Accessing the Cisco Router

The first step in configuring a Cisco router is to access the device. This can be
done using a variety of methods, including Telnet, SSH, and the Cisco
Configuration Professional (CCP) tool. The most common method is to use Telnet
or SSH to access the router's command-line interface (CLI). To do this, you will
need to know the IP address of the router and have a Telnet or SSH client
installed on your computer.

To access a Cisco router using Telnet, open a command prompt and enter the
following command;

telnet IP_ADDRESS

For example, to access a router with the IP address of 192.168.1.1, you would
enter the following command;

telnet 192.168.1.1

To access a Cisco router using SSH, open a command prompt and enter the
following command;

ssh USERNAME@IP_ADDRESS

For example, to access a router with the IP address of 192.168.1.1 using the
username "admin", you would enter the following command;

ssh [email protected]

Once you have accessed the router, you will be prompted to enter a username
and password. If you are using Telnet, the default username is "admin" and the
default password is "password". If you are using SSH, the default username and
password are both "admin".

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 Basic Router Configuration Commands
Once you have accessed the router, you can start configuring the device.
The following are some of the most commonly used Cisco router basic commands
for configuring the device −
 enable − This command is used to enter enable mode, which gives you
access to all of the router's configuration commands.
 configure terminal − This command is used to enter global configuration
mode, which allows you to make changes to the router's global
configuration.
 interface interface_name − This command is used to enter interface
configuration mode, which allows you to make changes to a specific
interface on the router.
 hostname hostname − This command is used to set the hostname of the
router.
 enable secret password – This command Specifies an encrypted password
to prevent unauthorized access to the router.
 ip address IP_ADDRESS SUBNET_MASK − This command is used to
configure the IP address and subnet mask of an interface.
 no shutdown − This command is used to enable an interface that has been
previously shut down.
 exit − This command is used to exit the current configuration mode and
return to the previous mode.
 end − This command is used to exit configuration mode and return to
privileged mode.

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For example;

1. To set the hostname of a router to "Router1", you would enter the following
commands

enable

configure terminal

hostname Victoria1

end

2. To set the enable secret, you would enter the following command
enable

configure terminal

enable secret Vic@123

end

3. To configure the IP address and subnet mask of an interface named

"FastEthernet0/0", you would enter the following commands

enable

configure terminal

interface FastEthernet0/0

ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0

no shutdown

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 Basic Router Troubleshooting Commands

In addition to configuring a Cisco router, it is also important to know how to

troubleshoot the device. The following are some of the most commonly used
Cisco router basic commands for troubleshooting

 show running-config − This command is used to display the current

configuration of the router.

 show interfaces − This command is used to display information about all of

the interfaces on the router, including their status, IP address, and
bandwidth usage.

 show ip route − This command is used to display the routing table of the
router, which shows the paths that packets take to reach their destination.

 ping IP_ADDRESS − This command is used to test the connectivity between

the router and a specific IP address.

 traceroute IP_ADDRESS − This command is used to trace the path that

packets take to reach a specific IP address, and to identify any issues along
the way.

 debug command − This command is used to enable debugging for a specific

function, such as routing or authentication.

For example;

1. To display the current configuration of a router, you would enter the

following command;

show running-config

2. To display information about all of the interfaces on a router, you would

enter the following command;

show interfaces

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3. To test the connectivity between a router and an IP address of
192.168.1.100, you would enter the following command;

ping 192.168.1.100

4. To trace the path that packets take to reach an IP address of 8.8.8.8, you
would enter the following command;

traceroute 8.8.8.8

5. To enable debugging for routing on a router, you would enter the following
command;

debug ip routing

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 Cisco 800M Series ISR Software Configuration Guide

Basic Router Configuration

Configuring Global Parameters

To configure the global parameters for your router, follow these steps.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal

2. hostname name

3. enable secret password

4. no ip domain-lookup

DETAILED STEPS

Command Purpose

Step configure terminal Enters global configuration mode, when using the console
1 port.
Example:

Router> enable

Router# configure terminal

Step hostname name Specifies the name for the router.

2
Example:

Router(config)# hostname Router

Step enable secret password Specifies an encrypted password to prevent unauthorized

3 access to the router.
Example:

Router(config)# enable secret

cr1ny5ho

Step no ip domain-lookup Disables the router from translating unfamiliar words

4 (typos) into IP addresses.
Example:

Router(config)# no ip domain-

6
 lookup

Configuring Gigabit Ethernet WAN Interfaces

You can connect WAN interfaces either by using straight polarity connectors or reversed polarity
connectors.

 Straight Polarity: If Mag-jack RJ45 connector has a dot or digit marked on front housing, it can be
used with any type of cables.

