How do I activate PoE on a port of a Cisco Catalyst 2960-S switch?

To enable Power over Ethernet (PoE) on a port on a Cisco Catalyst 2960-S switch, which supports both IEEE 802.3af and IEEE 802.3at PoE+, you'll need to use the Cisco IOS command-line interface (CLI). Here are the step-by-step instructions to configure PoE on a specific port:

1. Connect to the Switch:

   • Use a console cable to connect your computer to the switch, or connect through Telnet or SSH if network access is configured.

2. Enter Global Configuration Mode:

   • After logging into the switch, enter the global configuration mode by typing:

     enable
     configure terminal
     

3. Select the Interface:

   • Choose the interface (port) where you want to enable PoE. For example, if you're configuring port number 5, you would enter:

     interface FastEthernet0/5
     

   • Replace FastEthernet0/5 with the actual interface identifier if different, such as GigabitEthernet1/0/5 depending on your switch model.

4. Enable Power Inline:

   • To enable PoE on the interface, use the following command:

     power inline auto
     

   • This command sets the port to automatically detect and supply power to a connected PoE device. If you know the exact power requirements, you can also specify power inline static max <wattage> where <wattage> is the power in watts that you want to allocate.

5. Save Configuration:

   • To save the configuration and ensure it persists after a reboot, exit to the privileged EXEC mode and save your settings:

     end
     write memory
     

   • Alternatively, you can use copy running-config startup-config.

6. Verify PoE Status:

   • You can check the status of PoE on the port to ensure it is enabled and operating correctly by using:

     show power inline [interface]
     

   • Replace [interface] with the actual interface name if you want to check a specific port, or omit it to see all ports.

These steps should help you successfully enable PoE on your Cisco Catalyst 2960-S switch for a specific port. Make sure that the connected device supports PoE and that the total power requirements of all connected devices do not exceed the switch's power capacity.