10.1 IOS Navigation Flashcards
The Cisco IOS command line interface (CLI) is a text-based program that enables entering and executing Cisco IOS commands to configure, monitor, and maintain Cisco devices. The Cisco CLI can be used with either in-band or out-of-band management tasks.
CLI commands are used to alter the configuration of the device and to display the current status of processes on the router. For experienced users, the CLI offers many time-saving features for creating both simple and complex configurations. Almost all Cisco networking devices use a similar CLI. When the router has completed the power-up sequence and the Router> prompt appears, the CLI can be used to enter Cisco IOS commands.
Technicians familiar with the IOS commands and operation of the CLI find it easy to monitor and configure a variety of different networking devices because the same basic commands are used for configuring a switch and a router. The CLI has an extensive help system that assists users in setting up and monitoring devices.
Primary Command Modes
As a security feature, the Cisco IOS software separates management access into the following two command modes:
User EXEC Mode - This mode has limited capabilities but is useful for basic operations. It allows only a limited number of basic monitoring commands but does not allow the execution of any commands that might change the configuration of the device. The user EXEC mode is identified by the CLI prompt that ends with the > symbol.
Privileged EXEC Mode - To execute configuration commands, a network administrator must access privileged EXEC mode. Higher configuration modes, like global configuration mode, can only be reached from privileged EXEC mode. The privileged EXEC mode can be identified by the prompt ending with the # symbol.
