so line down means what?

-J

Interface is disconnected, or connected device has the port shut down.

Hope this helps, please rate post if it does!

I did a sh interfaces brief and the method is set to manual. Should it be manual?

-J

That indicates the method by which an IP address is assigned and won't change the fact an interface is disconnected.

James

While the answer given by Paolo is the technically accurate answer to the question that you asked (what command will change the interface protocol from down to up) I believe that there is a different way to look at the issue. I agree with Paolo that the reason that the interface shows as down is because nothing is plugged into the interface. The best way to get the interface protocol to be up is to connect some device (a switch, or a PC or something) into the interface. When it detects that it is connected to something and link comes up then the interface protocol will be up (no command required).

And there is no reason to be concerned about the manual indication in show ip int brief. If you copy run start and reload the router it will then show as memory. It now says manual because that is how the interface got configured.

HTH

Rick

The problem was that the gentlman i was supporting was using a straight through cable instead of a cross over.

HA!

-J

James

I am glad that you got it solved. I almost put in a comment when I mentioned connecting a PC about how you need to be careful about straight through or cross over cable.

So many times it seems to be the small details that are causing the problems.

HTH

Rick