4.7 VTP Configuration
4.7.4 Configure the VTP mode
You will need to choose one of the three available VTP modes for this switch. Some general guidelines for choosing the mode of your switch are as follows:

If this is the first switch in your management domain and you intend to add additional switches, set the mode to server. The additional switches will be able to learn VLAN information from this switch. You should have at least one server.

If there are any other switches in the management domain, you should set your switch mode to client to prevent the new switch from accidentally propagating the incorrect information to your existing network. If you would like this switch to end up as a VTP server, change the mode of the switch to server after it has learned the correct VLAN information from the network.

If the switch is not going to share VLAN information with any other switch on the network, you should set the switch to transparent mode. This will allow you to create, delete, and rename VLANs at will without the switch propagating changes to other switches. If a large number of people are configuring devices within your network, you run the risk of overlapping VLANs with two different meanings in the network but the same VLAN identification.

To set the correct mode of your Cisco IOS command-based switch, use the following command:

Switch(vlan)# vtp client | server | transparent

An example of this is shown in Figure , as the switch is configured to be in VTP client mode.

To set the correct mode of your set command-based switch, use the following command:

Switch> (enable) set vtp mode server | client | transparent

An example of this is shown in Figure , as the switch is configured to be in VTP server mode.