A VLAN trunk is an OSI Layer 2 link between two switches that carries traffic for all VLANs (unless the allowed VLAN list is restricted manually or dynamically). To enable trunk links, configure the ports on either end of the physical link with parallel sets of commands.
To configure a switch port on one end of a trunk link, use the switchport mode trunk command. With this command, the interface changes to permanent trunking mode. The port enters into a Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP) negotiation to convert the link into a trunk link even if the interface connecting to it does not agree to the change. DTP is described in the next topic. In this course, the switchport mode trunk command is the only method implemented for trunk configuration.
The Cisco IOS command syntax to specify a native VLAN (other than VLAN 1) is shown in Figure 1. In the example, VLAN 99 is configured as the native VLAN using the switchport trunk native vlan 99 command.
Use the Cisco IOS switchport trunk allowed vlan vlan-list command to specify the list of VLANs to be allowed on the trunk link.
In Figure 2, VLANs 10, 20, and 30 support the Faculty, Student, and Guest computers (PC1, PC2, and PC3). The F0/1 port on switch S1 is configured as a trunk port and forwards traffic for VLANs 10, 20, and 30. VLAN 99 is configured as the native VLAN.
Figure 3 displays the configuration of port F0/1 on switch S1 as a trunk port. The native VLAN is changed to VLAN 99 and the allowed VLAN list is restricted to 10, 20, and 30.
If the native VLAN is not allowed on the trunk link, the trunk will not allow any data traffic for the native VLAN.
Note: This configuration assumes the use of Cisco Catalyst 2960 switches which automatically use 802.1Q encapsulation on trunk links. Other switches may require manual configuration of the encapsulation. Always configure both ends of a trunk link with the same native VLAN. If 802.1Q trunk configuration is not the same on both ends, Cisco IOS Software reports errors.