Creating a VLAN Major Interface

To use VLANs, you must first configure the Ethernet interface for VLAN encapsulation. This creates the VLAN major interface. For example:

Specify a Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, or 10-Gigabit Ethernet port.host1(config)#interface fastEthernet 4/0
Specify VLAN as the encapsulation method.host1(config-if)#encapsulation vlan
The router creates the VLAN major interface.

You can now create multiple VLAN subinterfaces to carry higher-level protocols. For examples, see Creating a VLAN Subinterface, next.