Catalyst 2960 and 2960-S Software Configuration Guide, 12.2(55)SE

Using the Command-Line Interface

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This chapter describes the Cisco IOS command-line interface (CLI) and how to use it to configure your Catalyst 2960 or 2960-S switch.Unless otherwise noted, the term switch refers to a standalone switch and to a switch stack.

It contains these sections:

• Understanding Command Modes
• Understanding the Help System
• Understanding Abbreviated Commands
• Understanding no and default Forms of Commands
• Understanding CLI Error Messages
• Using Configuration Logging
• Using Command History
• Using Editing Features
• Searching and Filtering Output of show and more Commands
• Accessing the CLI

Understanding Command Modes

The Cisco IOS user interface is divided into many different modes. The commands available to you depend on which mode you are currently in. Enter a question mark (?) at the system prompt to obtain a list of commands available for each command mode.

When you start a session on the switch, you begin in user mode, often called user EXEC mode. Only a limited subset of the commands are available in user EXEC mode. For example, most of the user EXEC commands are one-time commands, such as show commands, which show the current configuration status, and clear commands, which clear counters or interfaces. The user EXEC commands are not saved when the switch reboots.

To have access to all commands, you must enter privileged EXEC mode. Normally, you must enter a password to enter privileged EXEC mode. From this mode, you can enter any privileged EXEC command or enter global configuration mode.

Using the configuration modes (global, interface, and line), you can make changes to the running configuration. If you save the configuration, these commands are stored and used when the switch reboots. To access the various configuration modes, you must start at global configuration mode. From global configuration mode, you can enter interface configuration mode and line configuration mode.

Table 1-1 describes the main command modes, how to access each one, the prompt you see in that mode, and how to exit the mode. The examples in the table use the hostname Switch.

For more detailed information on the command modes, see the command reference guide for this release.

Understanding the Help System

You can enter a question mark (?) at the system prompt to display a list of commands available for each command mode. You can also obtain a list of associated keywords and arguments for any command, as shown in Table 1-2 .

Understanding Abbreviated Commands

You need to enter only enough characters for the switch to recognize the command as unique.

This example shows how to enter the show configuration privileged EXEC command in an abbreviated form:

Understanding no and default Forms of Commands

Almost every configuration command also has a no form. In general, use the no form to disable a feature or function or reverse the action of a command. For example, the no shutdown interface configuration command reverses the shutdown of an interface. Use the command without the keyword no to re-enable a disabled feature or to enable a feature that is disabled by default.

Configuration commands can also have a default form. The default form of a command returns the command setting to its default. Most commands are disabled by default, so the default form is the same as the no form. However, some commands are enabled by default and have variables set to certain default values. In these cases, the default command enables the command and sets variables to their default values.

Understanding CLI Error Messages

Table 1-3 lists some error messages that you might encounter while using the CLI to configure your switch.

Using Configuration Logging

You can log and view changes to the switch configuration. You can use the Configuration Change Logging and Notification feature to track changes on a per-session and per-user basis. The logger tracks each configuration command that is applied, the user who entered the command, the time that the command was entered, and the parser return code for the command. This feature includes a mechanism for asynchronous notification to registered applications whenever the configuration changes. You can choose to have the notifications sent to the syslog.

For more information, see the Configuration Change Notification and Logging feature module:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios/12_3t/12_3t4/feature/guide/gtconlog.html

Note Only CLI or HTTP changes are logged.

Using Command History

The software provides a history or record of commands that you have entered. The command history feature is particularly useful for recalling long or complex commands or entries, including access lists. You can customize this feature to suit your needs as described in these sections:

• Changing the Command History Buffer Size (optional)
• Recalling Commands (optional)
• Disabling the Command History Feature (optional)

Using Editing Features

This section describes the editing features that can help you manipulate the command line. It contains these sections:

• Enabling and Disabling Editing Features (optional)
• Editing Commands through Keystrokes (optional)
• Editing Command Lines that Wrap (optional)

Searching and Filtering Output of show and more Commands

You can search and filter the output for show and more commands. This is useful when you need to sort through large amounts of output or if you want to exclude output that you do not need to see. Using these commands is optional.

To use this functionality, enter a show or more command followed by the pipe character (|), one of the keywords begin, include, or exclude, and an expression that you want to search for or filter out:

command | { begin | include | exclude } regular-expression

Expressions are case sensitive. For example, if you enter | exclude output, the lines that contain output are not displayed, but the lines that contain Output appear.

This example shows how to include in the output display only lines where the expression protocol appears:

Accessing the CLI

You can access the CLI through a console connection, through Telnet, or by using the browser.

You manage the switch stack and the stack member interfaces through the stack master. You cannot manage stack members on an individual switch basis. You can connect to the stack master through the console port of one or more stack members. Be careful with using multiple CLI sessions to the stack master. Commands you enter in one session are not displayed in the other sessions. Therefore, it is possible to lose track of the session from which you entered commands.

Note Stacking is supported only on Catalyst 2960-S switches running the LAN base image.

Note We recommend using one CLI session when managing the switch stack.

If you want to configure a specific stack member port, you must include the stack member number in the CLI command interface notation. For more information about interface notations, see the “Using Interface Configuration Mode” section.

To debug a specific stack member, you can access it from the stack master by using the session stack-member-number privileged EXEC command. The stack member number is appended to the system prompt. For example, Switch-2# is the prompt in privileged EXEC mode for stack member 2, and where the system prompt for the stack master is Switch. Only the show and debug commands are available in a CLI session to a specific stack member.