Cisco Switch fun!

I recently was called out to swap a new switch for a failing switch. I was very excited about this job. I have mostly done desktop and server moves lately with very little "hard" networking involved.
I was going to be on my own for this project. No safety net!
It is a simple job;

1. Label all patch cables to insure they get plugged back in to the same ports.
2. Unbox the new Cisco switch.
   
3. log into the new switch via Hyperterminal using a console cable.
4. Configure an IP address for the switch's management Vlan. Make sure that it is on the same subnet as your computer.
5. Use TFTP to transfer the config file to the switch (copy tftp start).
   
6. Check to be sure the config copied over and there are no garbage characters. (Show start)
7. Yank the old switch and swap its rack ears over to the new switch.
8. Reconnect all the patch cables to the correct numbered ports, as well as the fiber interfaces and cables.
9. Power up and you should be gold!

Labeling the cables was a cinch. One of my relatives gave me a Brother P-Touch label printer for my birthday about a month ago. So I printed out all 48 ports on one long strip. If I had printed them out one at a time I would have a bunch of little stickers I could lose. Also the P-Touch always advances and cuts off 3/4ths of an inch or so before it prints out. I would have thrown away about 3 feet of tape!
Logging in via Hyperterminal was a task. It normally is a walk in the park initiating a console session from Hyperterminal. Two obstacles came up.

1. My laptop does not have a serial port
   
2. Windows 7 does not have Hyperterminal

I dug around on the internet and found Hyperterminal on the website of the original developer. It is kind of expensive, but there is a free trial version. I suppose if I get more Cisco jobs I can buy it. Or I can probably use another terminal program like Putty.
The second problem was more trouble. I already have a USB to Serial box but it was not working with Windows 7 for some reason. I had re-installed it and gone up and down the registry several times. I emailed the manufacturer and got the latest "win 7 compatible" driver. No dice. I went to Central Computer and bought a different brand USB-Serial adapter. No luck, same chip. Same driver. Returned that one for a refund and went across town to Sweet Memory.
It's already 5pm and I needed to be onsite at 6pm! I headed around the corner to Subway and got a 6" veggie, anticipating a long night without any breaks. Once fed I whipped out the new serial adapter and my Leatherman, cut open the clamshell packaging and fished out the disk.
Ran the install disk and...its the same chip! On a hunch I checked the device manager and delete the "Blackberry virtual com port" device. Then I plugged the serial adapter in and bingo! the driver loads and starts! I could have saved 2 hours of stress and $20 if I had done this last night.
I finished my sandwich, run around the corner to the jobsite and...waited in the security office until exactly 6pm so they can sign me in (dorks).

Now the fun part, I connect the blue Cisco console cable to the new switch and power on. Awesome, I see the bootloader and POST messages! So at least I know that the software I installed last night and the adapter I bought one hour ago both work.
I logged in with the default Cisco password. (hint it rhymes with 'Frisco). Got to the configure terminal prompt, add an IP address to the management Vlan. Then I Telnet into the switch to be sure its up and do some pings back and forth. Then I open the Solarwinds TFTP server on my laptop to transfer the config file which one of the techs had emailed to me. Balls of fire, it worked! In case anyone is wondering you grab the file off of the TFTP server by typing copy tftp start, then you are prompted for the name or address of the server and name of file. There may be some cool way to push it from the server side but I am not aware.
I exited from the config terminal prompt to the enable prompt. I typed show run to see the current (modified default) configuration, then type show start to see the new configuration.
I then power cycle the switch to be sure it will start with the correct config. Of course I had previously taken the precaution of rooting through the new config to find the IP address of the management VLan and the enable password and VTY password. The telnet password of course is using service encryption so it is unreadable.

Now the boring part, de-racking the old switch, yanking the hardware off of it and installing the ears on the new one.
After I get off the phone with the tech at corporate headquarters I yank all the cables and pull the rack bolts. The switch barely moves?! Turns out they had installed the ears with the roundhead machine screws that come on the chassis instead of the flathead screws which you are supposed to use. when you add the height of the ears to the height of the roundhead screws they just dont fit inside a standard 2 post relay rack.
I ended up having to yank the cable management installed beneath the switch so that I can twist it sideways and remove it.
Ears swapped.
Switch bolted in.
Cable management bolted in.
Cables re-plugged.
The tech at corporate says he cant see the switch.
WTF?
I console in and everything looks fine?
I list all the interfaces and those are all up if they are plugged in. By the way if you do a straight show interface on a switch it can take forever! You may want to use show interface e 0/4 for example to see a specific ethernet interface or show ip interface brief so you don't have to scroll so much! Then it ocurrs to me to check the Vlans with show vlan. The vlans of interest (the ones which are supposed to be trunking to the router) do not exist? They are in the config but apparently this is not enough. So I create the vlans Set Vlan 666. That was all that was needed?! The new Vlans picked up the configs for each of the appropriate numbered vlans in the config. Crazy. After that it was just a little cable management and boxing up the old dud switch for RMA to Cisco.
Only took 4 and a half hours.