Module 1: Basic Device Configuration

1.4 Basic Router

Configuration

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Basic Router Configuration
Configure Basic Router Settings
Cisco routers and Cisco switches have many similarities. They support a similar modal operating
system, similar command structures, and many of the same commands. In addition, both devices have
similar initial configuration steps. For example, the following configuration tasks should always be
performed. Name the device to distinguish it from other routers and configure passwords, as shown in
the example.

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Basic Router Configuration
Configure Basic Router Settings (Cont.)
Configure a banner to provide legal notification of unauthorized access, as shown in the
example.

Save the changes on a router, as shown in the example.

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Basic Router Configuration
Dual Stack Topology
One distinguishing feature between switches and routers is the type of interfaces
supported by each. For example, Layer 2 switches support LANs; therefore, they have
multiple FastEthernet or Gigabit Ethernet ports. The dual stack topology in the figure is
used to demonstrate the configuration of router IPv4 and IPv6 interfaces.

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Basic Router Configuration
Configure Router Interfaces
Routers support LANs and WANs and can interconnect different types of networks; therefore, they
support many types of interfaces. For example, G2 ISRs have one or two integrated Gigabit
Ethernet interfaces and High-Speed WAN Interface Card (HWIC) slots to accommodate other types
of network interfaces, including serial, DSL, and cable interfaces.

To be available, an interface must be:

• Configured with at least one IP address - Use the ip address ip-address subnet-mask and
the ipv6 address ipv6-address/prefix interface configuration commands.
• Activated - By default, LAN and WAN interfaces are not activated (shutdown). To enable an
interface, it must be activated using the no shutdown command. (This is similar to powering
on the interface.) The interface must also be connected to another device (a hub, a switch, or
another router) for the physical layer to be active.
• Description - Optionally, the interface could also be configured with a short description of up to
240 characters. It is good practice to configure a description on each interface. On production
networks, the benefits of interface descriptions are quickly realized as they are helpful in
troubleshooting and in identifying a third-party connection and contact information.
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Basic Router Configuration
Configure Router Interfaces (Cont.)
The example shows the configure for the interfaces on R1:

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Basic Router Configuration
IPv4 Loopback Interfaces
Another common configuration of Cisco IOS routers is enabling a loopback interface.
• The loopback interface is a logical interface that is internal to the router. It is not assigned to a
physical port and can never be connected to any other device. It is considered a software interface
that is automatically placed in an “up” state, as long as the router is functioning.
• The loopback interface is useful in testing and managing a Cisco IOS device because it ensures
that at least one interface will always be available. For example, it can be used for testing
purposes, such as testing internal routing processes, by emulating networks behind the router.
• Loopback interfaces are also commonly used in lab environments to create additional interfaces.
For example, you can create multiple loopback interfaces on a router to simulate more networks for
configuration practice and testing purposes. The IPv4 address for each loopback interface must be
unique and unused by any other interface. In this curriculum, we often use a loopback interface to
simulate a link to the internet.
• Enabling and assigning a loopback address is simple:

Router(config)# interface loopback number

Router(config-if)# ip address ip-address subnet-mask

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1.5 Verify Directly Connected
Networks

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Verify Directly Connected Networks
Interface Verification Commands
There are several show commands that can be used to verify the operation and
configuration of an interface.

The following commands are especially useful to quickly identify the status of an interface:
• show ip interface brief and show ipv6 interface brief - These display a summary
for all interfaces including the IPv4 or IPv6 address of the interface and current
operational status.
• show running-config interface interface-id - This displays the commands applied to
the specified interface.
• show ip route and show ipv6 route - These display the contents of the IPv4 or IPv6
routing table stored in RAM. In Cisco IOS 15, active interfaces should appear in the
routing table with two related entries identified by the code ‘C’ (Connected) or ‘L’
(Local). In previous IOS versions, only a single entry with the code ‘C’ will appear.

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Verify Directly Connected Networks
Verify Interface Status
The output of the show ip interface brief and show ipv6 interface brief commands can be used to quickly
reveal the status of all interfaces on the router. You can verify that the interfaces are active and operational as
indicated by the Status of “up” and Protocol of “up”, as shown in the example. A different output would
indicate a problem with either the configuration or the cabling.