 Reversed Polarity: If Mag-jack RJ45 connector has no dots or digit marked on front housing, it
can be used with coupler and short cable (Cat5E UTP cable) to connect other devices which
doesn’t support auto polarity correction.

To configure Gigabit Ethernet (GE) WAN interfaces, follow these steps, beginning in global configuration
mode.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal

2. interface gigabitethernet slot/port

3. ip address ip-address mask

4. no shutdown

5. exit

DETAILED STEPS

Command Purpose

Step configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

1
Example:

Router# configure terminal

Step interface gigabitethernet slot/port Enters the configuration mode for a Gigabit Ethernet
2 interface on the router.
Example:
Note GigabitEthernet WAN Interfaces are 0/8 and 0/9
Router(config)# interface for Cisco C841M-8X ISR and 0/4 to 0/5 for Cisco
gigabitethernet 0/8 C841M-4X

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Step ip address ip-address mask Sets the IP address and subnet mask for the specified
3 GE interface.
Example:

Router(config-if)# ip
address 192.168.12.2
255.255.255.0

Step no shutdown Enables the GE interface, changing its state from

4 administratively down to administratively up.
Example:

Router(config-if)# no shutdown

Step exit Exits configuration mode for the GE interface and

5 returns to global configuration mode.
Example:

Router(config-if)# exit

Configuring a Loopback Interface

The loopback interface acts as a placeholder for the static IP address and provides default routing
information.

To configure a loopback interface, follow these steps, beginning in global configuration mode.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal

2. interface type number

3. ip address ip-address mask

4. exit

DETAILED STEPS

Command Purpose

Step configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

1
Example:

8
 Rou

ter# configure terminal

Step interface type number Enters configuration mode for the loopback interface.
2
Example:

Router(config)# interface Loopback

0

Step ip address ip-address mask Sets the IP address and subnet mask for the loopback
3 interface.
Example:

Router(config-if)# ip address
10.108.1.1 255.255.255.0

Step exit Exits configuration mode for the loopback interface

4 and returns to global configuration mode.
Example:

Router(config-if)# exit

Configuring Command-Line Access

To configure parameters to control access to the router, perform the following steps.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal

2. line [ aux | console | tty | vty ] line-number

3. password password

4. login

5. exec-timeout minutes [ seconds ]

6. line [ aux | console | tty | vty ] line-number

7. password password

8. login

9. end

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10
DETAILED STEPS

Command Purpose

Step configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

1
Example:

Router# configure terminal

Step line [ aux | console | tty | vty ] line- Enters line configuration mode, and specifies the
2 number type of line.

Example:

Router(config)# line console 0

Step password password Specifies a unique password for the console terminal
3 line.
Example:

Router(config)# password
5dr4Hepw3

Step login Enables password verification at the terminal login

4 session.
Example:

Router(config-line)# login

Step exec-timeout minutes [ seconds ] Sets the interval that the EXEC command interpreter
5 waits until user input is detected. The default is 10
Example: minutes. You can also optionally add seconds to the
Router(config-line)# exec-timeout 5 interval value.
30

Step line [ aux | console | tty | vty ] line- Specifies a virtual terminal for remote console
6 number access.

Example:

Router(config)# line vty 0 4

Step password password Specifies a unique password for the virtual terminal
7 line.
Example:

Router(config-line)# password

11
 aldf2ad1

Step login Enables password verifiation at the virtual terminal

8 login session.
Example:

Router(config-line)# login

Step end Exits line configuration mode, and returns to

9 privileged EXEC mode.
Example:

Router(config-line)# endRouter#

Configuring Gigabit Ethernet LAN Interfaces

To manually configure Gigabit Ethernet (GE) LAN interfaces, follow these steps, beginning in global
configuration mode.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. configure terminal

2. interface gigabitethernet slot/port

3. ip address ip-address mask

4. no shutdown

5. exit

DETAILED STEPS

Command Purpose

Step configure terminal Enters global configuration mode.

1
Example:

Router# configure terminal

Step interface gigabitethernet slot/port Enters the configuration mode for a Gigabit Ethernet
2 interface on the router.
Example:
Note GigabitEthernet LAN Interfaces are 0/0 to 0/7
Router(config)# interface for Cisco C841M-8X ISR and 0/0 to 0/3 for Cisco
gigabitethernet 0/1

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 C841M-4X ISR.

Step ip address ip-address mask Sets the IP address and subnet mask for the specified
3 GE interface.
Example:

Router(config-if)# ip
address 192.168.12.2
255.255.255.0

Step no shutdown Enables the GE interface, changing its state from

4 administratively down to administratively up.
Example:

Router(config-if)# no shutdown

Step exit Exits configuration mode for the GE interface and

5 returns to global configuration mode.
Example:

Router(config-if)# exit

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