What is Switch Command-Line Interface?

Last Updated : 12 Dec, 2022

Network devices communicate with each other efficiently with the help of switches. For the management of network devices, we use different types of configuration methods to configure switches and manage their information flow, sharing, and resource allocation. The command line interface is one of the configuration methods for managing network devices. A command line interface (also known as a text-based interface) is the interface through which we write commands for specific tasks or configure, manage, and monitor network devices such as switches. The command line interface allows us to enter configuration commands to get the desired output from the switch. When we enter a command in the command interface, the network software will recognize the command and perform tasks according to the specific command, so that we can manage, configure and monitor network devices on the network.

Generally, we can access the Command Line Interface through a direct connection to the console port or remotely using the telnet command.

Accessing the Switch Command Line Interface via console:

For Accessing the Switch Command Line interface via the console port, perform the following steps:

Step 1: Open a command prompt from a Cisco or other system console and press Enter when the command prompt opens.

Step 2: You will be asked to enter your system password, enter the password, and press Enter. A “Console >” prompt appears after typing, indicating that you are accessing the command line interface in normal mode.

Step 3: Now you can type all the required commands to complete the desired task.

Step 4: Once done, you can end your session by typing “quit” at the command prompt.

quit

Accessing the Switch Command Line Interface via Telnet

For Accessing the Switch Command Line Interface via Telnet, perform the following steps:

Step 1: To access the switch through telnet, you need to set the IP address of the switch. On the remote host, run the command with the name or IP address of the switch you want to access.

telnet hostname | ip address

Step 2: After the command in Step 1 is executed successfully, you will be asked to enter the password for accessing the command line interface. Enter the password and press Enter. If no password is configured, press Enter directly.

Step 3: Now you can do whatever task you want. So type any command you want to perform any task.

Step 4: When you are done, use the “quit” command to end the telnet session.

quit

Switch GUI Vs Switch CLI:

Switch Graphical User Interface is a user interface that allows users to interact with network devices such as switches using a mouse and keyboard through graphical icons. The networking software detects mouse movements and performs tasks based on the user's specific clicks. On the other hand, Command Line Interface is a user interface that allows users to interact with network devices such as switches using commands that can only be typed using a keyboard. When we enter a command at the command prompt or console of the command interface, the network software will recognize the command and execute the task according to the specific command.

There are many network engineers who prefer the command line interface over Graphics User Interface because the command line interface is faster in processing, but on the other hand, there are also many network engineers who prefer Graphics User Interface over the command line interface because Graphics User Interface is easier to use and learning commands or using them to solve small problems is difficult and time-consuming.

A graphical user interface requires a pointing device such as a mouse for selecting items. Command line interfaces, on the other hand, do not require a pointing device like a mouse for selecting items, It just needs a keyboard.
Spelling mistakes and typo errors are avoided in the graphics user interface but in the command line interface spelling and typo errors cannot be avoided.
The network engineer can simultaneously observe and operate multiple things at a time through the graphical user interface.
The command line interface is more difficult to use than the graphical user interface.
The Graphics User Interface requires more memory than the command-line interface.