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Verify Directly Connected Networks
Verify Interface Configuration
The output of the show running-config interface command displays the current commands applied to the
specified interface, as shown.

The following two commands are used to gather more detailed interface information:
• show interfaces- Displays interface information and packet flow count for all interfaces on the device.
• show ip interface and show ipv6 interface - Displays the IPv4 and IPv6 related information for all
interfaces on a router..

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Verify Directly Connected Networks
Verify Routes
The output of the show ip
route and show ipv6 route commands
reveal the three directly connected
network entries and the three local host
route interface entries, as shown in the
example.

The local host route has an

administrative distance of 0. It also has
a /32 mask for IPv4, and a /128 mask
for IPv6. The local host route is for
routes on the router that owns the IP
address. It is used to allow the router to
process packets destined to that IP.

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Verify Directly Connected Networks
Verify Routes (Cont.)
A ‘C’ next to a route within the routing table
indicates that this is a directly connected
network. When the router interface is
configured with a global unicast address and
is in the “up/up” state, the IPv6 prefix and
prefix length are added to the IPv6 routing
table as a connected route.

The IPv6 global unicast address applied to

the interface is also installed in the routing
table as a local route. The local route has a
/128 prefix. Local routes are used by the
routing table to efficiently process packets
with the interface address of the router as
the destination.

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Verify Directly Connected Networks
Filter Show Command Output
Commands that generate multiple screens of output are, by default, paused after 24 lines. At the end of
the paused output, the --More-- text displays. Pressing Enter displays the next line and pressing the
spacebar displays the next set of lines. Use the terminal length command to specify the number of
lines to be displayed. A value of 0 (zero) prevents the router from pausing between screens of output.

Another very useful feature that improves the user experience in the CLI is the filtering of show output.
Filtering commands can be used to display specific sections of output. To enable the filtering
command, enter a pipe (|) character after the show command and then enter a filtering parameter and
a filtering expression.

There are four filtering parameters that can be configured after the pipe:
• section - Shows the entire section that starts with the filtering expression.
• include - Includes all output lines that match the filtering expression.
• exclude - Excludes all output lines that match the filtering expression.
• begin - Shows all the output lines from a certain point, starting with the line that matches the filtering expression

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Verify Directly Connected Networks
Command History Feature
The command history feature is useful because it temporarily stores the list of executed
commands to be recalled.
• To recall commands in the history buffer, press Ctrl+P or the Up Arrow key. The
command output begins with the most recent command. Repeat the key sequence to
recall successively older commands. To return to more recent commands in the history
buffer, press Ctrl+N or the Down Arrow key. Repeat the key sequence to recall
successively more recent commands.
• By default, command history is enabled and the system captures the last 10 command
lines in its history buffer. Use the show history privileged EXEC command to display
the contents of the buffer.
• It is also practical to increase the number of command lines that the history buffer
records during the current terminal session only. Use the terminal history size user
EXEC command to increase or decrease the size of the buffer.

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Module Practice and Quiz
What Did I Learn In This Module? (Cont.)
• The following initial configuration tasks should always be performed: name the device to
distinguish it from other routers and configure passwords, configure a banner to provide legal
notification of unauthorized access, and save the changes on a router.
• One distinguishing feature between switches and routers is the type of interfaces supported by each.
• Routers support LANs and WANs and can interconnect different types of networks; therefore, they
support many types of interfaces.
• The IPv4 loopback interface is a logical interface that is internal to the router. It is not assigned to a
physical port and can never be connected to any other device.
• Use the following commands to quickly identify the status of an interface:
• show ip interface brief and show ipv6 interface brief to see summary all interfaces (IPv4 and IPv6
addresses and operational status),
• show running-config interface interface-id to see the commands applied to a specified interface, and
• show ip route and show ipv6 route to see the contents of the IPv4 or IPv6 routing table stored in RAM.

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Module Practice and Quiz
What Did I Learn In This Module? (Cont.)
• Filter show command output using the pipe (|) character. Use filter expressions: section, include, exclude,
and begin.
• By default, command history is enabled, and the system captures the last 10 command lines in its history
buffer.
• Use the show history privileged EXEC command to display the contents of the buffer.

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