number (for this example I have used COM3, because that is my correct COM port) and click on Open to establish the Serial connection. |
Reminder: If you do not get the COM Port Number right, you will be unable to access the Cisco Device and will receive the following error message.
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| Error message on incorrect COM port number. |
A Successful Connection should look something like this.
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| PuTTY Console screen upon successfully connecting the COM port to the Cisco device. |
If you are able to see this screen, congratulation ! this means that you have successfully establish Console connection to the Cisco Device, or that you have successfully configured the COM port and it is ready to connect to a Cisco Device.
