Which command allows an administrator to see the MAC addresses mapped to ports on a Catalyst switch?

The command that enables an administrator to view the MAC addresses mapped to ports on a Catalyst switch is "show mac address-table." This command directly displays the MAC address table, which contains the MAC addresses that the switch has learned and associated with its different ports. This information is crucial for troubleshooting and network management, as it allows the administrator to understand which devices are connected to which ports, and to ensure that traffic is being correctly forwarded to the appropriate destinations based on these MAC addresses.

In contrast, the other commands serve different purposes. For instance, "show interfaces" provides details about the status and statistics of the switch's interfaces, but does not display MAC address mappings. The command "show ip arp" shows the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table, which includes IP-to-MAC address mappings but is relevant for Layer 3 operations rather than the Layer 2 information sought in this scenario. Lastly, "show running-config" reveals the current configuration of the device, including settings and protocols, but does not produce the mapping of MAC addresses to switch ports. Thus, for the specific task of investigating MAC addresses associated with switch ports, "show mac address-table" is the correct and most relevant command.